Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Brewers Rumors

Willy Adames Is Putting 2023 Behind Him

By | at

Brewers shortstop Willy Adames had a down year in 2023, relative to his own standards. But here in the early parts of the 2024 season, he’s looked more like the pre-2023 version of himself. Even better than that, in fact.

Adames has been fairly consistent in being above average at the plate. That has been mostly due to his power output and in spite of some high strikeout totals. He also steals a few bases and has been considered strong on defense at a premium position. The glovework was a bit more contested earlier in his career but the praise has become more unanimous over time.

He debuted with the Rays in 2018, getting into 85 games that year. He struck out in 29.4% of his plate appearances but also launched 10 home runs in that time. His .278/.348/.406 batting line translated to a 110 wRC+, indicating he was 10% above league average.

In his first full season in 2019, he got into 152 games and doubled his home run total to 20. However, since that was the “juiced ball” season and the grading curve was thrown off, he was actually considered slightly below average with a 99 wRC+. In the small sample of the shortened 2020 season, he hit another eight homers and slashed .259 .332 .481 for a wRC+ of 126. The next two full seasons saw him continue to strike out a decent amount, but with home run tallies of 25 and 31, leading to a wRC+ of 120 and 109 in those campaigns. He spent most of those two years with the Brewers after being traded early in the 2021 season.

As mentioned up top, there was a dip in 2023, which looks like it may have been mostly about luck. His 11.1% walk rate was actually a career high and his 25.9% strikeout rate was a career low. The 24 home runs were a tad lower than the previous two seasons, but not by much. But when the ball didn’t go over the fence, his batting average was just .259. That was almost 40 points below last year’s .297 league-wide batting average on balls in play and below his career rate of .311. He finished the year with a line of .217/.310/.407 and a 94 wRC+.

That may not have been entirely bad fortune, as his batted ball metrics also dipped alongside his results. His average exit velocity was 87.4 miles per hour last year, whereas he was between 88.5 and 89.5 in the previous four campaigns. His 36.5% hard hit rate was also down, as he finished between 40.5% and 44.7% in the three prior years.

Perhaps the lack of zip partially explains why he was finding so many gloves last year, but he’s had no such problems here in 2024. Through his first 30 games this year, he has a .313 BABIP, a huge turnaround from last year and right in line with his career mark. His average exit velocity is back up, currently at 89.5 miles per hour for the year. His hard hit rate has also recovered, currently at 42.7% this season. He already has six home runs while his 12.7% walk rate and 20.1% strikeout rate are both career bests. His .278/.373/.496 batting line translates to a huge 147 wRC+.

Although the Statcast metrics somewhat supported his decline in results last year, the 2023 season looks like a clear outlier compared to the rest of his career. Perhaps Adames was playing through some kind of injury that was tugging him down last year. He was struck in the head by a foul ball in the dugout in late May and went on the concussion-related injured list, returning a week later. He was hitting just .205/.292/.384 before that injury, however, with a .234 BABIP. After his return, his BABIP crept up to .274 as he slashed .223/.318/.418 the rest of the way.

Regardless of the cause, the 2023 dip seems to be in the rear-view mirror now. His Statcast metrics are back to pre-2023 levels and his overall results have been even better, particularly with that improved plate discipline. Even if he doesn’t maintain this excellent form all the way through the end of the year, a bounceback at the plate should set him up nicely as he heads into free agency this winter.

In terms of his glovework, Defensive Runs Saved is a long-time fan. That metric gave Adames a -8 in his rookie debut but has been in positive territory in each season since. Outs Above Average took longer to come around, giving Adames a negative grade in three of four years from 2018 to 2021. But he was given grades of +10 and +16 in the last two campaigns, with a mark of +4 already here this year. His +29 OAA since the start of 2022 is second among all big league shortstops, trailing only Dansby Swanson. His 17 DRS in that time is fourth in the league among shortstops.

Adames has roughly average sprint speed but can steal a few bases, as mentioned. He has between four and eight steals in each full season of his career, with four already in the early parts of this year.

