MLBTR Podcast: Skubal’s Injury, The Marlins’ Catchers, Eldridge Called Up, And Volpe Sent Down
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Tigers ace Tarik Skubal requiring elbow surgery (1:25)
- The Marlins calling up Joe Mack, optioning Agustín Ramírez and designating Chris Paddack for assignment (8:35)
- The Giants calling up Bryce Eldridge (21:50)
- The Yankees optioning Anthony Volpe (33:15)
- The Red Sox dealing with injuries to Garrett Crochet and others (41:55)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- What kind of package could the Rockies get if they traded Chase Dollander? (46:20)
- What can the Brewers do to address the left side of the infield? (56:50)
- Instead of using guys like Scott Kingery or Nicky Lopez on the bench, shouldn’t the Cubs call up a better player from the minors? (59:35)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Alex Cora Situation, Lucas Giolito Signs, And The Phillies Fire Rob Thomson – listen here
- Kevin McGonigle, The Padres’ Franchise Valuation, And Edwin Díaz To Miss Time – listen here
- Lenyn Sosa Traded, And Injury Concerns For The Astros, Cubs And Orioles – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Evan Petzold, Imagn Images
Brewers Release Jacob Waguespack
The Brewers have released right-hander Jacob Waguespack, who’s been pitching with their Triple-A affiliate in Nashville, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. He’s free to explore opportunities with other clubs now.
Waguespack, 32, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons with the Blue Jays and Rays. He’s totaled only 105 2/3 innings in the majors and has a 5.11 ERA, 18.9% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate to show for his efforts.
Lack of big league track record notwithstanding, Waguespack’s 2026 work in Nashville has been quite strong. The well-traveled righty has tossed 16 innings and held opponents to a 2.25 ERA with a huge 33.8% strikeout rate and an even gaudier 17.4% swinging-strike rate. His 16.2% walk rate could obviously stand to improve. Waguespack is sitting 92.1 mph on his four-seamer and coupling the pitch with a mid-80s cutter and a low-80s changeup.
Waguespack last pitched in the majors with the Rays in 2024. He split the 2025 season between the Triple-A affiliates of the Rays and Phillies, combining for a 2.45 ERA in 33 innings. Overall, he’s pitched in parts of six seasons in Triple-A and has a 4.13 ERA in 285 2/3 innings there. Beyond his work at the top minor league level, Waguespack has pitched a pair of seasons for Japan’s Orix Buffaloes. He was excellent there in 2022 (2.97 ERA, 26.2 K%, 9.4 BB%, 72 2/3 innings) before struggling in 2023 (5.77 ERA, 33.3%, 12.9 BB%, 43 2/3 innings).
It’s common this time of year for veterans on minor league deals to reenter the market, whether via an opt out or simply being granted their release with no clear path to a spot in the current organization’s big league roster. They’ll sometimes simply return to the setting where they’ve already been playing, but if a team with a more dire need for bullpen help shows interest — even on a another minor league deal — that might prove to be a better arrangement for the journeyman Waguespack as he looks to push his way back into the majors.
Angel Zerpa To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Brewers left-hander Angel Zerpa will undergo Tommy John surgery on Monday, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The left-hander will miss the remainder of this season and part of 2027 as well. He is on the 15-day injured list but will be transferred to the 60-day IL whenever Milwaukee needs to open a roster spot.
The news is awful but not surprising. Zerpa hit the IL about a week ago due to forearm tightness. Manager Pat Murphy said the injury was fairly concerning and that Zerpa would be going for further testing. In the following days, it was revealed that Tommy John surgery was a possibility. It now seems that no alternative was available, so Zerpa will go under the knife and face the standard recovery timeline of 14-plus months.
The Brewers clearly felt good about Zerpa’s chances of taking a step forward. He gave the Royals 177 innings from 2021 to 2025, allowing 3.97 earned runs per nine. His 19.7% strikeout rate was subpar but he had a strong 7% walk rate and excellent 57.1% ground ball rate. Milwaukee has a good reputation when it comes to helping players get the best of their talents. With Zerpa featuring upper-90s velocity, perhaps they could have found a way to have him miss more bats. Or maybe his ground ball tendencies could lead to him getting stretched out as a starter.
