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Brewers Designate Phil Bickford For Assignment

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The Brewers have designated right-hander Phil Bickford for assignment, per a club announcement. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to right-hander Zack Godley, whose contract has been selected from the team’s alternate training site. Manager Craig Counsell indicated last night that Godley’s contract would be selected, and outfielder Corey Ray would be optioned, but the corresponding 40-man move was only revealed this morning.

Bickford, 25, was the No. 10 overall pick by the Blue Jays back in 2013. He opted to attend college rather than sign, but he was again a first-rounder once eligible, going to the Giants with the No. 18 overall selection. San Francisco traded Bickford and catching prospect to Milwaukee in exchange for lefty Will Smith back in 2016, but Bickford has yet to establish himself as a viable big league arm. He’s tossed just two innings in the Majors — one in 2020 and one in 2021 — allowing a total of six runs.

Bickford’s path to the big leagues hasn’t exactly been a straightforward one. He served a 50-game suspension after a second positive test for a drug of abuse in 2017. Upon returning, he was struck in the hand by a batted ball, fracturing both the pinkie and ring finger in his pitching hand, which required surgery to repair. Because of that suspension and surgery, Bickford totaled just 51 2/3 innings from 2017-18.

A return to the mound in a bullpen role in 2019 proved quite fruitful, when Bickford notched a 2.48 ERA and a whopping 41.1 percent strikeout rate in Class-A Advanced, but the lack of minor league games in 2020 and so far in 2021 hasn’t done any favors for his development. All in all, he sports a 2.98 ERA in 226 2/3 frames, but Bickford will also turn 26 this summer and hasn’t pitched above High-A with the exception of those two MLB innings.

The Brewers will have a week to trade Bickford or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. Given his former pedigree, a solid minor league track record and a pair of minor league options remaining, it’s possible that another club will look at him as an intriguing project.

Brewers To Select Zack Godley

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The Brewers will select right-hander Zack Godley’s contract prior to their game against the Marlins on Wednesday, manager Craig Counsell told Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters. Godley is not on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, which is full, so they will have to clear a spot before he makes the start in Miami.

Godley, whom the Brewers signed to a minor league contract last month, will earn at an $800K rate now that he’s back in the majors. The 31-year-old will also temporarily take over in the Brewers’ rotation for left-hander Brett Anderson, who’s on the 10-day injured list with a strained hamstring.

Godley brings a fair amount of experience in teams’ rotations, having started in 88 of 136 appearances since he debuted with the Diamondbacks in 2015. He put together impressive numbers during his best season, 2017, when he threw 155 innings of 3.37 ERA/3.67 SIERA ball with a 55.3 percent groundball rate. Godley has not approached that type of success since then, however, and is now coming off an especially difficult two-year stretch divided among the D-backs, Blue Jays and Red Sox.

Last season in Boston, opposing offenses lit up Godley for 42 hits and nine home runs in 28 2/3 innings, which helped lead to a career-worst 8.16 ERA. Godley, who averaged just under 90 mph on his fastball, also registered a personal-low grounder rate (40.8) and a below-average strikeout percentage (19.6).

Brewers Select Pablo Reyes

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The Brewers have selected the contract of utility player Pablo Reyes and optioned outfielder Corey Ray, the team announced.

A member of the Pittsburgh organization from 2012-20, Reyes joined the Brewers on a minor league deal this past winter. An 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs wiped out Reyes’ 2020 season, but he did see major league action in each of the previous two campaigns. The 27-year-old made an impressive debut over 63 plate appearances in 2018, but his production plummeted across a much larger sample size (157 PA) the next season. Overall, Reyes has batted .229/.295/.368 with five home runs in 220 trips to the plate at the game’s highest level.

Defensively, Reyes has played both middle infield positions, third base and all three outfield spots in the majors. Even if Reyes doesn’t hit well, he’ll at least give the Brewers a defensively versatile option off their bench.

Latest On Christian Yelich

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TODAY: The Brewers are hopeful that Yelich may be able to return to the roster before the end of the week, per Jon Morosi of the MLB Network (via Twitter). That would be a pretty sizable pickup for the Brewers, who sit atop the NL Central despite numerous injuries on the offensive side of the ball.

APRIL 25: Yelich’s MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, Counsell told Tom Haudricourt (Twitter link) and other reporters.  The MRI “was to rule out anything and get another piece of information.  We ruled out anything significant,” Counsell said.

APRIL 24: Christian Yelich hasn’t played since April 11 due to a lower back strain that eventually led to an injured list placement on April 17.  Since that placement was backdated to April 14, Yelich was eligible to be activated today, though Brewers manager Craig Counsell said yesterday that Yelich wouldn’t make an immediate return.

Counsell’s latest update today is a little more concerning, as the skipper told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter links) and other reporters that Yelich would receive an MRI on his ailing back.  Yelich has “hit a plateau” in his recovery process, as Counsell put it, and the MRI will allow all parties “to get more information” on the outfielder’s condition.

Yelich has been dealing with lingering back issues for a few years, including a minor bout of soreness during Spring Training that caused him to miss a few Cactus League games.  The fact that Yelich’s back is still bothering him after close to two weeks is certainly cause for further examination, and the hope is that the MRI won’t reveal a more longer-term problem.

