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Brewers Notes: Contreras, Bukauskas

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William Contreras underwent concussion testing following the Brewers’ 5-4 win over the Reds today, after the star catcher was involved with a collision with Stuart Fairchild on the game’s final play.  Fairchild was thrown out at home plate trying to score from second base on a Santiago Espinal single, and Contreras was down on the ground for a few moments after being clipped by Fairchild’s forearm.

Placement on the concussion-related injured list would keep Contreras out of action for a minimum of seven days, though it isn’t yet clear if an IL stint is under consideration.  It probably seems likely that he won’t be in Monday’s lineup for precautionary reasons, and the Brewers can only hope that the star catcher has avoided any kind of head injury.  Contreras had two more hits today to raise his season-long slash line to .305/.367/.467 over 316 plate appearances, for an outstanding 137 wRC+ and 2.6 fWAR (17th in all of baseball).

  • Circling back to the Brewers for the final item, manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) that JB Bukauskas will undergo an MRI after suffering a setback.  Bukauskas has been out since mid-April due to a lat strain, and pitched in his first rehab outing last Thursday but emerged with continued soreness.  Bukauskas has been in the Brewers’ organization since being claimed off the Mariners’ waiver wire in April 2023, though he has battled multiple injuries during his time in Milwaukee.

Brewers Outright James Meeker

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TODAY: Meeker has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A, according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

June 11: The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Carlos Rodriguez, a move that was reported last week. To get him onto the active roster, righty Kevin Herget was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. To open a 40-man spot, righty James Meeker was designated for assignment.

Meeker, 29, was just added to the club’s roster on Friday. He made his major league debut that night, tossing one scoreless inning before getting optioned the next day when the club signed Elieser Hernández.

Though it’s surely tough to lose his roster spot so quickly, the fact that he even made it at all is something for Meeker to be proud of, given his long and unusual path to the majors. He went undrafted in 2018 and then spent a few years in Indy Ball. He got a minor league deal with the Brewers in 2021 when he was already 26 years old.

He spent the past few years climbing up the ladder, including 27 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this year. He has a 2.67 earned run average on the farm so far this year with a 27.3% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. He’s generally been a ground ball pitcher throughout his time in the minors, keeping batted balls on the dirt roughly half the time.

The Brewers will now have a week to trade Meeker or pass him through waivers. Players with three years of service time or a previous career outright can reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, but Meeker doesn’t meet either of those requirements. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll stick with the Brewers as a depth arm without taking up a roster spot.

Brewers’ Abner Uribe To Undergo Knee Surgery

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Right-hander Abner Uribe was placed on Triple-A Nashville’s injured list last week with an unspecified knee problem, and will now undergo surgery to fix a right lateral meniscus tear, Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy.  The severity of the injury won’t be fully known until doctors begin the operation, and thus Arnold indicated that the outcome could be anything from “a light cleanup” to a more intensive procedure that could threaten the rest of Uribe’s season.

The injury continues what has already been a tough season for Uribe, who posted a 6.91 ERA over 14 1/3 innings out of Milwaukee’s bullpen before he was optioned to Triple-A at the start of May.  His most notable on-field moment of 2024 was an altercation with Jose Siri in a brawl between the Brewers and Rays on April 30.  Uribe was issued a six-game suspension that was lowered to four games on appeal, though he has yet to serve any of that suspension (which applies to MLB games only) since he has been in the minors.

The move back to Triple-A seemed to get Uribe on track, as he had posted a 1.04 ERA over 8 2/3 innings and seven appearances with Nashville.  Another call-up to the big leagues seemed likely at some point, though now Uribe’s development has been interrupted and perhaps stalled altogether by this knee injury.  The righty is unfortunately quite familiar with meniscus injuries, as a torn left meniscus cost him virtually the entire 2022 season with Double-A Biloxi.

