The Brewers made a host of moves Thursday, perhaps most notably optioning lefty Eric Lauer to their alternate training site. Milwaukee also placed righty Justin Grimm on the 10-day injured list due to a laceration on his right index finger. In a pair of corresponding moves, lefty Angel Perdomo was recalled from the alternate site and righty Drew Rasmussen’s contract was selected to the MLB roster. In order to open space on the 40-man roster for Rasmussen, the Brewers transferred right-hander Ray Black from the 10-day IL to the 45-day IL.
Lauer, 25, was acquired along with Luis Urias in the trade that sent Zach Davies and Trent Grisham to the Padres back in November. He was a constant presence in the Padres’ rotation from 2018-19, but he’s gotten out to a tough start in his first few appearances as a Brewer. Lauer has made a pair of starts and one relief appearance thus far but yielded 13 runs in 9 1/3 frames. Lauer’s 2 2/3-inning relief appearance could hardly have gone better — he whiffed six hitters in a scoreless effort — but he’s been hit hard by the Reds and Twins in two subsequent starts.
The 26-year-old Perdomo has a strong minor league track record but ran into a roadblock in last year’s supercharged offensive atmosphere in Triple-A (5.17 ERA in 54 frames). Despite the bloated ERA, though, Perdomo still punched out 86 hitters in those 54 innings of work. He’ll give skipper Craig Counsell a fourth lefty out of the ’pen, joining Josh Hader, Brent Suter and Alex Claudio. His first appearance in a game will mark his Major League debut.
Rasmussen is also slated to make his first MLB showing. The 25-year-old averaged 11.6 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 while working to a 3.15 ERA through 74 1/3 innings across three minor league levels last year. That marked the lone season of professional experience for the 2018 sixth-rounder, who’ll now jump directly from Double-A to the big leagues after impressing the club both in Summer Camp and at the alternate training site.
As for Black, it seems as though he’s now in danger of another season-ending injury. The flamethrowing righty brings triple-digit heat and outrageous minor league strikeout numbers, but he’s simply been unable to stay healthy enough to establish himself in the Majors. Black went on the injured list due to a rotator cuff strain to begin the season, and today’s move to the 45-day IL suggests that the club doesn’t expect him back anytime soon.
I think in the early stages..The Padres won this trade SO FAR
Urias can still come up big for the brewers potential is there all padre fans know this…. But Lauer over ZD cmon man. has shown some serious poise and stability for what the pads need….and how many times did lauer get blown up as a padre.
As a second baseman… perhaps, but employing him at short is a huge mistake
The Brewers end of the trade will be judged by Urias, it always was going to be judged by Urias
Brewers want to make anymore trades? I don’t know if they have any starting pitching worth anything…
Who would they trade? The farm is pretty desolate and not playing doesn’t help. Yelich and huiara are untouchable. Hader might be your only piece but you hate to deal him unless you get a Kings ransom in return.
woodruff and houser
you could argue Peralta is with his contract
Woodruff is about the only starter we got worth a darn so why trade him. Houser and peralta I could see, but won’t bring back much unless we fleece a team….which we’ve done a bit lately.
I think the Brewers are sitting pretty well for years to come with this pitching staff. They are going to be sneaky good and are going to surprise teams. They may need to now consider to trading a very good third or first baseman with years of control. Still don’t think Gyorko, Smoak, and Sogard can be on this team. For as bad as they are playing might as well bring up Erceg, Nottingham, Taylor, and Gatewood.
Gyorko has an OPS near 1.000
Woodruff and Houser are solid, but Lauer a big disappointment this year. Anderson is marginal at best, Lindblom doesn’t look MLB-ready despite his KBO success. Burnes will doubtless be moved back into the starting rotation.
Sixty games or not, the offensive roster is beginning to look like it was put together with band-aids. Too much stress on positional flexibility, not enough on everyday talent like Yelich and Hiura. Doesn’t help that Cain is gone or that Narvaez is hitting below the Mendoza line.