Since May 15, Abner Uribe has thrown 49 innings for the Milwaukee Brewers and allowed just four earned runs — a 0.73 ERA and 1.00 WHIP that make him one of the most dominant relievers in baseball this year, postseason included. On Monday night in Game 2 of the NLCS, he struck out Mookie Betts to open the eighth inning and was part of a bullpen that retired the final 15 Dodgers in order — a stretch Fox called the first time in playoff history that a bullpen threw five or more innings without allowing a baserunner to close out a game.
The Comeback Nobody Saw Coming
In 2024, Uribe barely stayed afloat: 14 appearances, a 6.91 ERA, and knee surgery on July 18 that ended his season before he turned 25. For a lot of people, he was a high-velocity prospect who hadn’t put it together yet — the kind of arm that fades before it ever fully arrives.
2026 has been a different story entirely. The Dominican right-hander came back throwing a fastball that Statcast clocks at an average of 98.8 mph — 97th percentile across all of MLB — and with a mentality his manager Pat Murphy has compared to a ten-year October veteran. He entered the postseason already sitting at a 1.97 ERA over 59.1 regular-season innings. Once October started, the numbers got even better.
A Bullpen That Made History
When Logan Henderson exited in the fifth inning of Game 2, Milwaukee had the lead but needed its bullpen to handle five innings against the best lineup in the National League. What followed was historic: Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Abner Uribe, and Aaron Ashby retired the last 15 Dodgers in a row. Fox identified it as the first time in postseason history that a bullpen threw five or more innings without allowing a single baserunner to end a game — a record that spans more than a century of playoff baseball.
Uribe’s share: four batters faced, four outs, including the strikeout of Betts to lead off the eighth.
Across two NLCS games and the entire Division Series, Milwaukee’s bullpen has allowed just one earned run in 28 postseason innings. The team that finished with the best record in the majors in 2026 — 103 wins, a franchise record — is two victories away from its first pennant, something that slipped away last year when the Dodgers swept them 4-0 in the 2025 NLCS.
The Numbers Behind the Dominance
Uribe’s full 2026 regular-season line tells the story clearly:
- 61 games, 59.1 innings
- ERA: 1.97 | WHIP: 1.03
- 62 strikeouts vs. 19 walks (26.5% strikeout rate)
- 6 saves
- xERA: 2.81
- Average fastball: 98.8 mph at 2,301 rpm
- Whiff rate: 26.8%
- Opponent batting average: .199
- Average exit velocity allowed: 87.7 mph
- Barrel rate allowed: 2%
And how that stacks up league-wide:
- xERA: 94th percentile
- Strikeout rate: 78th percentile
- Fastball velocity: 97th percentile
- xwOBA against: 94th percentile
- Barrels avoided: 99th percentile
- Hard contact avoided: 76th percentile
The velocity was always there. What’s different in 2026 is that the command showed up too — a 1.00 WHIP over 49 innings since mid-May is not something many power arms sustain for that long. Uribe isn’t just scary anymore. He’s elite, and Statcast has the receipts.