Milwaukee sent outfielder Isaac Collins and right-hander Nick Mears to Kansas City this past offseason in a two-for-one deal to get Zerpa. Whatever the Brewers had in mind for that deal is not going to pan out in the short term. Zerpa posted a rough 6.39 ERA in 12 appearances to start this year and will now be out of action until next summer.
Zerpa hit three years of big league service in 2025 and qualified for arbitration for the first time going into 2026. He and the Brewers agreed to a $1.095MM salary. He’ll be eligible for arbitration again for 2027 and 2028.
The Brewers will have to decide if they want to tender him a contract for next year when he might miss half of it. Since he is going to miss most of 2026, he won’t be able to secure much of a raise. Assuming the Brewers still feel good about Zerpa’s talent, giving him a bit over a million won’t be too much, since that is barely above this year’s league $780K minimum salary. It’s also possible that the next collective bargaining agreement pushes the minimum even higher. If Zerpa can get healthy and produce good results in the second half of 2027, the Brewers could retain him at a relatively affordable rate in 2028.
Despite having a number of injured lefties, the Brewers still have a balanced bullpen. Zerpa, Jared Koenig and Rob Zastryzny are all on the IL but they still have Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, Shane Drohan and Brian Fitzpatrick taking up four of their eight relief spots. Injuries and underperformance will surely lead to changes throughout the season. Zerpa won’t be able to help out but perhaps Koenig or Zastryzny will.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Brewers Designate Greg Jones For Assignment
The Brewers announced that both outfielder Jackson Chourio and first baseman Andrew Vaughn have been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. In corresponding moves, outfielder Blake Perkins has been optioned to Triple-A Nashville and infielder/outfielder Greg Jones has been designated for assignment.
The returns of Chourio and Vaughn should provide a sizable boost to a Brewers lineup that has relied heavily on complementary pieces in recent weeks. Milwaukee has a pair of 13-run outbursts in its past 11 games but has also been held to four or fewer runs seven times in that span. Much of the recent uptick in offense came against a D-backs staff that’s been struggling enormously over the past few weeks.
Chourio, 22, has missed the whole seasons thus far after suffering a fractured hand during exhibition play this spring. He went 1-for-9 with three walks in a brief three-game minor league rehab stint. The Brewers are hoping that the dynamic outfielder can recreate something close to — ideally better than — his career .272/.316/.463 slash (115 wRC+) with only minimal rehab work.
Similarly, Vaughn notched only one hit in three rehab games before his reinstatement. The former No. 3 overall pick enjoyed one of the most dramatic turnarounds in recent memory last year after going from Chicago to Milwaukee in a trade. Vaughn arrived in the Brewers organization with a career .248/.303/.407 batting line but erupted with a .308/.375/.493 batting line in 64 games down the stretch. He belted nine homers in 254 trips to the plate — then tacked on another two postseason taters in 30 plate appearances. Vaughn posted an outrageous .367/.436/.612 line in 55 spring plate appearances before incurring a hamate fracture that required surgery.
Jones went 2-for-21 in his brief time with the Brewers. He drew one walk, stole a base and struck out nine times in 22 plate appearances (40.9%). The 2019 first-rounder (Rays) only had 30 big league plate appearances to his credit. He’s spent parts of four seasons in Triple-A, where he’s a .262/.344/.438 hitter. Jones was drafted as a shortstop but has worked primarily as an outfielder in recent seasons. He has top-of-the-scale speed but marginal power and a bottom-of-the-scale hit tool that’s regularly produced strikeout rates north of 33% in Triple-A.
The Brewers will have five days to trade Jones, release him or place him on outright waivers. Outright waivers would be another 48-hour process, meaning Jones’ DFA will be resolved within a week’s time. He doesn’t have three years of major league service and has never cleared waivers before, so if he goes unclaimed this time around, he’ll be assigned outright to Nashville. He’d no longer count against the 40-man roster but would remain in the organization.
Brewers Notes: Chourio, Vaughn, Misiorowski, Henderson
Jackson Chourio‘s 2026 debut may be delayed by at least a few more days, as the outfielder fouled a ball off his left ankle during a Triple-A rehab game on Saturday. “We got an X-ray on it right away and thank God it’s negative,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters, though “we’ve got to see how he progresses. Today’s going to be a critical day.”