He also has a strong track record in terms of health. He had the aforementioned stint on the concussion IL last year, and previously missed about three weeks due to a high left ankle sprain in 2022 and about two weeks in 2021 due to a left quad strain, but that’s it. Apart from his rookie season, when he was frequently optioned to the minors, he’s never played less than 139 games in a full season.

All of these ingredients should come together nicely for Adames this winter. The most recent offseason was icy for the players and it’s hard to know how much to reset expectations because of it, but everyday shortstops tend to get paid. Since the end of the 2021 season, nine different nine-figure contracts have been given to free agent shortstops. MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows three for players going into their age-29 seasons:

Adames is going to be the same age as the Swanson-Báez-Story trio, heading into his age-29 season, but could potentially be in a better position than any of that three. Story had shown tremendous upside but limped into free agency with a 98 wRC+ in his walk year and concerns around his throwing elbow. Swanson had an excellent defensive reputation but inconsistent offense, with just two full seasons where his wRC+ was above average. Báez also had fluctuating offense and mounting strikeout concerns, getting punched out at a 33.6% clip in his walk year.

The Brewers were surely give Adames a qualifying offer at season’s end, which he will reject. Báez was spared a QO since he was traded midseason but Swanson and Story each rejected QOs and were therefore tied to the associated penalties.

Adames may not be an MVP candidate. In fact, he’s bizarrely never even been an All-Star. But there’s a steadiness to his production. He’s never had more than 4.4 wins above replacement in a season, per FanGraphs, but he’s also been worth at least 3.1 fWAR in each full season. He’s already at 1.7 fWAR here in 2024.

As we saw in the most recent winter, the market can be affected by things beyond a player’s control, such as TV rights deals and luxury tax calculations. But Adames is currently doing everything in his power to set himself up well for the upcoming offseason. The longer he keeps it up, the more he will make 2023 look like a distant memory.

MLB Announces Suspensions For Rays-Brewers Brawl

By | at

2:55pm: Rays manager Kevin Cash said after today’s game that Siri’s suspension was reduced to two games and he already started serving it, per Topkin.

1:05pm: Major League Baseball announced several suspensions today in relation to last night’s confrontation between the Rays and the Brewers. Milwaukee right-handers Freddy Peralta and Abner Uribe got suspensions of five and six games, respectively. Their manager Pat Murphy got a two-game suspension. Outfielder Jose Siri of the Rays got three games. All four parties also received undisclosed fines.

Murphy is serving his suspension starting today but both of the Milwaukee hurlers are appealing, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Siri will also be appealing his suspension, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Siri homered off Peralta in the third inning and then was plunked by Peralta in the sixth. The umpires conferred and ejected Peralta, despite the fact that no warnings had been issued in the game to that point. Murphy objected to the ejection and he was also ejected.

Siri came up again in the eighth with Uribe pitching. Siri hit a grounder to Rhys Hoskins at first base, who flipped the ball to Uribe as he covered first and recorded the out. Siri and Uribe exchanged words by first base before Uribe took a swipe at Siri. The two tried throwing punches towards each other as various parties tried to intervene with the benches emptying. Both were ejected after the fracas died down.

Adam McCalvy and Adam Berry of MLB.com spoke to the relevant parties after the game and relayed some natural differences of opinion about what transpired. Crew chief Chris Guccione said the umpires thought it was “clear-cut” that Peralta intentionally threw at Siri, though the pitcher denied it. “How many homers did I give up in seven years? A lot, and I never did something after,” Peralta said. “It’s my first time I got ejected from a game in seven seasons and there’s no reason for me to hit him.”

For his part, Siri denied that he celebrated his home run in any outlandish way. “I didn’t take too much time,” Siri said through Rays interpreter Manny Navarro. “I hit the ball, took a couple of steps and then I started running like normal.”

As for the later incident at first base, Uribe had this to say: “There were some words shared that didn’t have much to do with the game that probably shouldn’t have been shared there in that exchange.”