Uribe rebounded from that lost year by pitching well in the minors in 2023, and then excelling in his first taste of MLB action.  The hard-throwing reliever averaged 100.7 mph on his fastball over his 30 2/3 innings with Milwaukee last season, en route to a 1.76 ERA, 30.7% strikeout rate, and a 53% grounder rate.  However, Uribe did enjoy a .239 BABIP, and his 15.7% walk rate continued the control issues that plagued him throughout his minor league career.  Those problems worsened this season, as Uribe’s walk rate rose to 18.2% while his strikeout rate plummeted to 21.2%, resulting in that inflated 6.91 ERA.  (His 4.94 SIERA is almost two full runs better, though still uninspiring.)

The surgery stands out as a lousy birthday gift for a pitcher who turns 24 later this week.  Uribe’s young age means that there is plenty of time for him to figure out his control issues and perhaps emerge as a dangerous bullpen weapon, yet Uribe has already amassed a lengthy injury history at an early stage in his career.  Because the injury occurred in Triple-A ball, Uribe won’t amass any big league service time while he is on the minor league IL, unless the Brewers at some point promote him and place him on the MLB version of the 60-day IL as a means to create 40-man roster space.

Brewers Sign Joel Kuhnel To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers signed righty Joel Kuhnel to a minor league contract yesterday, as first indicated on the transaction log at MLB.com. He got to work quickly, making his first appearance for the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville last night. Kuhnel pitched an inning and allowed a pair of runs on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

The Brewers organization is the third stop of the season for Kuhnel, who’s also been with the Astros and Blue Jays this season. He allowed four runs in two big league frames for Houston, but the bulk of Kuhnel’s time has been spent in Triple-A. Between Sugar Land, Buffalo and now Nashville, he’s pitched a combined 21 innings of Triple-A ball with a 3.00 earned run average. Kuhnel has only struck out 10.1% of his opponents in Triple-A but also sports a strong 6.7% walk rate and a massive 60.3% ground-ball rate.

This year’s brief look with the ’Stros was the fifth season in which Kuhnel has seen work at the MLB level. In 85 2/3 innings, all spent with the Reds or Astros, the 6’5″ righty has a 6.30 ERA with a 19% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 52.5% grounder rate. He’s averaged just under 96 mph on both his four-seamer and sinker in the majors, typically pairing those two fastballs with a mid-80s slider and a changeup that’s averaged 90 mph.

Milwaukee has a slew of pitchers on the injured list, although they’ve been hit hardest in the rotation. That’s taken an indirect toll on the relief corps, however. The mountain of injuries has pushed reliever Bryse Wilson back into a starting role, and it’s also prompted the Brewers to use their relievers more heavily than any team in the sport. Brewers starting pitchers have the fewest innings of any team in MLB (316 1/3), while their 277 innings from the bullpen are naturally the most in MLB. Add in that star closer Devin Williams has yet to pitch this season due to a back injury, and stockpiling bullpen depth becomes all the more critical.

Kuhnel will give the Brewers another experienced option the next time they need to pull a fresh arm up from Nashville on the back of a bullpen day or short start from their patchwork rotation.

Garrett Mitchell Begins Rehab Assignment

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Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell began a rehab assignment with the team’s Arizona Complex League affiliate tonight, tweets Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It’s the 25-year-old’s first official game action of the 2024 season and opens a 20-day window for his return to the major league roster.

Mitchell broke his left hand late in Spring Training and has been shelved all season. It’s his second consecutive year with a notable early-season injury. The UCLA product missed the vast majority of the 2023 campaign after sustaining a left shoulder subluxation that required surgery. He was out between mid-April and the end of September, only returning for three games at the tail end of the season. Milwaukee left him off their playoff roster, presumably because of concern he’d be rusty after the extended layoff.

After a normal offseason, Mitchell entered camp as the likeliest option to take the center field job. Milwaukee moved Jackson Chourio to the corners and at least considered giving Sal Frelick run at third base. It might be tougher for Mitchell to crack the everyday lineup now.

