The Brewers have released left-hander Zach Braddock in order to make room for utility man Brooks Conrad on the 40-man roster, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Braddock has not pitched since Spring Training because of personal issues which Brewers officials say they cannot disclose.
The 24-year-old was placed on the temporary inactive list at Triple-A Nashville roughly a month ago. In 2011, Braddock spent time on the disabled list to get treatment for a sleep disorder then missed more time due to other undisclosed matters.
At one point in time, Braddock was looked at as a potentially major bullpen piece for Milwaukee. Braddock turned in a 2.94 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in 2010.
Conrad will provide Milwaukee with support in the absence of first baseman Mat Gamel who suffered a torn ACL in his right knee.
Hope he gets the help he needs and can continue his career. as a fellow insomniac, i know how hard daily life can be impacted from not being able to sleep. insomnia is not as cool as it sounds
“insomnia is not as cool as it sounds”
Are you talking about that movie with Al Pacino and Robin Williams?
Or the old Dave Attel show. Man, was that show underrated.
oh my that movie was horrible…especially the foot chase scene very obviously using “stunt people” because those geriatrics could barely move.
I always liked Braddock, so I am a little bummed about this news. I remember some healthy debates with fellow Brewers fans about who would be the future closer between him and Ax. It is a shame he has been dealing with a few personal issues, and I hope it all gets sorted out and he gets back on his feet. Good luck in the future, Zach.
^^^Agree 100%; insomnia severely impacts every aspect of life and makes daily activities exceedingly more difficult. However, releasing Braddock seems like a strange move to me; are we sure that it’s insomnia related? Just speculating, but does “sleep disorder” + “undisclosed matters” sound like “exhaustion” with celebrities? And in the latter’s case, it’s often synonymous with drugs. I’m not saying that’s the case with Braddock, but something sounds amiss with this situation, more so than insomnia. That said, I don’t live near Mil., so I’m not privvy to local reporting; therefore, I’d be quite interested to here from someone in the Mil. area, who knows more about the particulars behind this move.
From Milwaukee and sadly, not really any reports locally of any issue other than what is given here…it’s kind of a surprise move as the Brewers have given him both time and space and seemed to be fine continuing to do so given he has pretty electric stuff from the left side.
I always hoped he would end up the lefty “closer” in the 8th– to precede Axford, like the Braves with Venters and Kimbrel.
Toddcoffeetime, so there are no local reports about his personal issues? Wow, I find that very strange, no? Furthermore, team officials say they “cannot disclose” any information regarding his troubles. Naturally, such secrecy leads to wild speculation, which I don’t like doing. However, this move seems so strange to me that I can’t help but think that something major is going on with Braddock; and I’m extremely doubtful that it is insomnia-related.
Also, you’re quite right, his stuff is electric (judging from the admittedly few innings I’ve seen him pitch on TV), which only adds to the mystery surrounding this move. Maybe we’ll hear more about as the situation unfolds; but whatever is going on, I wish him the best.
Yeah I definitely see where you’re coming from given the complete lack of information disclosed in this situation–sadly Braddock is kind of old news in Brewers circles as all of last year he was out of the picture as well after showing up late several times in spring training.
The only news coming from Milwaukee now is about the ridiculous injury issues the Brewers are enduring currently, as it has become a bit ridiculous.
Great. Conrad is just in time to play against the Giants this weekend. We (Giants) need all the help we can get.
Wasn’t Conrad the player that commited a couple of costly errors for the Braves a couple years ago in the playoffs?
During the NLDS against the Giants in 2012, Conrad was playing second base for the Braves when he let a ball go between his legs to allow the Giants to score the game winning run.
2010*
poor zack
yes conrad made those key errors that led to the downfall of the braves but he also had his game saving moments, braves wouldnt have made it to the playoffs if he hadnt have hit that grand slam and some good plays. he is a decent guy who works hard and i have always liked him