His sparring partner described it thusly: “When I went to first base, I just went there normal, and he kind of hit me on the shoulder,” Siri said. “So I asked him why did he do that? And he just said, ‘Because I felt like it.’”

As mentioned, Murphy is serving his suspension immediately while the players are all appealing. Their suspensions will be held in abeyance until the appeal process is complete, though players in this situation will often drop an appeal at a convenient time, such as when they were planning to have an unrelated day off.

Brewers Promote Tyler Black

By | at

4:05pm: The Brewers have made it official, announcing they have selected Black’s contract. Miley was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man spot while Miller was optioned to make room on the active roster.

1:35pm: The Brewers are expected to call up infield prospect Tyler Black today, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Black is not on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will be necessary, though Wade Miley could easily be transferred to the 60-day injured list since he is going to miss the rest of the season due to Tommy John surgery. Another move would still be necessary to get Black onto the active roster.

Black, 23, was selected by the Brewers with the 33rd overall pick in the 2021 draft. Since then, he has climbed the minor league ladder, earning huge amounts of praise for his plate discipline. He spent 2022 in High-A, walking more often than he struck out. He was limited to 283 plate appearances in 64 games due to a fractured scapula but drew 45 walks while getting punched out 44 times, leading to respective rates of 15.9% and 15.5%. He only hit four home runs but his .281/.406/.424 batting line translated to a 137 wRC+.

He got over his injury and returned to the field last year, playing 123 games between Double-A and Triple-A. He walked in 15.8% of his trips to the plate on the year while striking out at a 17.9% rate, hitting 18 home runs in the process. He hit a combined .284/.417/.513 between the two levels for a 145 wRC+. He returned to Triple-A this year and has produced a batting line of .303/.393/.525 so far.

Though the plate discipline is his most standout tool, he also has some speed to offer. He stole 13 bases in his injury-shortened 2022 campaign before swiping 55 bags on 67 tries last year. He’s tallied another three in the early going here in 2024.

Defensively, he’s more of a question mark. He was a second baseman in college and the early parts of his minor league career, spending some time in center field in 2022 as well. But since the start of last year, he’s been exclusively on the infield corners, primarily at third.

Regardless of the defensive question marks, the strong offense and the speed are enough for him to be considered one of the best prospects in the league. Baseball America currently lists him as their #73 prospect. MLB Pipeline has him at #42, ESPN at #51 while Keith Law of The Athletic put him in the #44 spot. Though for a dissenting opinion, Black doesn’t crack the top 100 at FanGraphs and Eric Longenhagen put him at just #10 in the Brewers’ system last month. Longenhagen expresses concern that Black won’t stick at third base and will eventually end up at first, where his contact-over-power approach will be insufficient.

Given the current Milwaukee infield alignment, it would seem that Black probably has a better path to playing time at first base for now. Joey Ortiz has been the regular at third and is hitting a strong .279/.392/.426 so far this year, 134 wRC+. First base has been split between Rhys Hoskins and Jake Bauers, though the latter hasn’t been performing especially well. Bauers is hitting .200/.250/.383 while striking out in 37.5% of his trips to the plate this year.

Both Bauers and Black are left-handed hitters, so it seems Bauers is the player most likely to lose playing time with Black promotion. Bauers is out of options and would have to be designated for assignment if he is to be squeezed off the roster. Though if the Brewers want to keep him around as a bench bat, they could option someone like Joey Wiemer, Oliver Dunn or Owen Miller.

It’s late enough in the season that Black can’t earn a full year of service time, at least not the traditional way. A major league season is 187 days long but a player needs 172 days in the big leagues, or on the major league injured list, to get to the one-year mark. Since we’re over a month into the 2024 campaign already, Black can’t quite make it to that line.

The current collective bargaining agreement contains measures to disincentive service time manipulation, by rewarding clubs for promotion top prospects while also allowing such players a path to getting one year of service even if held down. If a player is on two of the three top 100 lists at BA, MLB Pipeline or ESPN, they are considered eligible for the prospect promotion incentive, which applies to Black since he’s on all three.