It isn’t uncommon to see players placed on the injured list in these instances, as even if a foul ball may not fracture or break anything, there can often be lingering soreness for days afterwards. Given Chourio’s importance to the Brewers, the team isn’t likely to rush anything in terms of his return, even if that means Chourio spends more time in Triple-A or his official rehab period is halted entirely.
Chourio knows all too well how a seemingly innocuous injury can linger, as x-rays were also negative on his left hand when he was hit by a pitch during a World Baseball Classic exhibition on March 4. The outfielder went onto play in the WBC and for the Brewers during the rest of Spring Training, but some additional soreness led to a check-up MRI just prior to Opening Day, and a new diagnosis of a minor hairline fracture.
As such, Chourio has yet to see any big league action this year, and he was already beyond the initial recovery timeline of 2-to-4 weeks. Monday was expected to be his activation date from the 10-day IL, before that errant foul ball delivered another setback.
It isn’t all bad news for the start of tomorrow’s series with the Cardinals, however, as Andrew Vaughn is expected to be activated from the 10-day IL. Vaughn’s 2026 campaign consists of just one game, as he sustained a hamate bone injury on Opening Day that required surgery. His recovery process hasn’t hit any snags, so he’ll return within the usual 4-to-6 week timeline associated to hamate surgeries.
After being dealt from the White Sox to the Brewers last June, Vaughn’s bat came to life, as he hit .308/.375/.493 with nine home runs in 254 plate appearances with his new club. Jake Bauers has done decently well while getting most of the first base playing time in Vaughn’s absence, but naturally Milwaukee’s lineup will benefit from getting closer to full strength.
It also looks like Jacob Misiorowski may have dodged a bullet after leaving his last start due to a hamstring cramp. Misiorowski came out a running drill yesterday feeling fine, but Murphy cautioned that the Brew Crew won’t be fully comfortable with the right-hander’s status until he throws without any discomfort. If all goes well, Misiorowski should line up to make his next start on Wednesday in St. Louis.
Brandon Woodruff‘s placement on the 15-day IL on Friday already left Milwaukee’s rotation even more short-handed, as Quinn Priester has yet to pitch this season due to a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder. The Brewers turned to Logan Henderson for the spot start today in Woodruff’s place, and Henderson delivered a quality start in the 3-2 loss to the Nationals. Henderson allowed two runs on three hits over six innings of work, while recording eight strikeouts and zero walks.
Henderson’s young career has been plagued by injuries to date, and he has logged only 302 1/3 pro innings (269 in the minors, 33 1/3 in the majors) since he was a fourth-round pick for Milwaukee in the 2021 draft. The right-hander made his MLB debut last season in the form of 25 1/3 innings, but his rookie year was cut short by elbow inflammation in early August. While the Brewers will continue to be careful with Henderson’s innings, today’s start might well earn him more looks in the big league rotation.
Brewers’ Angel Zerpa Could Require Tommy John Surgery
MAY 3: Murphy specified to Rosiak and company today that Zerpa is weighing a Tommy John surgery.
MAY 1: The Brewers placed lefty Angel Zerpa on the injured list earlier this week after he experienced forearm tightness. Manager Pat Murphy suggested not long after that the southpaw could be facing a lengthy absence. Murphy provided another ominous update Friday, telling the Brewers beat that surgery is on the table (via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).
A specific diagnosis remains unclear. Forearm tightness can be a precursor to a host of serious injuries for pitchers, including UCL and/or flexor tendon damage and irritation of the ulnar nerve, among other possibilities. The nature of the injury and the still under-consideration surgery will determine the length of absence, but it seems the Brewers shouldn’t plan on Zerpa returning anytime soon.
Milwaukee acquired Zerpa from the Royals in an offseason trade sending Isaac Collins and Nick Mears back to Kansas City. The Brewers sold high on both players — Collins in particular — in apparent hopes of acquiring a more controllable, hard-throwing lefty with big ground-ball numbers. Given Zerpa’s solid track record with K.C. and the Brewers’ success in coaxing new levels of performance out of players, there was reason to be optimistic about a potential breakout.
