Brewers Rumors

David Green Passes Away

By Darragh McDonald | February 1, 2022 at 8:45pm CDT

The Cardinals announced this morning that former MLB outfielder and first baseman David Green has passed away. He was 61 years old.

One of the first Nicaraguan-born players to crack the big leagues, Green eventually played 489 games at baseball’s highest level between 1981 and 1987, primarily for the Cards. Originally signed by the Brewers, he was traded to St. Louis after the 1980 season. After a cup of coffee as a 20-year-old in 1981, Green got into 76 games in 1982, hitting .283/.315/.373. In nine postseason games that year, he hit .273/.333/.545, as the Cardinals eventually defeated Green’s former team, the Brewers, in the 1982 World Series.

Green would stay with the Cards through the next two seasons, before being dealt to the Giants prior to the 1985 campaign. After one year in San Fran, he was dealt back to Milwaukee but was released before appearing in a game with them. He then spent some time in Japan, playing with the Kintetsu Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball before rejoining the Cardinals for part of the 1987 campaign. That was his last taste of the majors, though he did later spent some time in the minors with the Braves and Rangers.

All told, Green hit a combined .268/.308/.394 across his 489 career big league games, with 31 home runs, 168 runs scored, 180 runs batted in and 68 stolen bases.

We at MLBTR extend our condolences to Green’s family, as well as his many friends and fans.

This Date In Transactions History: January 30

By Mark Polishuk | January 30, 2022 at 6:20pm CDT

Let’s take a look back at some notable moves taking place on this day in years past…

2021: The Blue Jays officially announced their one-year, $18MM deal with Marcus Semien, as the two sides agreed to the contract a few days prior. In the aftermath of a disappointing 2020 season with the A’s, Semien opted for the one-year pact with Toronto in order to rebuild his free agent value with a better performance in 2021. This plan worked to perfection, as Semien finished third in AL MVP voting after hitting .265/.334/.538 with 45 home runs (a new single-season record for a second baseman). Semien then cashed in during his most recent trip to the open market, signing a seven-year, $175MM contract with the Rangers signed prior to the lockout.
2021: In another notable move completed one year ago, the Athletics acquired Cole Irvin from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations. Irvin hadn’t done much over 45 1/3 career innings with Philadelphia, but the southpaw emerged as a valuable member of Oakland’s rotation last year, posting a 4.24 ERA over 178 1/3 innings. While the Statcast metrics weren’t kind to Irvin and questions remain as to whether or not he can stick as a reliable starting pitcher, and yet for the cost of just a minor cash outlay, the trade was already a win for the A’s. It is possible Irvin wouldn’t have broken out without a change of scenery, and yet the deal doesn’t look great in hindsight for the Phillies, especially considering the Phils spent much of the season looking for consistency at the back of their rotation.
2016: Jean Segura was traded for the second of four times in his career, as the Diamondbacks acquired Segura and right-hander Tyler Wagner from the Brewers for a package of Chase Anderson, Isan Diaz, Aaron Hill, and $5.5MM to cover part of Hill’s remaining salary. Segura’s lone season in Arizona was the best of his career (.319/.368/.499 with 20 homers as part of a 5.0 fWAR campaign), but it wasn’t enough to keep the D’Backs from a 93-loss season. With Mike Hazen taking over as Arizona’s GM in the aftermath of that rough season, Segura found himself on the move again in November 2016, traded to the Mariners in another notable swap that brought Ketel Marte to the desert. From Milwaukee’s perspective, their Segura trade ended up being a nice win. Anderson became a solid member of the rotation for four seasons, while Diaz was part of the prospect package the Brewers sent to the Marlins to land Christian Yelich.
2006: Hey, remember when Mike Piazza played for the Padres? The Hall-of-Famer spent only one season in a Friars uniform, but it was a memorable one, sparked when Piazza signed a one-year, $2MM deal (with an $8MM mutual option for 2007). Getting the bulk of playing time as San Diego’s starting catcher, Piazza still plenty left in the tank at age 37, hitting .283/.342/.501 with 22 home runs over 439 PA. Piazza’s big year helped the Padres win the NL West, but the team declined their end of the mutual option after the season.
1954: Bobby Thomson’s legendary home run helped THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT in 1951, but it can be argued that trading Thomson helped the Giants win the World Series in 1954. On this day 68 years ago, the then-New York Giants picked up left-handers Johnny Antonelli and Don Liddle, backup catcher Ebba St. Claire, infielder Billy Klaus and $50K in cash from the then-Milwaukee Braves in exchange for Thomson and catcher Sam Calderone. Antonelli became a fixture of the Giants rotation for the next seven seasons, reaching six All-Star games and posting a league-best 2.30 ERA in 1954. Liddle was also a solid arm for New York in 1954, and might be best remembered for allowing the long Vic Wertz fly ball that required Willie Mays to make “The Catch” in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. Brought into the game specifically to face Wertz, Liddle was removed after facing his one batter — according to legend, Liddle then wisecracked “well, I got my man” in mock-bragging fashion after leaving the game.
1923: It’s not quite the most famous example of the Red Sox trading a future Hall-of-Famer to the Yankees, since it’s not like Boston fans bemoaned “The Curse Of Herb Pennock.” Still, the Yankees never won a World Series before Pennock came to the Bronx, dealt from Boston for $50K and three players who were all gone from the Sox roster by 1925. Pennock was already a 10-year veteran with a solid career behind him at the time of the trade, but after a couple of relative down years in 1921 and 1922, the Sox were ready to move on. Pennock went on to pitch 11 seasons with the Yankees, posting a 3.54 ERA over 2203 1/3 innings and helping New York win four Series championships. The southpaw was at his best in October, with a 1.95 ERA over 55 1/3 career innings in World Series play.