Had the Brewers promoted Black earlier in the year, they could have earned themselves an extra draft pick depending on how he performed in awards voting, but that won’t be in play now. Black will be able to earn a full service year if he can finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting, the other new measure in the CBA, though he will have an uphill battle in achieving that. Players like Shota Imanaga Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jared Jones, Jackson Merrill, Masyn Winn and others have already had a head start of over a month to rack up stats while Black is just getting started.

Even if he comes up short of the one-year mark here in 2024, he would be in line for Super Two status after the 2026 campaign if he can stay up in the big leagues from this point forward. He would be able to go through arbitration four times instead of three before being slated for free agency after 2030, though future optional assignments could delay either of those trajectories.

NL Central Notes: Imanaga, Pirates, Brewers, Carpenter, Reds

By | at

Before the Cubs signed Shota Imanaga to a four-year, $53MM deal, the other finalists for Imanaga’s services were the Red Sox, Pirates, and Brewers, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.  Boston’s interest in Imanaga was well-known, and Pittsburgh had also been linked to Imanaga’s market, even if the Bucs’ traditional lack of spending makes it somewhat surprising to learn that they apparently came relatively close to landing the southpaw.  Of course, “finalist” is a bit of a nebulous term, and it isn’t known just how close the Pirates might’ve come to Chicago in the bidding.  For instance, the Red Sox offered Imanaga two years and $26MM in guaranteed money according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, with two more vesting years covering the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

The Brewers are also a surprise entry, as it wasn’t publicly known that they were in on Imanaga at all, let alone one of the last four suitors in the running for his services.  Milwaukee also often operates with a limited payroll (albeit not as limited as the Pirates’ budget), and it’s interesting to speculate on what the team might’ve offered Imanaga, or whether signing the Japanese star might’ve kept from the Crew from any of their other winter business.  For instance, if the Brewers had signed Imanaga, would they have still had enough spending capacity to bring back Brandon Woodruff and/or Wade Miley, or would any further pitching additions would’ve been strictly of the lower-cost or minor league variety if Imanaga had been the team’s big offseason strike.  As Nightengale observes, any of Imanaga’s other suitors might have some regrets given how the left-hander has gotten his MLB career off to such a great start.

Some other notes from around the NL Central…

  • Matt Carpenter recently received a cortisone shot to deal with the oblique strain that has kept him on the injured list for almost four weeks, MLB.com’s John Denton writes (X link).  The shot led to a shutdown, and it isn’t clear when Carpenter will be ready to begin a minor league rehab assignment, though he has been able to take batting practice.  Carpenter reunited with the Cardinals on a one-year deal this past winter, but played in just three games before suffering his oblique problem.
  • X-rays were negative on both Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Tyler Stephenson after the Reds duo were each hit on the hand by pitches in Saturday’s game.  Encarnacion-Strand might be the slightly more serious situation of the two, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the infielder’s X-ray revealed a small previous fracture in the same spot that CES was hit on Saturday.  Encarnacion-Strand said he had “no clue” about the origin of the older injury, and he hadn’t felt any discomfort prior to this most recent HBP.  It isn’t yet clear if Encarnacion-Strand will get an MRI to further explore the injury, but he hoped to return to the lineup within a day or two.

NL Central Notes: Wicks, Junis, Carlson

By | at

The Cubs are in for their second bullpen game in as many days tomorrow, as Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune was among those to relay that left-hander Jordan Wicks has been scratched from his scheduled start tomorrow due to forearm tightness. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski will start the game in Wicks’s place just three days after pitching 2 1/3 scoreless frames against the Astros Thursday afternoon.

It’s not currently clear how serious Wicks’s injury is or if a stint on the injured list will be required, but a lengthy absence would be a major blow to the Cubs. The club’s first-round pick in the 2021 draft, Wicks has pitched solidly for the Cubs through five starts this season, posting a roughly league average 4.70 ERA and a much stronger 3.25 FIP in 23 innings of work. An trip to the shelf for Wicks would further exacerbate Chicago’s early-season injury woes. Hurlers Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Drew Smyly, and Julian Merryweather are all currently on the injured list (though the former may be back soon) while the positional corps has lost both Seiya Suzuki and Cody Bellinger from its outfield mix.

