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Poll: Who Will Win The League Championship Series?

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The postseason field has been narrowed down to four teams, in mostly chalk fashion.  Each member of the final four is a division winner, and three of the clubs received first-round byes.  The Dodgers were the only club who had to advance through the wild card round, and the reigning World Series champs aren’t exactly underdogs.  In fact, all of the Brewers, Mariners, and Blue Jays had a lot more questions to answer about their playoff readiness given a recent lack of postseason success, yet all three teams were up to the task in winning their League Championship Series matchups.

Only the Yankees have reached the World Series more times than the Dodgers, who are vying for the franchise’s 23rd trip to the Fall Classic.  Los Angeles is the defending champion aiming for its third ring in six seasons, against three teams with much less of a postseason resume.  The Blue Jays are a perfect 2-0 in the club’s only two World Series appearances, but they last reached the Series in 1993.  The Brewers’ lone Series appearance was so long ago (in 1982) that the club was still in the American League, and Milwaukee fell to the Cardinals in a seven-game nail-biter.  The Mariners can get a big albatross off their backs just by winning the AL pennant, as Seattle is the only team in Major League Baseball to have never reached a World Series.

The ALCS between the Mariners and Blue Jays carries some added historical import since the two teams both joined MLB in 1977.  The only previous playoff series between the two expansion cousins took place in 2022, when Seattle swept Toronto in two games in the best-of-three wild card series, and made an epic comeback from an 8-1 run deficit to capture a 10-9 win in Game 2.  That crushing loss was part of the 0-6 playoff record the Jays carried during the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. era, before Toronto broke out with a dominant win over the Yankees in this year’s ALDS.

Blue Jays hitters erupted for 34 runs and a collective .338/.373/.601 slash line over the four games against New York.  While that level of an explosion came as a surprise, Toronto led the league in both batting average and OBP this season, while also finishing near the top of the table in runs and OPS.  Seattle’s season-long numbers weren’t quite as impressive, yet the club has been one of baseball’s best offensive teams since Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez were acquired at the trade deadline.  Led by these two big bats, Julio Rodriguez, Jorge Polanco, and the all-around brilliance of MVP candidate Cal Raleigh, the Mariners’ powerful lineup will provide the Jays’ pitching staff with a huge challenge.

In terms of run prevention, the Blue Jays have a significant edge on defense.  Toronto had a collective +51 Defensive Runs Saves and +14 Outs Above Average in the regular season, in comparison to Seattle’s +9 DRS and -30 OAA.  This could potentially help the Jays counter the Mariners’ deeper rotation, as with Bryan Woo expected to return from injury in the ALCS, all five of the M’s regular starters will be available in some capacity.  How exactly those starters will be deployed is still a matter of debate, as George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Luis Castillo all had to pitch during Seattle’s 15-inning marathon with the Tigers in Game 5 of the ALDS.

The Blue Jays held a 4-2 edge in the season series with the Mariners this year, and have the homefield advantage as the AL’s top seed.  That is a significant point for a Jays team that is 56-27 at Rogers Centre during the regular season and playoffs, plus the Mariners’ road record is only 40-43.  Turning to the National League, the Brewers and Dodgers each had identical 52-29 home records in the regular season, and Milwaukee was an impressive 45-36 away from home, while the Dodgers were only 41-40 on the road.

The other eye-opening statistic is Milwaukee’s perfect 6-0 record in head-to-head play against Los Angeles this season.  As daunting as the Dodgers’ star-studded roster may be, the Brewers have had their number in 2025, and will now have to try and do it again in the postseason.  L.A. has won the only two prior postseason series between the two franchises, including a seven-game win in the 2018 NLCS.

That 2018 season marked the last time the Brew Crew won a playoff series until their five-game win over the Cubs in this year’s NLDS.  The series as a whole was a demonstration of the kind of quality pitching and timely hitting that the Brewers have enjoyed all season.  A relative lack of power is basically the only flaw for a lineup that posted tremendous numbers, but Andrew Vaughn’s career turn-around since being acquired by the Brewers in June has added a new dimension to the offense.

A pair of shaky starts from Freddy Peralta and Quinn Priester at Wrigley Field could be red flags for the Brewers against L.A.  Peralta pitched well enough in Game 1 that his Game 4 performance might just be a hiccup, yet if Priester can’t get on track, the Brewers will have to lean even harder on a bullpen that has already logged a lot of innings in the NLDS.  Milwaukee is as creative as any team in getting the most out of its pitching staff, so expect plenty of unconventional pitcher usage as the Brewers will try to keep the Dodgers at bay.

