On a snowy January day in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Brewers introduced its newest trio of relievers in free agent left handers Tom Gorzelanny and Michael Gonzalez and righty Burke Badenhop, who was acquired via trade.

None was projected to be set up man or the closer, but they were new, veteran faces brought in from teams with winning track records to stabilize a bullpen that had been shaky through 2012.

Interestingly enough, Gorzelanny wasn’t the same kind of veteran as Gonzalez and Badenhop. The 30-year-old, nine-year veteran spent the majority of his career starting games for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs before the Washington Nationals started transitioning into a reliever role in 2011.

Gorzelanny split his time on the mound that year, making 15 starts and 15 relief appearances before making 44 relief appearances against one spot start for last year’s National League East champions.

He has adjusted well to that role, backing up his solid 2.88 earned run average last season with a 1.69 ERA through 13 appearances this year for the Brewers. He’s allowed just two earned runs and has been solid for manager Ron Roenicke setting up John Axford and Jim Henderson.

It doesn’t mean that it’s been easy, however.

"It’s still an adjustment for me," Gorzelanny admitted. "I haven’t been doing this my whole career. If you really think about it, it’s my second full season being a reliever, so there are still things I can learn about: how to get ready, how to approach guys. I feel like I’ve done a decent job adjusting to that and making the switch and knowing what I need to do, learning what I need to do and just being ready for each time. I think right now I’m at that point where I do know what it takes and what my body takes and what I need to do to be ready."

The biggest adjustment he has had to make is in his approach to facing hitters, even more so than the physical changes that need to made in preparing his body to throw multiple times in a week.

"It’s a different game, a different way to pitch," he said. "Starters, you set up guys (because) you’re there for the long run. You’re trying to pitch nine innings and you’re trying to stay out there to pitch to guys two, three, four times in a game. You’re not just focusing on those three or four hitters you’re going to face like you would out of the pen. You’re just worried about getting those guys out right now, right away.

"As a starter, you’re setting up guys, trying to make pitches, you’re not trying not get into patterns with guys. Obviously you’re trying to make outs but you don’t want to do the same exact thing the second or third at-bat because they’re going to catch on to you. They’re going to expect, or anticipate what you’re going to throw next."

Gorzelanny said he keeps a scouting report of each hitter he may face in the back of his mind as a reference point, but knows that in order to have success he needs to pitch to his strengths.

"If you’re trying to change what you throw just because the hitter doesn’t do something a certain way – like, well if he likes your slider and your slider is your out pitch, it doesn’t mean you’re going to start throwing fastballs and changeups when you don’t have a changeup," he said with a smile.

"If someone says he can’t hit a splitter, well, it’s like ‘I’m going to throw a splitter and try it out.’ You can’t do that."

The biggest aide to that process is Roenicke.

Gorzelanny has found that as a reliever, the man calling the shots from the dugout can be a reliever’s greatest ally.

"It all starts with your manager," he said. "He makes the call down there who they want up, but they look at matchups, what guys have done against guys, who they feel the best fit to come in for that situation. If it gets later in the game, the eighth and ninth inning, there’s two guys down there – your set up guy and your closer – but when you get in situations in the sixth, seventh inning, where the manager has to think about the best fit, that’s where it becomes pretty strategic.

"When it comes from the fifth inning on it becomes a chess match between managers."

With his background as a starter, Gorzelanny gives Roenicke some flexibility in his choices. He doesn’t have to come in just to face hitters on either side of the plate. Right handed batters are 0 for 16 against him heading into tonight’s game against Pittsburgh while lefties are just 1 for 15.

"I can’t say it’s more strategic but there’s definitely a pattern to what you need to do," he said of his approach. "You’re not just trying to get a first pitch heater over for a strike. You obviously want to pitch to your strengths but you need to know the hitter’s weakness.

"It’s definitely a different mentality."