The laundry list of injuries has left the Cubs somewhat thin in terms of rotation options, with both Ben Brown and now Wesneski stepping in to make starts after previously pitching out of the bullpen for the big league club. Chicago signed veteran right-hander Julio Teheran to a minor league deal in earlier this month, and the 33-year-old righty and lefty Thomas Pannone among the club’s top non-roster depth options for the rotation.

More from the NL Central…

  • Brewers right-hander Jakob Junis suffered a scary incident earlier this week when he was struck by an errant fly ball during the club’s pregame workouts prior to a game against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Fortunately, Junis is back traveling with the team and spoke to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel yesterday. The right-hander noted that he underwent an MRI and CT scan, both of which came back clean, before he was released from the hospital. Now that he’s back with the team, it appears Junis is set to continue rehabbing from the shoulder impingement that has cost him most of the season to this point. Per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Brewers manager Pat Murphy recently indicated that the club may look to bring Junis back into the fold as a reliever rather than build him up to start. It’s something of a surprise given the recent injuries suffered by lefties DL Hall and Wade Miley, though it’s possible that a multi-inning relief role could allow the Brewers to maximize Junis’s innings in the short-term.
  • Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson has missed the entire season to this point after suffering a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder just before Opening Day. Fortunately, however, it appears that the 25-year-old could be nearing his season debut. According to MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, Carlson is set to begin a rehab assignment in the near future if he comes out of a hitting session today pain-free. The return of Carlson would be most welcome for St. Louis, as the club recently optioned struggling youngster Jordan Walker to the minor leagues. With Carlson and Tommy Edman both on the injured list, that’s left the club to rely on Michael Siani and Alec Burleson as major contributors to the outfield mix alongside Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan.

Wade Miley To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By | at

Brewers left-hander Wade Miley needs repair on the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The lefty will be undergoing Tommy John surgery, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. McCalvy adds that Miley will spend the next 10 to 12 months rehabbing from the surgery before deciding if he will continue his career. McCalvy adds in a second tweet that Miley is leaning towards coming back. “I’ve always said I want to go out on my own [terms],” he said. “I still feel like I’ve got more in the tank.”

The news of the surgery doesn’t come as a total shock. He was placed on the injured list earlier this week with elbow inflammation and was clearly trying to avoid thinking of the possibility of going under the knife. “I don’t want to be concerned,” he said a few days ago. “Obviously, the ugly thought probably ends it for me, so I’m trying not to take myself there right now. I don’t know if I’d be willing to go through something like that and I’m hoping it’s nothing to that extent. But like I said, without imaging, we won’t know.”

Since then, despite getting the bad news, he seems to have turned a corner in terms of his acceptance of the situation. As mentioned up top, he’s now leaning towards coming back. Rosiak relays a two-minute clip on X of Miley discussing the situation, in which he actually seems sort of optimistic at times. “Weirdly, kind of excited,” he says. “Get this thing fixed and maybe I can pitch without pain for a little bit, you know? I’ve been dealing with elbow stuff for four, five years now. Looking on the bright side, if we get this thing fixed up, who knows?”

It’s true that Miley, 37, has been dealing with his share of injury setbacks in recent years. From 2012 to 2017, he tossed at least 157 innings in six straight seasons, posting a combined 4.37 earned run average in that time. But in 2018, he only got to 80 2/3 innings, missing a couple of months due to an oblique strain. He got up to 167 1/3 in 2019 but then fell shy of 15 innings in the shortened 2020 season, missing time due to a groin strain and a shoulder strain.

He was able to stay healthy enough in 2021 to log 163 innings over 28 starts, but then was capped at 37 frames in 2022, spending time on the IL due to elbow inflammation and a shoulder strain. There was another uptick last year, as he got to 23 starts and 120 1/3 innings, though a lat strain and elbow discomfort did separately send him to the IL a couple of times.