After a somewhat underwhelming regular season by their high standards, the Dodgers may have flipped the switch for October, sweeping the Reds in the wild card series and then dispatching the Phillies in a four-game NLDS.  Even with several stars (Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and an injury-diminished Will Smith) yet to get rolling at the plate, the Dodgers have been aided by a red-hot Mookie Betts and contributions from up and down their seasoned lineup.

Roki Sasaki’s emergence as the club’s seeming first choice at closer has been huge for Los Angeles, and perhaps addresses the team’s biggest weakness.  If Sasaki is now a high-leverage option late in games and the excellent L.A. starting rotation remains in form, the Brewers have a pretty narrow window to strike against the rest of the struggling Dodger bullpen.

Brewers Notes: NLDS, Chourio, Hoskins

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The Brewers couldn’t capitalize on their first chance to close out the Cubs, as they dropped a 4-3 contest at Wrigley Field this evening. Chicago put up a four spot against Quinn Priester in the first inning, building a 4-1 cushion from which the Milwaukee bats couldn’t recover.

Priester didn’t make it out of the first. Manager Pat Murphy used five pitchers — Nick Mears, Jose Quintana, Grant Anderson, Jared Koenig and Chad Patrick — to combine for 7 1/3 scoreless frames out of the bullpen. The damage had been done, however, and the Brewers will need to try to close things out again tomorrow.

Neither Milwaukee nor the Cubs have announced a starter for tomorrow’s game, though ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that Chicago will give the ball back to Matthew Boyd. The Brewers pummeled Boyd for six runs in the first inning in Game 1 and cruised to a victory behind Freddy Peralta. Milwaukee could turn back to Peralta on four days rest for the same matchup, though Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that they’ve worked to provide their starters with an extra rest day when possible during the season.

Saving Peralta for a potential Game 5 on Saturday would probably mean the Brewers go back to a bullpen game, which they did in Game 2. Aaron Ashby opened that contest and surrendered a three-run homer to Seiya Suzuki, but the Brewers blanked the Cubs from then on and won 7-3. Running a bullpen game one day after their starter failed to escape the first inning isn’t ideal, but Murphy mostly relied on lower-leverage arms tonight. The Brewers stayed away from Ashby, Jacob Misiorowski, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill entirely. Koenig only threw seven pitches and is surely still in the mix for tomorrow.

On the position player side, Jackson Chourio played the full eight innings in left field tonight. He went 1-4 with a strikeout. Chourio has battled a nagging right hamstring injury and made early exits in favor of defensive substitute Brandon Lockridge in Games 1 and 2. Those were mostly precautionary absences with Milwaukee holding decent leads.

Meanwhile, Rhys Hoskins is watching the NLDS from the dugout, a difficult outcome for a player who had a solid season. Even though he didn’t make the postseason roster, Hoskins has remained involved as a teammate. “You got to play the hand that you’re dealt and try to help these guys accomplish the goal we set out to do,” the first baseman told Hogg in a separate column at the Journal Sentinel.

With Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers handling first base duties, the Brewers opted for Lockridge to add a speed element and provide cover for Chourio with their final roster spot. While Hoskins admitted to being frustrated, he accepted the role of supportive teammate after Murphy pushed to keep him in the mix. “He’s a great voice for these young players,” Murphy told Hogg. “He’s also well-respected and being genuine really adds to our whole unit.”

The NLDS exclusion wasn’t the first time Hoskins was pushed aside this season. After the veteran went down with a thumb injury in early July, Vaughn emerged as a key cog in the middle of Milwaukee’s lineup. Hoskins was limited to bench duties once he rejoined the team in September. The lefty-hitting Bauers provides more balance in a platoon with the right-handed Vaughn.

Hoskins was hitting .242/.340/.428 across 318 plate appearances when he suffered the injury. That opened the door for Vaughn, who cemented himself in the lineup with a monster performance as soon as he was recalled from Triple-A. Hoskins was limited to pinch-hitting when he returned, going 1-10 in eight games.

There’s a decent chance he’s made his final appearance with the Brewers. The team will buy him out for $4MM in lieu of an $18MM mutual option. He’ll be a free agent and almost certainly will head to a team that has more at-bats available at first base. Milwaukee could still swap Hoskins onto the roster for future playoff rounds should they advance, but they’re already carrying 14 position players. While Lockridge would probably be the player they might swap out, they’ll be reluctant to subtract outfield depth while Chourio is at less than full strength.