That hasn’t panned out in the slightest. Zerpa has appeared in a dozen games and been roughed up for 11 runs (nine earned) on 16 hits and six walks in just 12 2/3 frames. His 14.5% strikeout rate is among the lowest in the league, and his 10.9% walk rate is a career-worst mark. Zerpa’s sinker is averaging 95.6 mph — down a full mile per hour over last year’s average of 96.6 mph.
From 2021-25 in Kansas City, Zerpa combined to record a 3.97 ERA with a 19.7% strikeout rate, a 7% walk rate and a massive 57.1% grounder rate. He tended to struggle against right-handed opponents, but the Brewers presumably had some ideas about how to help him correct that problem.
With Zerpa increasingly looking like a 60-day IL candidate, any such hopes from the Brewers will be placed on hold. They control him through 2028, so there’s still some hope for down-the-road contributions even if he ends up requiring a major surgery. He’d need to be tendered a contract, but Zerpa is playing this season on a $1.095MM salary, so even the generally frugal Brewers wouldn’t find his salary to be a true roadblock.
Zerpa joined fellow southpaws Rob Zastryzny and Jared Koenig on the injured list when he landed there. Zastryzny is dealing with a back strain. Koenig has a UCL sprain that he’s currently trying to rehab without surgery.
Three lefty relievers on the injured list would normally deplete an organization’s supply, but the Brewers are deeper in southpaw bullpen arms than nearly any team in the sport. Even with Zerpa, Koenig and Zastryzny out, the have Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, Shane Drohan and Brian Fitzpatrick in the MLB bullpen. Fitzpatrick was added to the roster after Zerpa’s injury and just recently made his big league debut. Ashby and Hall both have ERAs under 2.50 with big strikeout numbers but troubling command woes.
Brewers Place Brandon Woodruff On IL With Shoulder Inflammation
2:30pm: Woodruff spoke to members of the media, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, shortly after being placed on the IL. He said there are no structural concerns and it should be a pretty minimal IL stint.
2:05pm: The Brewers announced that right-hander Brandon Woodruff has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Fellow righty Easton McGee has been recalled in a corresponding move.
The IL placement is unsurprising but ominous. Woodruff has been battling shoulder problems for years. He was limited to 11 starts in 2023 and eventually required surgery, which wiped out his entire 2024 season. He got back on the mound in the summer of 2025 and made 12 starts but then finished the season on the IL due to a lat strain.
The Brewers felt confident enough in Woodruff’s health to issue him a $22.025MM qualifying offer for 2026, a deal he accepted. He got healthy enough this spring to break camp with the club. However, alarm bells started ringing when he made his start yesterday, as his velocity was down about 7 mph. He had been averaging about 92 miles per hour in his previous starts but couldn’t really get past 85 mph yesterday.
Milwaukee removed him from the game but the details were a bit murky. Manager Pat Murphy said that Woodruff wasn’t experiencing any pain, but merely felt his arm was a bit dead. The Brewers weren’t sure if an IL stint would be necessary or if maybe they would simply try pushing his next start by a few days. He did go for an MRI and it seems there was enough concern to put him on the shelf for at least a couple of weeks.
Further details may be revealed later today but all the pieces add up to a worrisome situation. Woodruff hasn’t been fully healthy for an extended stretch of time since 2022 and it seems he can’t fully shake the shoulder problems.
For now, McGee gives them an extra bullpen arm. In a few days, they will need to figure out how to fill Woodruff’s spot in the rotation. Jacob Misiorowski is taking the ball today and should be followed by Kyle Harrison, Chad Patrick and Brandon Sproat in the subsequent games. By Tuesday at the latest, they’ll need either a bullpen game or another starter in the mix. If Woodruff is going to be out for a while, they will need to think about long-term solutions.
Shane Drohan, DL Hall and Jake Woodford have been throwing multi-inning stints out of the bullpen. Perhaps someone in that group could make a spot start or act as the bulk guy in a bullpen game, or maybe even a combo of those guys could cover a game. The Brewers also have options in the minors. Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser, Coleman Crow and Carlos Rodriguez are all on optional assignment in Triple-A right now, so someone in that group could be recalled.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Brandon Woodruff Sent For MRI After Velocity Dip
6:52pm: Woodruff has indeed gone for an MRI, writes Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Murphy said an injured list stint is a possibility but did not commit to that pending the imaging results.