Frelick has played all of four regular season innings at the hot corner, where Joey Ortiz has established himself as a productive player. Frelick is hitting at a league average level (.254/.333/.328) while playing all three outfield spots. Blake Perkins has earned the majority of the center field work by playing plus defense while turning in a solid .254/.327/.386 slash line over 211 plate appearances. Christian Yelich is having a fantastic season in left field.

Short of optioning Chourio, the Brewers could be hard-pressed to open everyday at-bats in the outfield. The 20-year-old has had a rocky first couple months in the big leagues, hitting .220/.263/.363 over 195 plate appearances. Owner Mark Attanasio nevertheless shot down the idea of demoting Chourio to the minors a couple weeks ago. “I don’t see where he’s going to learn anything at Triple-A,” the owner told reporters in late May (link via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy).

Mitchell is more than five years Chourio’s senior, but he’s perhaps even less established at the MLB level. Thanks to his background as a college draftee and the recent injuries, Mitchell only has 141 big league plate appearances under his belt. His .278/.343/.452 slash line is well above-average, but that’s driven by a .441 batting average on balls in play. While Mitchell’s speed and all-fields approach should translate to a high BABIP, a .441 mark is essentially impossible for any hitter to maintain. He’ll need to cut down on his 38.3% career strikeout rate to compensate for that forthcoming batted ball regression.

In less promising injury news, manager Pat Murphy told reporters this evening that starter Joe Ross had a setback in his recovery from a lower back strain (X link via Todd Rosiak of the Journal-Sentinel). Murphy didn’t provide specifics beyond noting that the right-hander won’t be ready to return next week as initially hoped. Ross has been out since May 21. He made nine starts before hitting the IL, turning in a 4.50 ERA over 42 innings.

Brewers’ Robert Gasser Weighing Elbow Surgery

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4:25pm: Manager Pat Murphy said he’s assuming that Gasser is done for the year, although that’s not yet confirmed, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com on X. “I hope I’m wrong,” Murphy said. “I really do.”

10:54am: Brewers lefty Robert Gasser has already received a pair of opinions — one from the team’s medical staff, another from renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache — on his ailing left elbow and is headed to meet with Dr. Keith Meister to receive a third opinion, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Gasser told the Brewers beat this weekend that his ulnar collateral ligament is “not as strong as it should be” but is also not “broken.” ElAttrache recommended surgery, Gasser explained, but more for durability concerns than to repair immediate damage. ElAttrache also told Gasser that non-surgical rehab could be a viable option because the ligament is not currently ruptured.

Understandably, it seems Gasser would prefer to avoid going under the knife if at all possible. Surgery is a last resort in these cases, and as Gasser himself said of the two opinions he’s received thus far: “They both said I can rehab. I’m just trying to figure out what the best move is.”

Any form of UCL surgery — be it Tommy John surgery, an internal brace procedure or a hybrid of the two — would wipe out the remainder of Gasser’s season. A full Tommy John or a Tommy John/internal brace hybrid would keep Gasser out of action late into the 2025 season at least. A strict internal brace without a full UCL reconstruction could have him back on the mound earlier than that.

Given that we’re now into mid-June, there’s perhaps some extra merit the non-surgical route — depending on the type of surgery being considered. Recovery from either Tommy John surgery or that hybrid procedure would come with a 12- to 16-month rehab window in all likelihood, with most cases erring toward the later end of that spectrum. Speculatively speaking, if the most realistic rehab scenario has Gasser returning in mid-to-late August next season anyhow, he could view the rest-and-rehab route as effectively risking the final six weeks of next year for a chance at pitching a whole season in 2025.

Whichever path Gasser takes, he’s in for an extended absence from the Milwaukee rotation. That’s a crucial hit, given both the left-hander’s strong results so far in his debut campaign and the wave of other injuries Milwaukee has incurred. In his first five starts, the 25-year-old Gasser pitched to a 2.57 ERA in 28 innings of work.

