Brewers to use opener, bullpen day for Game 1 of NLDS

The Milwaukee Brewers are opening their first postseason appearance since 2011 with a little creativity.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell announced that he'll deploy an opener rather than a conventional starting pitcher for Game 1 of their National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.

The opener, who will pitch Game 1 as part of a full-scale bullpen day for the Brewers, hasn't been named.

Colorado, meanwhile, named right-hander Antonio Senzatela as its Game 1 starter on Wednesday, according to Thomas Harding of MLB.com.

Counsell explained that his decision is part of a larger-scale philosophy change he's trying to implement.

"For our team, we're trying to get away from what the terms starter and reliever means," Counsell said, according to Richard Justice of MLB.com.

Milwaukee has already deployed the opener strategy once while they were involved in a heated NL Central race last month. On Sept. 24, left-handed reliever Dan Jennings made his first career start and retired the leadoff batter before being removed. The Brewers went on to win that game, in which nine different pitchers appeared.

The bullpen has been an area of strength for Milwaukee this season. Work has been evenly spread out between pitchers - three relievers tallied at least 12 saves in the regular season - while All-Star Josh Hader has emerged as the bullpen's ace by tallying 143 strikeouts in only 81 1/3 innings.

Milwaukee isn't the only team that will be deploying an opener in the playoffs. The Oakland Athletics are starting reliever Liam Hendriks in Wednesday's AL wild-card game against the New York Yankees as part of a bullpen day during the one-game playoff.

The Brewers will return to a more conventional format in Game 2 when Jhoulys Chacin gets the ball. Chacin will take the mound on three days' rest after starting Monday's NL Central tie-breaker at Wrigley Field, but he won't be on an innings limit, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.