1:53pm: Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff was removed from today’s game in the second inning with his velocity notably lower than usual. It quickly became obvious that something was off, as he started the game with his velocity way down. His fastballs were averaging around 85 miles per hour today, whereas he had been around 92 mph in his previous outings this year.
At this point, it’s unclear what the problem is, as Woodruff evidently wasn’t experiencing any pain. “He wasn’t himself,” manager Pat Murphy said in a mid-game interview on the TV broadcast, relayed by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He felt like, felt kind of dead. He said he didn’t feel any pain, just nothing was coming out. We’ve seen a little bit of this, but never at this level, where he can’t get the ball over 85 mph. He’s so important to us. We’re not going to risk anything, maybe long-term by having him to try to step on it. He’s going through this process and hopefully will be okay.”
A 7 mph drop in velocity would be worrisome for any pitcher. The concern is heightened since this relates to Woodruff, given his recent history. Shoulder problems limited him to just 11 starts in 2023. He eventually required surgery, which wiped out his entire 2024 campaign. He was able to return to the mound in the summer of 2025 and made 12 good starts, but finished the season on the injured list with a lat strain.
The Brewers felt good enough about Woodruff’s health to make him a $22.025MM qualifying offer, a notable gesture for a club that rarely pays players at that level. Woodruff took some time to explore his opportunities but eventually accepted the QO and returned to Milwaukee for 2026.
Coming into this year, he was ramped up in measured fashion and it wasn’t clear if he would be built up in time for the Opening Day roster, but he did eventually break camp with the Brewers. Through his first five starts, he had a solid 3.77 earned run average, though with some yellow flags. His 20% strikeout rate was a big drop from last year’s 32.3% clip. He seemed to benefit from a .235 batting average on balls in play. ERA estimators like his 4.06 FIP and his 4.27 SIERA felt he was lucky to have his ERA under 4.00.
Presumably, Woodruff is slated for some testing, with more information to be revealed in the coming days and weeks. If Woodruff needs to spend some time on the injured list, that would be a blow to the Milwaukee rotation. He is capable of ace-level production when at his best, with a 3.13 ERA and 28.8% strikeout rate in his career. But due to the shoulder issues, he hasn’t made more than 12 starts in a season since 2022.
The rest of the Milwaukee rotation is currently manned by Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, Chad Patrick and Brandon Sproat. Someone would have to step up to replace Woodruff if he needs to miss some time. DL Hall, Shane Drohan and Jake Woodford have been working multiple innings out of the bullpen of late and could perhaps step up with a spot start or working as a bulk guy in a bullpen game.
They also have guys in the minors they could pull from. Logan Henderson, Coleman Crow, Robert Gasser and Carlos Rodriguez are all on optional assignment in Triple-A. Any one of them could be an option to make a spot start or perhaps get a few turns in the rotation, depending on how Woodruff’s situation eventually pans out.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Brewers Select Brian Fitzpatrick, Outright Luis Matos
3:45pm: Manager Pat Murphy says that Zerpa’s issue is concerning, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The lefty is likely facing a notable absence but will undergo further testing and will get a second opinion.
2:45pm: The Brewers announced that left-hander Angel Zerpa has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 26th, with left forearm tightness. Fellow lefty Brian Fitzpatrick has been selected to take his place on the active roster. Milwaukee has had a 40-man vacancy since they designated outfielder Luis Matos for assignment last week. Matos cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Nashville, per the Brewers today.
Zerpa hasn’t been in good form this year, his first as a Brewer. He has a 6.39 earned run average and his fastball velocity is down about one mile per hour relative to last year. Details on his injury haven’t yet been provided but the club will perhaps provide some more info in the future.
Regardless of the specifics, his injury opens a path for Fitzpatrick to make his major league debut, a few weeks before he turns 26 in June. A tenth-round pick from 2022, Fitzpatrick isn’t a top prospect but put up some intriguing numbers in the minors last year. He started at High-A and quickly got bumped to Double-A. Between those two stops, he tossed 39 1/3 innings with a 2.06 ERA. He struck out 28.8% of batters faced while limiting walks to a 7.8% clip.