Gasser, acquired from the Padres in the 2022 Josh Hader trade, entered the season ranked among the Brewers organization’s best pitching prospects. His 14% strikeout rate in the majors is problematically low, but he’s offset that to this point with Maddux-esque precision, issuing a walk to just one the 114 batters he’s faced. Both of those rate stats are likely to change over a larger sample; the southpaw fanned 28% of his Triple-A opponents and walked 8.4% of them in 135 innings in 2023.

From a team perspective, the Brewers will be without Brandon Woodruff for the entire season while he recovers from last October’s shoulder surgery. Left-hander Wade Miley is done for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery last month. Each of Jakob Junis, Joe Ross and DL Hall is also on the injured list at the moment. That’s left the Brewers with Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea, Bryse Wilson and Tobias Myers in the rotation. Milwaukee could turn to pitching prospect Carlos Rodriguez to take the ball tomorrow.

Regardless of what happens with Gasser, starting pitching will likely be a focus for Milwaukee as next month’s trade deadline approaches. Their depth has already been stretched exceptionally thin, and any further injuries would prove difficult to overcome. Despite all their injuries, the Brewers are the only NL Central club with a winning record and currently hold a 6.5-game lead over the Reds and Cubs (both tied at 32-34 on the season). Even if the division looks quite winnable right now, they’ll still need reinforcements for a potential postseason rotation.

Brewers Sign Elieser Hernandez

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The Brewers announced the signing of right-hander Elieser Hernandez to a one-year big league deal with the team.  To create roster space, righty James Meeker was optioned to Triple-A, and left-hander DL Hall was moved from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.

The Dodgers designated Hernandez for assignment last week and then outrighted him off their 40-man roster on Thursday.  Since Hernandez has over five years of MLB service time, he had the right to reject that outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency, and the right-hander indeed took that path and quickly landed with the Brew Crew.  The decision seems like a wise one, as Hernandez has now landed both a guaranteed contract and a clearer route to playing time on a team with a lot of question marks in the pitching staff.

Milwaukee’s rotation has been ravaged by injuries, leading the Brewers to build something of a patchwork around innings leaders Freddy Peralta and Colin Rea.  Bryse Wilson and Tobias Myers have stepped into regular starting roles, and the Brewers were reportedly set to promote prospect Carlos Rodriguez in time for a start on Tuesday, though it’s possible this plan might change now that Hernandez is in the fold.

There is no guarantee that Hernandez will stick in the rotation, or even if he’ll necessarily be a primary starter — it’s possible Hernandez could be paired with Rodriguez in a piggyback situation to ease the rookie’s path into the majors.  Hernandez started only one of his five appearances with Los Angeles, and had an 8.38 ERA over 9 2/3 total innings.

That small sample represented Hernandez’s first MLB work since 2022, as he spent 2023 mostly dealing with injuries, while tossing only 9 1/3 innings in the Mets’ farm system.  Best known for his time with the Marlins, Hernandez showed flashes of being a solid starter over his five seasons with Miami, but injuries again hampered his ability to stay effective and stay on the mound altogether.  The right-hander has a 5.15 ERA over 297 1/3 career Major League innings, along with a 22% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate.  Opposing batters have taken Hernandez deep to the tune of a 16.5% homer rate, representing his biggest issue in run prevention.

A left knee sprain has kept Hall from pitching since April 20, and he’ll now be out until at least late June after suffering another sprain while on a rehab outing.  Hall told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (X link) that he is trying to pitch through some damage to his MCL, and a consult with Dr. Neal ElAttrache led Hall to attempt to return a quicker return to the mound, with a fuller treatment or possibly knee surgery saved until the offseason.  The other option for Hall is to receive a PRP injection now, but that would sideline him until September.

Brewers Reportedly Promoting Carlos Rodriguez

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The Brewers are going to promote right-hander Carlos Rodriguez, according to Spanish-language reports from Edgard Rodriguez (X link) and Fernando Rayo of 8 Deportivo out of Nicaragua (links from X one and two). The Nicaraguan hurler is not on the club’s 40-man but will need to be added before he starts Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays.

