JULY 1: Milwaukee placed Houser on the IL with a flexor strain. Counsell characterized testing as positive, suggesting the organization is hopeful Houser could begin a throwing program again within a few weeks (via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com).
JUNE 30: Brewers righty Adrian Houser departed tonight’s start in Pittsburgh in the third inning after experiencing tightness in his throwing elbow. Manager Craig Counsell said after the game that Houser was headed back to Milwaukee for further examination but was sure to land on the 15-day injured list (via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).
That’s an alarming turn of events, although more will obviously known once Houser goes through testing over the coming days. The 29-year-old has generally been an effective and durable arm over the past three and a half seasons. Aside from a brief absence due to COVID-19 protocols last summer, Houser had avoided the IL since recovering from a 2016 Tommy John procedure.
The sinkerballer has typically been one of the game’s preeminent ground-ball pitchers. Houser induced worm-burners on almost 60% of batted balls in both 2020 and ’21. That rate has dipped to a solid but not elite 47.1% this season, and he’s not coincidentally posted a 4.72 ERA through 76 1/3 innings. Slightly disappointing showing aside, Houser’s reliability in taking the ball 15 times has proven quite valuable for a Milwaukee staff hit hard by injuries.
The Brew Crew will be without Freddy Peralta until August because of a shoulder issue. Brandon Woodruff just returned from a month-long absence, while Aaron Ashby has missed the past ten days with forearm tightness. The southpaw could make his return as soon as this weekend, but getting Woodruff and Ashby back comes right at the time as the club loses Houser for at least a couple weeks. Jason Alexander and Chi Chi González are the top candidates to step into Houser’s rotation role alongside Woodruff, Ashby, Corbin Burnes and Eric Lauer.
I’d say go with Alexander. He’s struggled in relief duty, but somewhat understandable making the switch to the pen on the fly.
Alexander is quad-a journeyman trash. Ethan Small is the obvious replacement and the only one with upside. Small is already 25, so they should let him sink or swim.
Small wasn’t mentioned in the article.
Also not sure Small is quite ready. Pitchers we’ve brought up recently have had overpowering stuff. Small requires better command.
Plus…Alexander has been pretty solid as a starter…up until the last start, but he gets ground balls..
Still got a good 1-4 with Burnes, Woody, Lauer and Ashby. I’d be fine with Small or fine letting him continue to work on his command in AAA. He’s close though. And Kelly behind him.
Not quite as banged up as the Tigers’ rotation, but getting there. Hope Houser is okay.
I don’t really follow the Tigers at all, so I’ll take your word for that..and offer my sympathy.
They’re banged up, but their injured guys weren’t any good either lol
Chi Chi sucks
What about Josh Linbaum who is in AAA! He is still getting paid a ML salary and has experience?
I guess he’s no good, so instead they sign rejects from other teams and let them get lit up.
You’re right. There’s no way he’s worse than Chi Chi Gonzalez, but it’s obvious the Brewers will never call him up again or give him a fair shake. A lot of clubs are vindictive like this. They likely view his contract as a mistake and tried to force him to opt for free agency when they DFAed him (thereby giving up the future salary the Brewers signed him for and he’s entitled to). When he refused, they make it a point to punish him by making him waste his career at AAA regardless of how well he performs.
??? The Brewers are pitching him in AAA despite the fact that he’d been absolutely atrocious in the Big Leagues.
They paid him ~10M to play baseball. He hasn’t earned a spot…he’d be GIVEN one purely due to attrition.
But there’s not a thing we’ve done with him that’s been “vindictive.” The Brewers have moved off mistakes they’ve made quickly…and they’re not using the last 1.5M they owe Lindblom as some sort of vindictive power play.
By the way…not exactly crushing it at AAA. Struck out more last year…also walked more, but his BB/K ratio is worse this year.
Of the starters for the Sounds, he’s got the 4th highest Whip, the 5th highest ERA and…I’m not spending time going real deep on this one, but that should put that, “punish him by making him waste his career at AAA regardless of how well hie performs.”
I’m not against giving him a turn given the limited options, but this idea that…they’re angry with him is silly.
He is collecting a nice salary but he also has incentives built into his contract for reaching innings pitched thresholds. That is what the brewers are trying to avoid. These journeyman types only get the prorated league minimum for as long as they’re on the team. Lindblom gets his 3 million a year regardless but I think they have no interest in giving him any more money than that so they continue to leave him off the 40 man roster so they cant even be accused of manipulating his innings to avoid the bonuses. And he’s no better than Chi Chi or George Costanza so why bother.
His incentives don’t start until he reaches 90 innings pitched…and then it’s 150K IIRC. If Josh Lindblom…with all of his movement could figure out how to get the ball to go where he wanted it, the Brewers would LOVE for him to pitch well enough to throw 90 innings the rest of the year and earn those incentives.
None of those guys is Prime Pedro, but Chi Chi is just awful. Alexander is a guy who’s a GB pitcher and who with some luck can be serviceable.
Lindblom is a guy with incredible movement…some almost whiffle ball like pitches, but he can’t keep them over the plate and when he does they end up getting as a fans souvenir.
But out of the three, he seems like the most likely to be able to go out there and put a nice string of starts together that’s NOT just based on luck.
This is all within the context that we’re talking about our #5 pitcher here.