He got promoted to Triple-A in August but struggled, posting a 6.87 ERA over 13 appearances. He returned to that level to start 2026 and has fared much better, with 10 1/3 scoreless innings. He has a 28.9% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 54.5% ground ball rate. His four-seamer and sinker are both averaging above 93 miles per hour while he’s also throwing a slider and changeup around 83 mph.
Swapping in Fitzpatrick for Zerpa allows the Brewers to keep their bullpen balanced with four righties and four lefties, the other three southpaws being Aaron Ashby, DL Hall and Shane Drohan. That’s with Zerpa, Rob Zastryzny and Jared Koenig all on the IL. Since this is Fitzpatrick’s first time on a big league roster, he has a full slate of options and could be sent back to Triple-A at some point if other guys get healthy or fresh arms are needed.
As for Matos, he was once a notable prospect with the Giants but he struggled to produce in the majors. He languished in the minors a lot and eventually exhausted his option years. Out of options coming into 2026, he got squeezed into DFA limbo and was flipped to the Brewers in a cash trade. His struggles in the big leagues continued for a few weeks and the Brewers designated him for assignment last week.
Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he does not have the right to elect free agency. The Brewers can keep him as non-roster depth and will see if they can get him back on track. They have had some decent results with post-hype hitters, including Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers. With Matos, he has a .230/.279/.363 line in the majors but a much better .287/.345/.505 slash in Triple-A.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Imagn Images
Brewers Designate Luis Matos For Assignment
The Brewers announced that they have recalled infielder/outfielder Tyler Black and left-hander Shane Drohan. In corresponding moves, they have optioned right-hander Carlos Rodriguez and designated outfielder Luis Matos for assignment.
Matos, 24, was once a top prospect with the Giants. However, he struggled to click in the majors and exhausted his option years. Coming into 2026 out of options, the Giants couldn’t fit him onto their Opening Day roster, so he was designated for assignment.
The Brewers took a shot on him, sending cash considerations to San Francisco in exchange. Matos has been on their bench so far this year. He has stepped to the plate 21 times in nine games, producing a .200/.238/.200 line in those. He has now been squeezed into DFA limbo yet again, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Brewers could take as long as five days to see if there’s any trade interest.
The major league track record doesn’t provide much optimism, as Matos now has a .230/.279/.363 line in 614 plate appearances spread across four seasons. Any interest would be based on his past prospect pedigree and minor league production. He was a notable international signing and was considered a top 100 guy a few years ago. He’s been a better hitter in the minors but he’s been more good than great lately. He slashed .268/.329/.469 on the farm over 2024 and 2025 for a 104 wRC+.
If Matos lands somewhere else, he will need to be on the active roster, due to his out-of-options status. He has between one and two years of service time. If he does click on another roster, he can be controlled for four seasons after this one. If he were to clear waivers, the Brewers could keep him as non-roster depth.
Parting with Matos allows the Brewers to call up Black. He has also been a notable prospect in recent years but hasn’t been able to carve out much big league playing time. He was sent to the plate 70 times over the 2024 and 2025 seasons and was only able to produce a .211/.357/.263 line in that small sample.
He’s been much better in the minors. Dating back to the start of 2023, the first year he reached the Triple-A level, he has a combined .270/.395/.453 line and 128 wRC+. His 15% walk rate and 19.7% strikeout rate in that span are both a few ticks better than average.
His future defensive home has been more of a question. He has some experience at the non-shortstop infield positions and the outfield. The Brewers haven’t had him at second base since 2022 and he hasn’t played third since 2024. Even though they’re not getting much production from the left side of the infield right now, Black apparently won’t help in that regard.
He’s been playing the outfield corners more than first base this year, so perhaps the Brewers will have him in the outfield mix, since Jake Bauers is doing okay at first. They currently have Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich and Akil Baddoo on the injured list. That leaves them with Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell and Brandon Lockridge getting the playing time in the outfield, with Greg Jones and Blake Perkins on the bench. Mitchell is the only guy in that healthy group with a wRC+ above 95 at the moment, so perhaps Black can charge in ahead of the other guys. There’s also the designated hitter spot to consider, though the Brewers are largely using that to split playing time between catchers William Contreras and Gary Sánchez.
Photo courtesy of Mark Hoffman, Imagn Images