Rodriguez, now 22, was a sixth-round pick of the Brewers in 2021. He made his professional debut in 2022, tossing 107 2/3 innings between Single-A and High-A. He allowed 3.01 earned runs per nine frames while striking out 30.1% of hitters and giving out walks at a 9.3% rate.

That launched him onto the prospect radar, with Baseball America ranking him #14 in the system going into 2023 and FanGraphs putting him in the #20 slot. He spent most of last year in Double-A with one start in Triple-A late in the year. He tossed a combined 128 1/3 innings with a 2.88 ERA, 29.3% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate.

Here in 2024, he’s been back at Triple-A, having thrown 62 2/3 innings so far. His 5.17 ERA isn’t especially impressive but he’s looked better as the season has gone along, with a 2.83 ERA in six starts since the start of May. That strong showing will get him up to the big leagues for the first time.

The Brewers have put both Joe Ross and Robert Gasser on the injured list in recent weeks, further compounding a growing injury problem for the rotation. Brandon Woodruff is going to miss the entire season due to shoulder surgery and Wade Miley required Tommy John surgery not too long ago. DL Hall and Jakob Junis have each been on the IL for a while as well.

Tobias Myers is starting tonight’s game and should be followed by Freddy Peralta, Bryse Wilson and Colin Rea in the games after that. Rodriguez will then take the hill on Tuesday, which could perhaps be for a spot start or maybe a lengthier stay in the majors, perhaps depending on how he fares.

As for the 40-man roster spot, it’s possible that Gasser could relinquish his to Rodriguez, depending on how things develop in the next few days. The lefty was placed on the IL earlier this week with a left flexor strain. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relayed an update on X today from manager Pat Murphy. Gasser apparently has damage “in the back of his elbow” and has been recommended for surgery by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. But this apparently contrasts with another opinion the club got, so the lefty will be getting a third perspective.

Brewers Notes: Rotation, Adames, Uribe

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Rotation help looked like a potential area of deadline focus for the Brewers even heading into the season, and that was before a veritable avalanche of injuries left their starting staff in shambles. Milwaukee currently has Wade Miley, Jakob Junis, Robert Gasser, DL Hall and Joe Ross on the big league injured list alongside Brandon Woodruff. Miley (Tommy John surgery) and Woodruff (2023 shoulder surgery) won’t pitch again this season.

That series of health woes has left Milwaukee with a patchwork rotation comprised that features only three set members at the moment: staff ace Freddy Peralta, journeyman Colin Rea and swingman-turned-starter Bryse Wilson. The Brewers announced earlier today that righty Tobias Myers will start tonight’s game and has since optioned lefty Aaron Ashby to Triple-A (clearing way for the selection of righty James Meeker’s contract). They’ll feature plenty of “TBA”s in the near future when looking at upcoming pitching matchups.

Incredibly, the Brewers are not only still in first place but have a relatively commanding 5.5-game lead over the division at the moment. Still, it’s wholly unsurprising to see FanSided’s Robert Murray suggest that starting pitching will be a major point of focus for Milwaukee’s front office in the weeks leading up to next month’s trade deadline. Murray writes that the Brewers “considered” righty Mike Clevinger in free agency before the 33-year-old re-signed with the White Sox on a one-year deal.

Milwaukee’s level of interest in Clevinger following four shaky White Sox starts and an IL placement for elbow inflammation isn’t clear, but he’d be a reasonable low-cost pickup — both in terms of salary ($3MM base) and cost of acquisition. Clevinger has pitched 16 innings with a 6.75 ERA, a 19.2% strikeout rate and an 11.5% walk rate. He did not complete five innings in any of his four starts with the Sox prior to being placed on the 15-day IL in late May. There’s still seven weeks for him to get healthy and get back to his 2023 form, when he tossed 131 1/3 innings of 3.77 ERA ball (4.28 FIP, 4.81 SIERA). If Clevinger can indeed right the ship, the offseason interest from Milwaukee will be an interesting point to keep in mind, but for now the Brew Crew is surely trying to find more immediate upgrades.