Now he’s unfortunately going to have to endure the lengthiest absence of his career and it seems there’s at least some possibility he never comes back. Given his comments today, it seems more likely that he’ll try to return at some point in 2025, but he’ll have plenty of time to think about it.

He signed a one-year deal with the Brewers in the offseason, which comes with a mutual option. Those options are almost never picked up by both sides and the surgery makes it a certainty that the Brewers will decline their end, sending Miley back to the open market.

Free agent pitchers that are coming off a notable surgery such as this will often sign two-year deals, with the signing club knowing that they may not get much return on their investment in the first season while the pitcher is hurt. Miley will be an interesting case since he’s already 37 years old, with his next birthday in November. A two-year deal would therefore be covering his age-38 and age-39 seasons, a few years older than most pitchers who sign such deals. But he’s still been effective when on the mound, as he had a 3.14 ERA with Milwaukee just last year.

For now, the Brewers will have to move forward with yet another starter subtracted from their rotation mix. Brandon Woodruff required shoulder surgery late last year and it’s questionable whether or not he can return this year. Corbin Burnes was traded to the Orioles in the winter. DL Hall and Jakob Junis are both currently on the IL and now Miley is going to miss the rest of the year.

Their current rotation consists of Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea, Joe Ross, Tobias Myers and Bryse Wilson. Ross hardly pitched over the previous two years due to various injuries. Myers just made his major league debut this week while Wilson was just moved in from the bullpen, having not had a regular starting gig since 2022.

There’s plenty of uncertainty in that group, but the club is managing to hold onto the division lead for now. Coming into today, they are half a game up on the Cubs, with the three other clubs not far behind. As the season rolls along, improved health from Hall or Junis could play a factor, or perhaps prospect Robert Gasser could work his way into the mix. But it also wouldn’t be a surprise to see the club searching for pitching at this summer’s deadline, given the setbacks they’ve been dealt.

Brewers Place Wade Miley On Injured List With Elbow Inflammation

By | at

April 25: The initial wave of imaging on Miley was inconclusive, manager Pat Murphy tells the team’s beat (X link via Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). He’s headed for further testing — an arthrogram, specifically — to determine if there’s any ligament damage in his elbow.

April 22: The Brewers announced a series of transactions today, most notably placing left-hander Wade Miley on the 15-day injured list due to left elbow inflammation, retroactive to April 19. Right-hander Tobias Myers was recalled in a corresponding move. Also, first baseman Jake Bauers was reinstated from the bereavement list with infielder Andruw Monasterio optioned to Triple-A Nashville.

At this point, it’s unclear if the Brewers expect the injury to be serious, but there’s always some level of concern when a pitcher’s throwing elbow is involved. Per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the left-hander is going to get some imaging done tomorrow and Miley says he is trying to fight back the negative thoughts in his head. “I don’t want to be concerned,” he says at the end of the clip in the link from Hogg. “Obviously, the ugly thought probably ends it for me, so I’m trying not to take myself there right now. I don’t know if I’d be willing to go through something like that and I’m hoping it’s nothing to that extent. But like I said, without imaging, we won’t know.”

Miley, 37, has had plenty of injury scares in recent years, only twice getting to 125 innings since 2017. In 2022, he missed time both due to elbow inflammation and a shoulder strain in his throwing arm, logging just 37 innings. He got up to 120 1/3 frames last year but also missed time due to a lat strain and some elbow discomfort. Here in 2024, he started the season on the IL due to a shoulder impingement, came back to make two starts and is now heading to the IL again.

The “ugly thought” he alluded to presumably refers to Tommy John surgery, which generally requires something in the range of 14-18 months to recover from. At this point in the calendar, that would wipe out the rest of Miley’s 2024 season and much of the 2025 campaign as well. If he were to go through all that, he would be nearing his 39th birthday by the time he got back to a mound. Based on his comments, it sounds like it’s not a road he wants to go down or even think about right now.