10 Players Elect Free Agency

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Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents.  Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back.  These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion.  These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

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N.L. Notes: Horton, Chourio, Bader

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Cubs right-hander Cade Horton is potentially making some progress. According to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, he will throw off a mound this week as the club decides whether or not to include him on the NLCS roster, if they advance that far.

Horton debuted this year and hit the ground running. He logged 118 innings for the Cubs with a 2.67 earned run average. Unfortunately, his season ended on a sour note. Horton suffered a rib fracture in September and it was immediately apparent that he would miss at least one playoff series. The Cubs survived the Wild Card round without him but he still wasn’t on the roster for their NLDS matchup against the Brewers.

The Chicago rotation is feeling thin at the moment, composed of Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon. Boyd just got rocked by the Brewers on Saturday. He was charged with six runs, only two of them being earned, as he failed to get out of the first inning. The Cubs went on to lose 9-3. Imanaga and Taillon were both decent this year but both had subpar strikeout rates. If the Cubs can hang on for a best-of-seven NLCS, getting Horton in there to take some pressure of those guys could be a difference maker.

Mooney also adds that the Cubs expect Horton to earn a full year of service time, which is understandable. As a top prospect who was promoted late enough that he wasn’t slated to get a full service year, he can earn that full year retroactively by finishing top two in N.L. Rookie of the Year voting. Horton and Atlanta catcher Drake Baldwin are considered the frontrunners for that award, so Horton will likely get that full service year. That would put him on track to reach free agency after 2030 instead of 2031.

Some other injury updates from around the league…

  • Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio is in tonight’s lineup, batting leadoff against the Cubs. Chourio left the first game due to some right hamstring tightness. A subsequent MRI led to results which Pat Murphy described as “inconclusive,” adding that it’s “not a serious hamstring strain.” That implied that Chourio did indeed strain his hamstring, though the club is apparently comfortable running him out there tonight. Murphy said today, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that Chourio is not 100% and they’ll take him out of the game if it appears necessary.
  • Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader was removed from his club’s first NLDS game against the Dodgers due to a groin injury. He’s not in tonight’s Game Two lineup but he could be available to pinch hit. Manager Rob Thomson passed the new on to reporters, including Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bader is an excellent defender and he hit .305/.361/.463 after being acquired from the Twins at the deadline, so the Phillies will obviously want him back in there as soon as possible. The Phils have Otto Kemp, Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos in the lineup tonight from left to right. Max Kepler is also in the mix, though he’s probably not starting tonight since lefty Blake Snell is on the bump for the Dodgers.

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images

Brett Phillips Retires

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Outfielder Brett Phillips has announced his retirement after seven Major League seasons.  In an Instagram reel released today, Phillips credited his career to his family, his faith, and to many people in and out of baseball that helped him achieve his success.  Beyond those named in his speech, the 31-year-old Phillips also had a whiteboard full of names of many former teammates and executives who played key roles in his career.

Phillips hit .187/.272/.347 with 31 homers over 971 plate appearances and 393 games during his MLB career, while playing for five different clubs at the big league level.  Phillips’ speed was his chief offensive weapon, as he stole 39 bases on 45 career attempts.  That speed also helped him deliver outstanding defense at all three outfield positions — over his 2321 1/3 innings as a big league outfielder, Phillips amassed +41 Defensive Runs Saved, +31 Outs Above Average, and a +13.0 UZR/150.

The Astros made Phillips a sixth-round pick in the 2012 draft, though before he could make his debut in the Show, Houston dealt Phillips as part of the huge trade at the 2015 deadline that brought Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers from Milwaukee.  Phillips was one of four pieces of the very prominent trade package acquired by the Brew Crew, as Josh Hader, Adrian Houser, and Domingo Santana were the other members of the haul.  Not to be overshadowed at the time of the trade, Phillips was drawing top-100 prospect attention heading into the 2016 season and for a couple of years afterwards.

Phillips got his first taste of the majors in 2017, and he appeared in 52 games for the Brewers over the next two seasons before the outfielder was moved to the Royals in another notable deadline deal that saw Mike Moustakas shipped from K.C. to Milwaukee.  This tenure in Kansas City stretched over parts of three seasons before Phillips was dealt again to the Rays partway through the abbreviated 2020 season, which set the stage for the most memorable moments of Phillips’ career.

