4:29pm: Peralta will indeed remain in the rotation after the All-Star break, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). The move to option him, then, was simply a means of getting some additional arms in the ’pen. Peralta will be able to return to the club as early as Sunday after the All-Star break.
4:20pm: The Brewers announced this afternoon that veteran infielder Eric Sogard, who’d previously been designated for assignment, has been released. Milwaukee also announced that Wade Miley has been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list. Meanwhile, infielder Nate Orf and right-hander Jorge Lopez were optioned to Triple-A, with righties Adrian Houser and Alec Asher being recalled in their place. Lastly, right-hander Freddy Peralta was optioned to Class-A — though that move seems likely to be procedural in nature, as Peralta wouldn’t have been in line to pitch until after the All-Star break anyhow.
It’s been a nightmare of a season for the 32-year-old Sogard, who batted just .134/.241/.165 through 113 trips to the plate before being designated for assignment. He’s typically considered to be a strong defender at second base, but he’s spent more time this season at shortstop, where he hasn’t rated as well defensively.
Sogard’s production at the plate was a far cry fro last season’s .273/.393/.378 slash through 299 plate appearances — though he never seemed likely to repeat that career-best output. In 1743 career plate appearances at the MLB level, Sogard is a .238/.309/.314 hitter with terrific marks for his glovework at second base. He’s now able to sign with any club seeking to bolster its infield depth, and a new team will only owe him the pro-rated league minimum for any time spent in the Majors; the Brewers will be on the hook for the remainder of his $2.4MM salary — a sum of roughly $1.03MM through season’s end).
Miley, meanwhile, will return to the Brewers’ rotation after missing just over two months to a rather severe oblique injury. He pitched just 6 1/3 innings for Milwaukee earlier this season, missing the first several weeks of the year due to a groin strain and then injuring his oblique in just his second start of the season. Miley had a terrible run in 2016-17 between the Mariners and Orioles, leading him to a minor league pact with Milwaukee this season. He’ll look to reestablish himself as a useful source of innings moving forward, in hopes of securing a big league deal when he returns to the free-agent market this offseason.
Stearns is going to have to get pretty creative with the rotation in the next few weeks with Davies coming back as well. Not to mention the fact they may add another starter in a trade.
Good problem to have.
No
Can never have too many starters. Would be a nice to have an ace but pitching hasn’t been the issue this year. Who would’ve thought?
Yet. It’s a long season and you surely recall their post ASB a year ago. Flags aren’t won in June….
We also lost our Ace in August, and missed the playoffs by 1 game. 2014 is a better example.
They also didn’t have Knebel as the closer the entire season. Not sure how many blown saves Neftali Feliz had to start but it was definitely more than a handful
I believe it was 6
They have wade miley as their ace.
If Miley works, keep him in. If he struggles, option him to AAA. Davies was great last year but this year has been iffy. I’m very pleased with freddy Peralta, and he, Anderson, and Chacin should have a long leash. Junior Guerra has also been surprisingly decent iirc so Suter, Davies, and Miley fighting for 5 is pretty good. If we acquire a DeGrom type (however unlikely) then move as necessary. That’s the Brewers’ main pitching problem. They have great depth, but no bona-fide WC game ace. That’s not the worst problem to have.
Well said. I don’t think “Miley has returned to the rotation” but has been given one start, and an emergency one at that. Like Nelson, I think expecting anything this year from Davies would be foolish. Stearns has said he has no desire to add depth to the rotation but is looking to add at the top. You get the idea that, unlike the national commentators, he actually watches the games. I’m confident that he sees all the weak areas that we fans see.
Only way Miley goes back to AAA is on rehab, or option with his permission. He’s got the time in to refuse an assignment and become a FA, which he may due this time of year with teams looking for pitching.
“Junior Guerra has also been surprisingly decent ”
This is a common opinion. And one I cannot figure out. Do you folks not realize that Junior Guerra has the lowest career ERA in a Brewers uniform of any pitcher to make 40 starts for them? Not this season… I’m talking about the entire history of the Brewers franchise.
True, the Brewers have never had much in the way of ace starters, but his ERA is lower than Mike Caldwell, Ben Sheets, Teddy Higuera, Chase Anderson, Jimmy Nelson… all of them.
So people should stop saying he’s been good, but…
He’s just flat out good.
Davies and Miley to the pen Burnes to the rotation
Davies had setbacks. He may not pitch this season again
I don’t really think Brewers have pitching issue as much as the writers think. while I think perfect scenario is trade for Manny and bring up Huira for second. I also wonder if trades for Andrus and Devon Travis would possibly be a better way to go. Yes I know Travis is injury prone but maybe getting him off astro-turf might help a lot. I do also think Evoldi from Miami will be the pitcher to change someone’s team this year.
I’m not buying the fact that an infielder is getting injured from the rare amount of time he spends in the grass
In Toronto the infield is turf too… the only clay part of the field is the corners of the diamond
the infield has been dirt since the beginning of 2016
I do think it has impact on your body. in all seriousness go walk on cement for a hour and then walk an hour on grass tell me you don’t feel the difference. Of course I’m old so I feel it and no not taking a shot at anyone just making an observation on something
you’re totally right, walking on concrete all day is worse for your joints, but this stuff is layered with sand/rubber mixtures and it is almost comparable to real turf
Will take your word for it
Of course it does. Just look at what happened to Ken Griffey Jr. after playing on turf in Seattle for all those years. He went to Cincinnati and his body broke down
Steve, this article does not show up on the Brewers feed. Great updates as always, thank you.
After the ASG, I imagine Kratz will be DFA’ed and Bandy brought back up. Unrelated speculation, sure, but it only makes sense for the Brew Crew to go that route.
bandy>kratz
I don’t know if I’m buying that
I like the Brewers middle defense. In the games I watched, SS Tyler Saladino and 2B Jonathan Villar made key contributions. With Hernan Perez and Brad Miller backing them up, the Brewers seem well rounded. The biggest need is SP and C. Manny is not a good fit in MIL.
Herman*
Maybe Miley should sign a contract as a batting-practice pitcher. That seems to be his skill set. Toss… CRACK!
I said this when the brewers signed wade miley. He’s now their ace. Adding him to the team immediately makes him their #1 lol.
No, the Brewers have about six or seven #3 starters. sometimes quantity is a quality. There are a lot of teams that wish they had a 117 ERA+.
Also, you may have missed that Junior Guerra has a 127 ERA+ in more than 50 career starts for the Brewers. Is he a household name? No. But household names cost huge $$ that would not be possible for a middle class team like the Brewers.
If his era was 127 he’d be in rookie ball. Plus beginners luck.
The Brewers use a 30-man roster basically. Does every team do this minor league shuffle?