The club will surely provide more information when they have it, but it will be a challenging situation for them regardless due to some other injuries in their rotation. Brandon Woodruff had shoulder surgery last year and won’t be an option until late in 2024 season, if at all. Jakob Junis has been on the IL for a couple of weeks due to a shoulder impingement while DL Hall was placed on the IL just yesterday due to a left knee sprain.

That leaves Milwaukee with a rotation consisting of Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea and Joe Ross for the time being. The recent IL placements of Hall and Miley mean they will have to scramble to fill a couple of spots. Reaching into the minors leagues will also have injury complications as Robert Gasser, one of the club’s top prospects, hasn’t yet pitched in Triple-A due to a bone spur in his left elbow.

Myers, 25, was added to the club’s roster last week but was optioned the next day without getting into a game and is still looking to make his major league debut. He has been pitching multi-inning stints in the minors and could perhaps take on some bulk work for the Brewers. Bryse Wilson has past starting experience and has been throwing multi-inning stints in the big leagues this year, so he’s another option. Aaron Ashby and Janson Junk are also on the 40-man roster and could be recalled to provide some length.

The Brewers are currently 14-6 and sitting atop the National League Central, but the ongoing rotation issues will make it a challenge to hang onto that spot. The team and Miley will obviously be hoping that tomorrow’s imaging doesn’t find anything concerning and that the lefty can rejoin the club after a brief respite.

Brewers Place DL Hall On 15-Day Injured List

By | at

The Brewers have placed left-hander DL Hall on the 15-day injured list due to a left knee sprain.  Left-hander Jared Koenig was called up from Triple-A Nashville to take Hall’s place on the active roster.

As manager Pat Murphy told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters, Hall hurt his knee while fielding a bunt single from Michael Siani in the second inning.  The southpaw ended up lasting 3 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on five walks and five hits, though the sprain can’t be blamed for all these struggles, as Hall had already given up three walks and two hits before Siani’s single.

It remains to be seen how much time Hall could miss, as while Murphy described the strain as “mild,” the injury was still under evaluation.  However, the 15-day absence only adds to what has been a dreadful start to both Hall’s 2024 season and his Brewers tenure altogether.

Acquired from the Orioles as part of the Corbin Burnes trade package, Hall worked almost exclusively as a reliever in his two previous MLB seasons in Baltimore, but the Brewers opted to stretch him out as a starter.  The results haven’t been pretty — Hall has a 7.71 ERA, 15.5% strikeout rate, and an 11.9% walk rate across four starts and 16 1/3 innings.  Murphy told reporters yesterday that things would have to improve in order for Hall to stick in Milwaukee’s rotation, though this injury could put that decision on hold for at least a couple of weeks.

McCalvy figures that Bryse Wilson will likely be moved into the rotation in Hall’s place for the time being, both because of Wilson’s recent experience as a spot starter and due to a relative lack of other healthy options.  Hall joins Jakob Junis on the big league injured list, and top prospect Robert Gasser is on the IL at Triple-A.  Koenig has some starting experience but has worked primarily as a reliever since the start of the 2023 campaign, so it seems likelier that he’ll just replace Wilson in the long relief role.

NL Central Notes: Hall, Happ, Reds

By | at

Left-hander DL Hall was a key piece of the return that the Brewers landed in the Corbin Burnes trade, and the club made clear upon acquiring him that Hall would be used as a member of the starting rotation despite the 25-year-old having been used almost exclusively out of the bullpen during his time in Baltimore. That experiment hasn’t gone well through Hall’s first four starts, however. Not only does Hall currently sport a 7.71 ERA with a walk rate (11.9%) that nearly matches his deflated strikeout rate (15.4%), but he’s also failed to record an out in the fifth inning in three of his four starts with the club.