Tampa Bay won the AL pennant that year, with Phillips chipping in as a defensive specialist during the rest of the regular season and then as a defensive sub and pinch-runner throughout the playoffs.  He had just three plate appearances during the postseason, and his one hit during that stretch couldn’t have been bigger.  With the Dodgers holding a 7-6 lead over the Rays with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of Game 4, Phillips lined a single that tied the game, and ended up as the walkoff hit when Randy Arozarena also scored on the play due to a Will Smith catching error.  Beyond the hit itself, Rays fans will always remember the image of Phillips’ celebratory airplane-style sprint around the outfield.

The following season saw Phillips deliver his best year at the plate, as he hit .206/.300/.427 with 13 homers and 14 steals (out of 17 attempts) in 292 PA while playing in a part-time outfield role in Tampa Bay.  His numbers dropped off sharply in 2022, however, and the Rays designated him for assignment and then dealt Phillips to the Orioles.

Phillips moved on to play 39 games with the 2023 Angels in what proved to be his last MLB campaign, as subsequent minor league deals with the White Sox and Yankees didn’t result in any more calls to the Show.  His stint with the Yankees saw the start of a new career path for Phillips, as he attempted to convert to pitching.  Phillips’ final stop of his career came with Kane County of the independent American Association this year.

Beyond his energy and contributions on the field, Phillips became a fan favorite and social media darling due to his outgoing personality.  “Baseball Is Fun” became Phillips’ unofficial catchphrase, and he finished his retirement announcement by repeating his mantra one more time.  We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Phillips on a fine career and we wish him plenty of more fun in his post-playing endeavors.

Jackson Chourio Day-To-Day After “Inconclusive” MRI

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Right hamstring tightness forced Jackson Chourio out of Game 1 of the NLDS in the second inning, though Chourio had already logged three hits by that point in the Brewers 9-3 win over the Cubs.  In the aftermath, Chourio told reporters “I feel good, and I feel I’m in a position where I’m ready to keep going and ready to keep competing,” though he underwent an MRI to check for any sort of serious injury.

That MRI didn’t come back entirely clean, as Brewers manager Pat Murphy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Curt Hogg and other media that the MRI was “inconclusive. It’s not a serious hamstring strain, but it’s not necessarily something that won’t limit him.  We’re going to kind of see how he feels. He’s going to go through some testing, and if he feels anything, we’re going to shut it down.”

As Hogg describes it, Chourio’s work today was limited to some runs from home plate to first base, with the outfielder moving “at roughly 50 percent.”  Chourio “appeared to move gingerly but did not seem to be in any pain during or after the running,” Hogg writes.

The off-day between Game 1 and Game 2 of the series gave Chourio and the Brewers extra time to monitor the situation, and kept alive the chance that Chourio might yet be able to play in the next contest.  There is also an off-day between Game 2 and Wednesday’s Game 3, so the Brewers could conceivably rest Chourio for Monday and then not make a final determination on his status until prior to Wednesday’s game.

Isaac Collins took over for Chourio in Game 1, and Murphy said Collins will remain as the Brewers’ left fielder if Chourio indeed can’t play.  As Hogg noted, Collins cooled off drastically over the last six weeks of the season, bringing a quiet end to an otherwise strong rookie season that saw Collins finish with a .263/.368/.411 slash line and nine homers over 441 plate appearances (122 wRC+).

If Chourio has to be removed from the NLDS roster for injury purposes, the Brewers would get to add a replacement to their roster, but Chourio wouldn’t be eligible to return to action until the World Series (if Milwaukee advanced through both the NLDS and NLCS).  Outfielders Blake Perkins and Brandon Lockridge are already on the 26-man roster, so the Brew Crew wouldn’t necessarily summon another outfielder in Chourio’s place.

Jackson Chourio Undergoes MRI For Hamstring Injury

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The Brewers got their NLDS off to a huge start with today’s 9-3 win over the Cubs in Game 1, with all nine runs coming in the opening two innings.  Unfortunately, the game involved a significant injury for Milwaukee, as outfielder Jackson Chourio left during the second inning with what the team described as right hamstring tightness.

Chourio collected his third hit of the two-inning outburst when he hit a ball deep into the third base hole, then beat out the throw for an RBI single.  Unfortunately, Chourio came up limping on the play, and Isaac Collins replaced Chourio as a pinch-runner and then in left field for the start of the next inning.

