The Brewers announced they’ve selected right-hander Kevin Herget onto the MLB roster in advance of tonight’s game in Kansas City. Janson Junk was optioned to Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move. To create space on the 40-man roster, Milwaukee transferred Jakob Junis from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.
Milwaukee also announced that starter Freddy Peralta will begin serving his five-game suspension tonight. The right-hander received the ban after MLB determined he intentionally threw at Rays outfielder Jose Siri last week. Players suspended for on-field rules violations cannot be replaced on the roster. The Brewers will play with 25 men for the next few days.
Herget returns to American Family Field for his second stint of the season. Milwaukee signed him to a minor league deal in Spring Training and selected his contract two weeks into April. They designated him for assignment a few days later and passed him though waivers. The 33-year-old accepted the minor league assignment and is back after making six more appearances in Nashville. Five of those were scoreless. Herget has had one nightmare outing where he was tagged for five runs in an inning and a third. Otherwise, he has kept opponents off the board this season.
The Brewers never called upon Herget during his first stay in the big leagues, so he’s still looking to make his team debut. He has pitched for the Rays and Reds over the past two years. In 31 1/3 innings, he owns a 5.74 ERA with a well below-average 12.4% strikeout rate. Herget has allowed 4.23 earned runs per nine across parts of seven seasons in Triple-A. His 22.8% strikeout percentage at the top minor league level is closer to average. He also consistently throws strikes, walking fewer than 7% of Triple-A opponents and only 4.4% of batters faced in his limited MLB work.
Junis has been out since April 3, when he landed on the IL with a shoulder impingement. The 60-day minimum is retroactive to the time of his initial placement on the injured list. He’ll be out of action until at least the start of June. Junis’ rehab hit a scary setback when he was struck in the head by a fly-ball during batting practice a couple weeks ago.
The righty was taken to a hospital for further evaluation but thankfully indicated a few days later that he didn’t suffer any serious injuries. He has been lightly throwing recently but will still need to build his pitch count and embark on a minor league rehab assignment. Junis started the season in the rotation after signing a $7MM free agent deal over the offseason. The Brewers have suggested he might work out of the bullpen once he’s ready to return.
Too bad you didn’t wait until we played you guys. You’ll DFA him by then
Why doesn’t MLB let players fight like the NHL?
The Brewers are going to have the cleanest barrel in baseball.
Can the Brewers fix Herget? He was so bad for the Angels
Wrong Herget. That was Jimmy, who is with the Braves now.
Ahhhh. Ok. Thanks. Makes much more sense now.
This is the much worse Herget. Think the Brewers can fix him after how bad he was with the Reds and Rays?
And so Janson Junk gets his jersey in the rafters alongside Grant Balfour and Homer Bailey in the Pitcher Name Hall of Fame.
Don’t forget Bob Walk and Eric Plunk.
Or Josh Outman
How about Richard Lovelady?