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel also writes within his latest mailbag that Milwaukee is likely to pursue pitching depth at the deadline. That’s only natural, but Hogg also fields multiple questions on the trade candidacy — or lack thereof — of Willy Adames. Milwaukee’s shortstop is just months from reaching the open market, and the Brewers have in the past been willing to trade from the big league roster in the midst of contending pushes as a means of stockpiling future talent. Their 2022 trade of Josh Hader, in particular, is the most prominent instance of this.

That said, Hogg paints a trade of Adames as unlikely, citing a recent interview with Brewers owner Mark Attanasio wherein he acknowledged that the team has not only received trade offers but compelling ones for Adames in the past — as recently as this offseason. “…[T]here may have been some merit to build for the future,” Attanasio said of the offers received for Adames. The club’s owner also touted Adames as one of the heartbeats of the clubhouse, however. And, as Hogg rightly notes, Adames is a slam-dunk qualifying offer candidate at season’s end — one who’ll surely sign a large enough contract to net the Brewers a comp pick at the end of the first round — if he indeed signs elsewhere.

The previously mentioned injury problems for the Brewers don’t stop in the rotation. Milwaukee has been without outfielder Garrett Mitchell and, even more critically, star closer Devin Williams all season. Young fireballer Abner Uribe took over some of Williams’ closing duties early in the season and had a strong start, tossing 12 1/3 innings with a 3.65 ERA, a 27% strikeout rate and three saves to begin the season. Uribe was torched for five runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Yankees in late April and gave up another run against the Rays three days later before being sent to Nashville to work shaky command that had led to a glaring 18.2% walk rate.

Now, however, Uribe is also on the shelf. He recently sustained a knee injury and was placed on the minor league injured list, general manager Matt Arnold revealed to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Uribe is slated to undergo an MRI next Tuesday, at which point the club will surely have further updates on his status.

Brewers Select James Meeker

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The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander James Meeker. Left-hander Aaron Ashby was optioned to Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster, which is now full.

Meeker makes it to the big leagues for the first time at an unusually old age, as he turned 29 in March. That’s a reflection of his unusual path to get to the majors. He pitched for the University of Delaware through 2018 but didn’t get drafted and headed to the Indy Ball circuit. He bounced around for a few years but impressed the Brewers enough to get a minor league deal late in 2021.

In 2022, he tossed 64 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A, allowing just 2.38 earned runs per nine frames. He only struck out 21.3% of batters faced but limited walks to a 6.3% clip and got grounders on roughly half the balls that opponents put in play.

Last year, the results were fairly similar. He tossed 93 innings over 36 appearances in Double-A and Triple-A, including eight starts in an ill-fated move to the rotation. Despite some poor results in those starts, he still finished the year with a 3.39 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate, 3.8% walk rate and lots of grounders again.

Here in 2024, he has again split his time between Double-A and Triple-A. He has 27 innings on the year between those two levels with a 2.67 ERA. His walk rate has jumped to 10.9% but he’s also getting more punchouts, up to 27.3%, while still keeping the ball on the ground. He’ll give the club an extra arm in the bullpen and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

The Brewers have placed Joe Ross and Robert Gasser on the injured list in the past few weeks, thinning their rotation depth. Ashby was recalled a couple of days ago to make a spot start but has quickly been sent down to get a fresh arm onto the big league staff.

Tobias Myers is taking the ball tonight with Freddy Peralta, Bryse Wilson and Colin Rea likely to follow in the days to come. They would need a fifth starter by Tuesday, unless they plan to do some kind of bullpen game. Janson Junk was just optioned recently and there’s a 15-day minimum before he’s allowed to return, unless directly replacing a player going on the IL. Ashby is now in a similar position. Jakob Junis is on a rehab assignment but only tossed two innings in his first outing and may be built up further before being reinstated. Prospect Jacob Misiorowski is pitching well in the minors but hasn’t yet reached Triple-A and isn’t on the 40-man roster.

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