Plagued by minor injuries and just a lack of timing in 2020, even the “off-year” version of Yelich was still good enough to contribute a 111 OPS+/113 wRC+ and a .205/.356/.430 slash line over 247 plate appearances last season.  While not back to his MVP-level form of the 2018-19 seasons, Yelich was showing some improvement (though a lack of power) over 2020’s numbers in his first few games this year, hitting .333/.459/.367 over his first 37 PA.

Avisail Garcia also isn’t playing today due to a sore back, adding to the Brewers’ injury woes in the outfield with Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Derek Fisher, and utilitymen Jace Peterson and Tim Lopes all on the 10-day IL.  Jackie Bradley Jr. is the only regular left for Milwaukee, with Billy McKinney and Tyrone Taylor picking up the slack for their sidelined teammates.

Brewers Place Brett Anderson, Josh Lindblom On 10-Day IL

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The Brewers announced that left-hander Brett Anderson (strained right hamstring) and right-hander Josh Lindblom (right knee effusion) have been on the 10-day injured list.  Right-hander Phil Bickford and outfielder Corey Ray were called up from the alternate training site to fill the spots on the active roster, and Ray is now in line to make his Major League debut.

Anderson threw only 11 pitches Friday before being removed from his start against the Cubs, resulting in an unexpected bullpen game for Milwaukee and a 15-2 loss.  Lindblom was the next pitcher in to replace Anderson, and the two hurlers combined to allow 11 earned runs over four innings of work.

With Anderson out of action, the Brewers could lean on their bullpen to cover his next start or two, or turn to one of multiple starters working at the team’s alternate site.  Jordan Zimmermann, Zack Godley, and Eric Lauer are all candidates, with Patrick Weigel perhaps the top option among the more inexperienced candidates (Weigel has only two-thirds of an inning as a big leaguer).

Ray was the fifth overall pick of the 2016 draft, and he is getting his first taste of the majors at age 26.  As a pro, Ray has shown only flashes of the potential he showed at the University of Louisville, battling injuries and hitting .235/.311/.406 over 1665 plate appearances in the Milwaukee farm system.  MLB Pipeline still ranks Ray 24th among all Brewers prospects, noting the plus speed and plus glovework and throwing arm that make him a viable center fielder, but Ray’s hitting ability is has been held back by a lot of strikeouts.  Given that the Brewers are dealing with several outfield injuries, Ray should get a pretty immediate opportunity for playing time.

NL Central Notes: Cardinals, Yelich, Anderson, Hayes

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Facing a run of 17 games in 17 days, the Cardinals will move to a six-man rotation for the time being, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Young righty Johan Oviedo will make at least a pair of starts to afford the remainder of the Cardinals’ rotation five days of rest between outings. Pitching coach Mike Maddux says the team is focused on “keeping guys fresher for September and we hope October” with a shift to a larger starting staff. Right-hander Miles Mikolas, who has yet to pitch this season due to shoulder troubles (after missing the 2020 season because of flexor tendon surgery), is still a few weeks away from being a viable rotation option, per Goold. As such, the Cards will rely on Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, Kwang Hyun Kim, John Gant, Carlos Martinez and Oviedo to make starts for the foreseeable future.

A few more notes from the division…

  • Brewers star Christian Yelich won’t be activated from the injured list when he is first eligible Saturday, manager Craig Counsell tells reporters (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Counsell didn’t offer a potential return date for Yelich, who hasn’t played since April 11 because of a back ailment. Billy McKinney has been the Brewers’ main left field fill-in since Yelich went down, and though he hasn’t gotten on base much, his .275/.293/.550 line through 41 plate appearances is 25 percent above the league-average mark, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric.
  • McKinney hit his third homer of the season Friday, but the Brewers still took a 15-2 beating at the hands of the division-rival Cubs. The game started inauspiciously for Milwaukee, which saw starter Brett Anderson exit with an injury in the first inning after facing four batters and surrendering three earned runs on three hits. Anderson said after the game that he’s dealing with a hamstring issue and will undergo an MRI, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. The Brewers will know Saturday whether the 33-year-old southpaw will require an IL stint.
  • Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes suffered a setback in his left injured wrist earlier this week, but he’s “doing better” now, manager Derek Shelton said (via Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic, on Twitter). Shelton added that the Pirates will know more on Hayes’ status when their road trip ends Sunday. Hayes was a popular NL Rookie of the Year pick entering the season, but he has only played in two games so far, and there’s no clear timetable for his return.

Brewers Designate Jacob Nottingham For Assignment

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The Brewers announced Thursday that they’ve reinstated catcher Jacob Nottingham from the 10-day injured list and designated him for assignment. He’s been on the IL all season to this point following offseason thumb surgery.

Nottingham, 26, was a sixth-round pick by the Astros back in 2013 but has since been traded to the A’s (for Scott Kazmir) and then to Milwaukee (for Khris Davis). He’s appeared in parts of the past three seasons, hitting .203/.306/.432 in 85 trips to the plate. He’s also punched out in 35.6 percent of those plate appearances against a strong 10.6 percent walk rate.