Speaking to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters after the game, Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Chourio was undergoing an MRI at the time of the media session, and more would be known once the testing is complete.  The concern is real, as Murphy said “obviously it’s real scary having that hamstring injury to the same leg.  We’re hoping it’s something he can come back from soon…It could be devastating.”

In a more positive note, Chourio told McCalvy and company that the removal was more precautionary in nature.  “We’re still waiting [on MRI results]. But physically, I feel good, and I feel I’m in a position where I’m ready to keep going and ready to keep competing,” the outfielder said.

The previous right hamstring issue referenced by Murphy was a strain that sidelined Chourio for a month this summer, keeping him on the injured list for almost all of August.  Chourio hit only .240/.293/.413 in 117 plate appearances after returning from the IL, after batting .276/.311/.474 with 17 home runs in 472 PA prior to his hamstring strain.  The outfielder was also more active on the basepaths (stealing 18 bases in 25 attempts) pre-injury, as he stole three bases in as many attempts once his return.  To be fair, this could also have been a tactical decision, as the Brewers were coasting towards a playoff berth in September and Chourio saw less need to press.

Assuming that the MRI doesn’t reveal anything serious, Chourio could benefit from the staggered nature of the NLDS schedule.  Game 2 isn’t until Monday, and then there’s another off-day before Games 3-4 in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday.  Sitting Chourio just for Game 2 would be a hit to the Brewers’ lineup, but the team might view it as a necessary evil to give Chourio three full days off to rest his hamstring.  This assumes, of course, that Chourio feels good enough to perhaps try playing in Game 2 after just one day off.

In the worst-case scenario of a mid-series injury removal, the Brewers would be able to replace Chourio on the roster.  However, that would mean Chourio would have to sit out the NLCS if Milwaukee advanced.  That means the Brewers won’t want to make a drastic call on Chourio unless it’s absolutely necessary, so there’s some added drama to what seemed like a pretty stable Crew lineup heading into the playoffs.

Cubs, Brewers Announce NLDS Rosters

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The NL Division Series between the Cubs and Brewers gets started today, with Matthew Boyd facing Freddy Peralta in the Game 1 pitching matchup.  Here are the full 26-man rosters for both teams in the clash of NL Central rivals…

Cubs catchers: Moises Ballesteros, Carson Kelly, Reese McGuire
Infielders: Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner, Matt Shaw, Dansby Swanson, Justin Turner
Outfielders: Kevin Alcantara, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Kyle Tucker
Utilityman: Willi Castro
Left-handed pitchers: Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Thielbar
Right-handed pitchers: Aaron Civale, Ben Brown, Brad Keller, Andrew Kittredge, Daniel Palencia, Colin Rea, Michael Soroka, Jameson Taillon

Brewers catchers: William Contreras, Danny Jansen
Infielders: Jake Bauers, Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, Joey Ortiz, Brice Turang, Andrew Vaughn
Outfielders: Jackson Chourio, Isaac Collins, Sal Frelick, Brandon Lockridge, Blake Perkins, Christian Yelich
Left-handed pitchers: Aaron Ashby, Robert Gasser, Jared Koenig, Jose Quintana
Right-handed pitchers: Grant Anderson, Nick Mears, Trevor Megill, Jacob Misiorowski, Freddy Peralta, Chad Patrick, Quinn Priester, Abner Uribe

The Cubs are going with almost the exact roster of 14 position players and 12 pitchers that were used in their wild card series victory over the Padres, except Brown will take the place of left-hander Taylor Rogers.  Manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and other reporters that Chicago opted for Brown over Rogers and Javier Assad due to Brown’s strikeout ability, and on how Brown projects to match up against the Brewers.  This leaves Pomeranz and Thielbar as the only left-handed relievers to be mixed and matched against Milwaukee’s left-handed bats.

The Brew Crew’s first roster of the postseason doesn’t contain too many surprises, as there was already an expectation that the team would use Misiorowski and Gasser as a pair of intriguing rookies out of the bullpen.  Milwaukee is also deploying an alignment of 14 position players and 12 pitchers, but one position player that didn’t make the cut was Rhys Hoskins.  This is also not a shock given how Hoskins has been essentially supplanted by Vaughn as the first-choice option at first base.  A thumb sprain and a bone bruise cost Hoskins over two months of the season, and after returning from the injured list in September, Hoskins received only sparing playing time.

