The Brewers have placed corner outfielder Hunter Renfroe on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. Milwaukee selected infielder Mark Mathias onto the big league roster in a corresponding move. The Brewers’ 40-man roster tally now sits at 38.
Milwaukee acquired Renfroe from the Red Sox over the winter, attaching prospects David Hamilton and Alex Binelas to the contract of Jackie Bradley Jr. in order to bring in Renfroe. The power-hitting outfielder had made a favorable impression on his new club, hitting .266/.303/.503 with nine home runs through 155 plate appearances. That’s been a marked upgrade over Bradley’s .163/.236/.261 production as the primary right fielder last season, a much-needed boost for a Milwaukee team that was middle-of-the-pack offensively in 2021. Manager Craig Counsell suggested to reporters (including Sophia Minnaert of Bally Sports Wisconsin) the club expects Renfroe back within ten to fourteen days.
Mathias is back in the majors for the first time this season. The Brew Crew had outrighted the right-handed hitter off their 40-man roster last November on the heels of a campaign lost to shoulder surgery. Mathias returned to health this year and has earned his way back with an incredible showing at Triple-A Nashville. Over 106 plate appearances, he’s hitting .341/.425/.549 with four home runs. Mathias has also walked in an impressive 11.3% of his trips to the dish while only striking out 19.8% of the time.
That work earns the 27-year-old his first MLB call in two years. A former Cleveland prospect, Mathias tallied 36 plate appearances over 16 games for the Brewers in 2020. That marks the entirety of his big league experience to date, but he’s a .262/.356/.406 hitter in parts of six minor league seasons. Mathias has experience at each of second base, third base and shortstop. The bulk of that playing time has come at the keystone.
Injure, injured, injured, this is baseball, a cut above the rest
This is becoming tiresome
At least he still has his Raiders gig…
Would love to see these guys make more noise in the playoffs this year. Long overdue!
It really helps to play in a division with three of the worst teams in the league. That helps soften the blow a bit.
A’s and who else, themselves??? lol
Renfroe leaves a really tough division (AL East) to go to a division with Cincinnati, Pittsburg, and the Cubs wow. Any player should perform better as 57 games (1/3 of the season) are against some of the worst team in the MLB
A little background on his time in Cleveland. He was taken in the third round of the 2015 draft. The fourth round pick was another infielder named Tyler Krieger. Both were basically brought along together, becoming teammates on 2016 at High A before being promoted to AA. Where they both would remain and struggle for 3 years.
Their first two years in the org they did so well that they were frequently compared to each other. Krieger was more consistent, Mathias was constantly hurt. After basically three years of failing to be an above average hitter at AA, they were both lapped by the 24th round pick of that draft – Sam Haggerty, who spent 3 years at various A ball levels (they both skipped low A), but only needed one trip through AA. Haggerty made himself valuable enough to be traded for backup catcher Kevin Plawecki. He’s now on the Mariners.
None of those three were thought to be the best IF prospect of that draft, as in the 20th round they went way overslot to sign Luke Wakamatsu, son of famous coach Don Wakamatsu. Luke was supposed to be unsignable and there was thoughts he would be a first rounder in a future draft but the Cleveland FO made it happen. He was MLB’s #91 ranked prospect in that draft, suggesting he should have been about a 3rd rounder.
Mathias broke through a bit in 2019, his first trip to AAA. Posted his first above average season by wRC+ since 2016 at High A. He was going to be left off the 40 man roster but the Brewers elected to trade for him and add him, instead of having those Rule V restrictions.
Krieger is currently on the IL for Atlanta’s AA team. I find it kind of interesting how their careers intersect and such. That 2015 draft class also featured Brady Aiken (former #1 overall pick who the Astros didn’t sign after a medical issue), Triston McKenzie (current best starter in Cleveland), and a switch pitcher (Ryan Perez, released after two years).