Given those considerable struggles, it’s not necessarily surprising that Brewers manager Pat Murphy indicated after Hall’s start Saturday that the club might look to shift gears if Hall can’t get things on track. In conversation with reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) that evening, Murphy admitted that “there’s got to be adjustments made” for Hall to remain a member of the rotation, adding that the club “can’t keep letting him throw 3 1/3 and say ’that’s fine.'”

Hall is currently joined in the rotation by Freddy Peralta, Wade Miley, Colin Rea, and Joe Ross. Should the young southpaw find himself moved to the bullpen at some point, left-hander Aaron Ashby is one candidate to step into a rotation role, though he’s dealt with struggles of his own to this point in the season. Ashby was blown up in his lone big league start this year, allowing eight runs (four earned) in 3 2/3 frames. His time in the minors hasn’t gone much better, with a 9.28 ERA in three starts. If Ashby continues to be unable to get results, the Brewers may be best served simply waiting for right-hander Jakob Junis to return from the injured list after being sidelined by a shoulder impingement for the last two weeks before considering a change in Hall’s usage.

More from the NL Central…

  • Cubs left fielder Ian Happ was removed from Friday’s game against the Marlins in the seventh inning due to what manager Craig Counsell described to reporters (including Andy Martinez of Marquee Sports Network) as left hamstring tightness. Counsell described the move as “precautionary” at the time, though Happ was noticeably absent from both games in the club’s doubleheader on Saturday. It’s not yet clear if Happ will ultimately require a trip to the injured list for the issue, though it makes sense for the Cubs to be cautious regarding their left fielder after he suffered a mild strain of the same hamstring during Spring Training last month. Alexander Canario filled in for Happ yesterday in left field, while Mike Tauchman and Patrick Wisdom have combined to handle right field in the aftermath of Seiya Suzuki’s oblique injury.
  • Reds right-hander Ian Gibaut has missed the entire 2024 season to this point due to discomfort in his right forearm, and the club announced yesterday that he had been returned from his rehab assignment following “renewed” discomfort in the area. Per MLB.com’s injury tracker, manager David Bell recently indicated that Gibaut could resume his rehab assignment at some point this week. Even so, it’s unwelcome news for a Reds club that leaned heavily on the right-hander last year as he pitched to a strong 3.33 ERA in 75 2/3 innings of work. With Gibaut out of commission, the Reds have relied on Fernando Cruz and Emilio Pagan to set up for closer Alexis Diaz.

Odell Jones Passes Away

By | at

Former big league right-hander Odell Jones has passed away, per John Perrotto of Pittsburgh Baseball Now. No cause of death was given for Jones, who was 71.

Born in California in 1953, Jones was signed by the Pirates as an undrafted free agent in 1971. He made his debut with that club in 1975 but tossed just three innings. He got a more proper run of play in the show in 1977, tossing 108 innings for the Bucs in a swing role. He posted an earned run average of 5.08 over 15 starts and 19 relief appearances.

Jones would go on to bounce around the league, serving in various roles. He was traded to the Mariners in 1978 and then back to the Pirates in 1980. He went to the Rangers in the 1982 Rule 5 draft and recorded 10 saves for them in 1983. He later signed with the Orioles and Blue Jays, though he didn’t make it to the majors with the latter club.

For many baseball fans, Jones is best known for one magical night where almost everything lined up for him. He was with the Brewers in 1988 as a 35-year-old journeyman. Teddy Higuera was supposed to start against Cleveland on May 28 but was dealing with some back spasms, per JD Radcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which led to Jones taking the ball instead.

Though he wasn’t even the scheduled starter, Jones had the best performance of his life that night. He was perfect through seven, until he issued a one-out walk to Mel Hall. He kept his no-hitter going into the ninth, until it was broken up by a one-out single off the bat of Ron Washington, now the manager of the Angels. Dan Plesac came into to get the final two outs as the Brewers beat Cleveland 2-0 (boxscore here at Baseball Reference).

That was the final big league season for Jones, who finished his career with a 4.42 ERA in 549 1/3 innings over nine different major league seasons. MLBTR joins the baseball world in sending our condolences to the Jones family as well as his fans and friends throughout the game.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top