Jose Quintana ready to help Brewers in any role

LOS ANGELES – It has been longer than a month since Jose Quintana pitched at least four innings in a game. A left calf strain on Sept. 14 derailed what had been a solid season for the Milwaukee Brewers’ veteran left-hander.

Quintana exited his start on Sept. 14 after only four innings. He then went almost a month before returning to competition in Game 3 of the Division Series against the Chicago Cubs on Oct. 8, when he pitched three scoreless innings. Now the Brewers need him. Badly!

With the Los Angeles Dodgers leading the best-of-seven National League Championship Series 2-0, Quintana knows the Brewers are desperate to win Game 3 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

Game 3 may not be a must-win for the Brewers, but it’s the closest thing to it for Quintana and his teammates. With that in mind, Quintana is ready to help in any way possible.

“Well, I expect to pitch (in Game 3),” Quintana said. “I don’t know what kind of role. But last two games, I’ve just been prepared for whatever role the team needs me out there. Yeah, let’s see tomorrow how (it) is going to be (with) my role.

“The team hasn’t decided yet what it’s going to be. But for me, I just want to be ready.”

Dodgers lead NLCS 2-0

The defending World Series champions have dominated the NLCS so far with brilliant pitching by Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Dodgers opened the NLCS with a 2-1 victory. Then Yamamoto threw a complete game for a 5-1 victory in Game 3.

Shohei just hit one out of Dodger Stadium during BP. 😳 pic.twitter.com/08GVFjMWHz

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 16, 2025

Milwaukee’s offense has sputtered so far. Nonetheless, Quintana knows he’ll be needed to help shut down Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Shohei Ohtani and Co.

The Brewers also have sensational rookie All-Star Jacob Misiorowski available. The young right-hander can pitch out of the bullpen or start. Either way, they’re likely to need Quintana in Game 3 either to start or pitch out of the bullpen, as he did in the Division Series.

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Quintana, 36, was 11-7 with a 3.96 this season. He struck out 89 batters in 131 ⅔ innings over 24 starts. He didn’t pitch out of the bullpen until the Division Series.

“For sure it’s different,” Jose Quintana said of the bullpen and starting roles. “I’ve been starting my whole career. But doing this role before most of the time postseason. I think at this point, whatever role that they need you, you want to be prepared. You want to be ready and do it.

“That’s the place I want to be right now, and yeah, just be ready. But yeah, for sure it’s kind of different preparation. Every time when I play catch, I know it’s going to be the day you can pitch, and just try to be ready before that.”

Obvious choices

The native of Arjona, Colombia made three relief appearances and 22 starts as a rookie with the Chicago White Sox in 2012. He didn’t pitch out of the bullpen again until 2019, when he had one appearance in relief and 32 starts for the Cubs.

Jose Quintana was limited to only 10 innings in 2020, making three relief outings and one start that season. Quintana made 19 relief appearances and 10 starts in 2021 between the Giants and Angels. He returned to the rotation full-time in 2022, though, until this postseason.

📍Los Angeles pic.twitter.com/LloRGt1QMr

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 15, 2025

“Obviously anyone that follows us knows that we’ve got Quintana, Misiorowski for some bulk,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Wednesday. “With a day off, all our relievers should be good.

“We’ll navigate from there. We probably will this afternoon. As soon as we make it concrete, we’ll probably get the word out to you. We’re not trying to hide anything from anybody. There’s no strategy. Everybody knows what we’ve got left.”