Brewers Release Roman Quinn

The Brewers have released outfielder Roman Quinn, per an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds. The journeyman outfielder signed with Milwaukee on a minor league deal on June 2 and has been suiting up for the Sounds since.

Quinn, who turned 30 in May, has split the 2023 regular season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Guardians and Brewers, struggling at both stops. In a combined 21 games, the speedster is hitting just .149/.337/.194 through a tiny sample of 89 plate appearances. It’s been the polar opposite of the 2022 season, when the right-handed-hitting Quinn posted a mammoth .296/.475/.636 slash in a similarly tiny sample of Triple-A playing time. On the whole, the former top prospect is a .265/.364/.397 batter in 484 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level.

A second-round pick by the Phillies back in 2011, Quinn long rated as one of that organization’s top prospects and briefly landed on the back end of top-100 prospect rankings from Baseball America (2013) and MLB.com (2016). He’s appeared in 222 games over parts of six MLB seasons, however, posting a tepid .226/.303/.348 slash in 599 turns at the plate.

Quinn was in the 96th percentile of MLB players in terms of sprint speed and 98th percentile for arm strength in 2022, per Statcast. Given that pair of tools, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that in 1004 career innings of center field work in the Majors, he’s been credited with positive marks in both Defensive Runs Saved (+4) and Outs Above Average (+7). Quinn has also shown well in brief looks in the outfield corners, and he’s swiped 43 bags (in 54 tries) despite his lackluster on-base numbers.

There’s plenty of speed and defensive upside to be had with Quinn, but his bat simply hasn’t produced at the game’s top level — and he’s had even greater struggles in limited Triple-A work so far in 2023. He’ll head back to the market in search of an opportunity with another club in need of some outfield depth.