A pair of prominent injured pitchers weren’t included on either team’s NLDS roster.  Counsell said Cade Horton won’t be involved in the series even as an injury replacement, which isn’t surprising since Horton (who is recovering from a rib fracture) wouldn’t be eligible to be activated from the 15-day IL until Game 5.  Brewers manager Pat Murphy told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and other reporters yesterday that Brandon Woodruff might still be available to pitch later in the postseason if the Crew advances deeper into October, but the veteran right’s lat strain will keep him out of the Division Series.

Brewers Outright Erick Fedde

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September 30: As expected, Fedde went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. He can stick in the organization for the rest of the postseason in case injuries open a path back to the big league bullpen.

September 28: The Brewers announced today that left-hander DL Hall and right-hander Trevor Megill have been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. In corresponding moves, they have optioned right-hander Carlos Rodríguez and designated righty Erick Fedde for assignment. It was reported in recent days that Megill would likely be back from the IL today.

Fedde, 32, was picked up off the scrap heap about a month ago. A rough first half with the Cardinals led to him being designated for assignment in July. He landed with Atlanta but was released a few weeks into August.

The Brewers had suffered a few injuries and brought Fedde aboard. Since then, he absorbed 16 innings over seven appearances out of the Milwaukee bullpen. His 3.38 earned run average in that time was fine but his matching 10.6% strikeout and walk rates were both subpar.

Milwaukee has just one regular season game remaining and then have a bye through the Wild Card round. They don’t really need a long reliever anymore and Fedde wasn’t going to be in line for playoff innings, so he’s been bumped off the roster.

He’ll be placed on outright or release waivers now but there will be no point in any club putting in a claim. He wouldn’t be postseason eligible with any other team and he is a free agent at season’s end. He would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, though he might accept an outright for the off-chance that the Brewers suffer some injuries and need him later in October.

Overall, between his three clubs, Fedde logged 141 innings this year with a 5.49 ERA, 13.3% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 40.4% ground ball rate. That’s a hugely disappointed campaign when compared to his 2024 season.

After a seeming breakout in Korea in 2023, he returned to North American ball by signing a two-year, $15MM deal with the White Sox. The first year of that pact worked out quite well. Last season, he tossed 177 1/3 innings with a 3.30 ERA, 21.2% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 42.1% ground ball rate. The Cards acquired him from the White Sox ahead of the deadline. He’ll face a far softer market in his return to free agency this winter.

Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images

Brewers Outright Bruce Zimmermann

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Sept. 27: Zimmermann went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A, per the transaction log at MLB.com. He can become a minor league free agent once the season is over.

Sept. 24: The Brewers have designated left-hander Bruce Zimmermann for assignment, per a team announcement. Righty Carlos Rodriguez has been recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take his spot on the active roster. Milwaukee’s 40-man roster is now at 39 players.

Zimmermann pitched in just one game for Milwaukee, giving the club six innings in a spot start against the Padres yesterday. The former Orioles southpaw was tagged for five earned runs on seven hits and a pair of walks with only one punchout, but he gave the Milwaukee bullpen a breather after a day in which they’d burned through six relievers in an 11-inning game against San Diego. Despite the rocky results, Zimmermann drew praise from manager Pat Murphy for pitching relatively deep into the game on a day when the team’s relief corps was a bit depleted (via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

It was always likely to be a one-off appearance for Zimmermann. The lefty is out of minor league options and wouldn’t be available to pitch until the season finale at the earliest. The Brewers will shuffle him off the roster and bring up Rodriguez to provide some extra length in the ’pen. It may sound cold or callous on the surface, but teams are generally upfront with this type of plan when bringing a journeyman pitcher like Zimmermann to the majors for a short period of time. He’ll get a few days of big league service time and salary for the effort. (Players receive MLB service time and pay even while they’re on outright waivers and/or in DFA limbo.)

This was Zimmermann’s first big league appearance since 2023. He’s pitched in parts of four other seasons, all with Baltimore from 2020-23. Zimmermann carries a career 5.64 ERA in 164 1/3 MLB frames, but he’s been far better in Triple-A — including this season. In 138 frames with the Brewers’ Nashville affiliate, the 30-year-old Zimmermann has pitched to a 4.11 ERA with an 18.8% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate.

Zimmermann will be available to all 29 other clubs on outright waivers. Assuming he clears, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment to the minor leagues in favor of free agency. Either way, he’ll be a minor league free agent at season’s end.

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