Penn alumnus Jake Cousins currently plays for the Milwaukee Brewers in the MLB.
After going 95-67 on the season and winning the NL Central, the Milwaukee Brewers lost to the Atlanta Braves in four games in the NLDS, eliminating Penn baseball alum Jake Cousins in the process.
Cousins, who pitched for the Quakers from 2014 to 2017 as a starter but is now a relief pitcher, was called up to the Brewers in June of this year, and made himself indispensable to the team over the course of the season. In 30.0 innings pitched, Cousins gave up just nine earned runs and threw 44 strikeouts. His ERA for the season finished at 2.70, but through his first 18.0 innings, which lasted from mid-June to mid-August, Cousins gave up no runs and had a perfect 0.00 ERA.
In the playoffs, Cousins made one appearance, pitching an inning in Game 3 against the Braves. Although he gave up a hit and a walk, he managed to not give up any runs in his 21-pitch outing. Cousins' efforts weren't enough, though, to get the Brewers a win, as the team lost the game 3-0, just as they had in Game 2.
The series loss didn't come as a surprise, as the Brewers struggled to get anything going offensively in the first three games, scoring just one run total.
Cousins' pitching in the playoffs makes him the first Penn baseball alum to compete in the MLB postseason since Mark DeRosa in 2009 with the St. Louis Cardinals. Additionally, Jake Cousins became the first Penn alum to pitch in the MLB postseason since Andy Coakley threw nine innings in the 1905 World Series for the Philadelphia Athletics.
Even shortly into his time with the Brewers this summer, Cousins saw a playoff berth as a strong possibility, given the positioning of his team in the standings and the talent already on the roster.
"We’ve got a good team," Cousins said to the DP in July. "Obviously, the goal is to win the division, and that’s the goal for right now. We’ve just gotta take little steps at a time, and like I said, day-by-day and each game."
Coming off of a rough playoff defeat, Cousins' future with the Brewers remains unclear, but regardless of what happens next, he did what no other Penn alum has been able to do for quite a long time.
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