At the time of both trades, Nottingham was a prospect of some note, but he’s never really tapped into enough of his above-average raw power. Scouting reports have long credited him with a strong arm to go along with that power, but they’ve also panned his overall defensive profile behind the dish.

Nottingham is out of minor league options, so Milwaukee either had to put him on the big league roster or designate him for assignment. With Omar Narvaez and Manny Pina both healthy — and Narvaez hitting at a ridiculous .396/.455/.604 pace — the Brewers unsurprisingly opted for the latter. They’ll now have a week to trade Nottingham or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. The latter route would allow them to assign him outright to their alternate site, keeping him in the organization while no longer occupying a 40-man roster spot.

Brewers To Reinstate Kolten Wong From Injured List

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The Brewers are planning to activate second baseman Kolten Wong from the injured list before Friday’s series opener against the Cubs, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Milwaukee is off tomorrow.

Wong went on the IL with a left oblique strain April 10, but he’ll only miss a few days more than the 10-day minimum. The team more than held their own in his absence, compiling an 8-3 record punctuated by a three-game sweep of the Padres. Still, Wong’s return will be a welcome development for a Milwaukee club that added him in free agency over the winter. He hasn’t hit much over his first seven games as a Brewer, but Wong has a lengthy track record of solid offense and Gold Glove caliber defense at the keystone.

With Wong back manning second base, the Brewers figure to bump Keston Hiura back to first and push Daniel Vogelbach out of the starting lineup. Hiura, though, is off to a dreadful start to the year after struggling in 2020.

Brewers Sign Dee Strange-Gordon

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April 21: The Brewers have now formally announced their minor league agreement with Strange-Gordon. He’s been assigned to their alternate training site for the time being.

April 8: The Brewers have agreed to a minor league contract with infielder/outfielder Dee Strange-Gordon, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets.

Milwaukee will be the second straight National League Central organization for Strange-Gordon, who spent time with Cincinnati during the offseason and in the spring. The Reds ended up releasing him toward the end of March, and though Strange-Gordon subsequently rejected minors offers from other teams, he’ll now settle for one a little over a week into the season.

While the 32-year-old Strange-Gordon has an accomplished resume – two All-Star bids, an NL batting title, a Gold Glove Award and three seasons with at least 58 stolen bases – the former Dodger, Marlin and Mariner has struggled recently. From 2018-20 in Seattle, Strange-Gordon batted a meek .266/.293/.343 (good for a 73 wRC+) in 1,091 trips to the plate. Strange-Gordon stole 55 bags in that span and saw time in the middle infield and multiple outfield positions, but the Mariners made the easy decision to decline his $14MM club option in favor of a $1MM buyout after last season.

Now that he’s joining the Brewers, Strange-Gordon will give the team some middle infield depth behind Kolten Wong and Luis Urias after it dealt Orlando Arcia to the Braves on Tuesday. The Brewers’ outfield boasts Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Avisail Garcia as regulars, while Daniel Robertson and Billy McKinney are on their bench.

Neil Walker Announces Retirement

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Longtime major league second baseman Neil Walker has retired from baseball at the age of 35. Walker broke the news to Sweeny Murti of WFAN as a guest on the “30 for Murti” podcast.

A Pittsburgh native, Walker was a first-round pick (No. 11) of his hometown Pirates in 2004. Five years later, Walker made a 17-game big league debut, and he became both a regular and a consistently solid contributor beginning the next season. During a 3,386-plate appearance run from 2010-15, the switch-hitting Walker put up five seasons of at least 2.4 fWAR (including a career-high 4.1 in 2014, when he won a Silver Slugger Award) and batted .273/.338/.443 with 93 home runs.

Walker’s time with the Pirates concluded when they traded him to the Mets for left-hander Jon Niese prior to the 2016 campaign. The move didn’t work out at all for the Bucs, with whom Niese’s production spiraled, though Walker continued to perform well in Queens. He batted .275/.344/.462 and smacked 33 HRs over 757 PA in a Mets uniform in parts of two seasons, but with the team out of contention late in 2017, it traded him to the Brewers for the stretch run.

Walker didn’t re-sign with the Brewers, instead returning to New York n a one-year, $4MM guarantee with the Yankees. With a .219/.309/.354 line in 398 trips to the plate, Walker turned in his worst offensive season as a regular in 2018. He enjoyed somewhat of a bounce-back campaign the next season on a $2MM deal as a member of the Marlins, though he still had to settle for a minor league contract with the Phillies going into 2020. While Walker did make it to the majors for a 12th straight season, he struggled enough over 18 games that the Phillies designated him for assignment in September.

Although Walker had a less-than-ideal ending, he still enjoyed a far more successful and lucrative career than the vast majority of major leaguers. He’ll end with a .267/.338/.426 line, 149 homers and 21.6 fWAR/19.6 rWAR across 1,306 games and 5,152 trips to the plate. Walker also earned nearly $52MM in the bigs, per Baseball-Reference.com.

MLBTR congratulates Walker on an impressive career and wishes him the best in retirement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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