Recalibrating Expectations For Luis Urias

By TC Zencka | January 29, 2022 at 10:11pm CDT

Luis Urias was a top prospect coming up in the Padres’ system at a time when San Diego had one of the best farm systems in baseball. The Padres avoided overtures to deal Urias for more established talent year after year. After intermittent opportunities in 2018 and 2019, Urias was shipped to Milwaukee in one of the more interesting challenge trades in recent memory: the Padres sent Urias and southpaw Eric Lauer to the Brewers for outfielder Trent Grisham and righty Zach Davies.

At the time – late November of 2019 – Grisham was at a low point, fresh off ending the Brewers season with an unfortunate bounce on a Juan Soto single that knocked Milwaukee out of the wild card game. Grisham had played admirably in a 51-game stint mostly standing in for the injured Christian Yelich – not at all an easy task, given his legendary status at the time. But the way the season ended definitely left a poor impression about Grisham’s future. Of course, Grisham would go on to win a Gold Glove Award as a centerfielder the next season, reminding us that a single moment in time cannot define a player’s career. The now-25-year-old has grown his well-rounded game enough to place him among the most promising centerfielders in the sport.

A similar lesson might be taken from the first few seasons of Urias’ career. His first season with the Brewers looked a lot like his first few years in San Diego. Following the 2020 season, Urias’ career triple-slash line was a punchless .226/.315/.320, a performance 24 percent below-average. The lack of pop wasn’t shocking, as power was never his calling card. His offensive potential was built on a keen eye at the plate and bat-to-ball skills that routinely produced batting averages of .290+ while in the minor leagues.

Urias, who’s still just 24, turned it around in the 2021 campaign, posting a 111 wRC+ while slashing .249/.345/.445 with 23 home runs. Oddly, it was his power that drove the improvement as his isolated power jumped to .196, an above-average mark that helped sustain a move to the more power-expectant position of third base. If last season’s output represents a new baseline for Urias, our typical understanding of the aging curve suggests that Urias ought to have at least another 5-6 seasons of being a very good baseball player.

If the high-average, high-on-base-percentage player that Urias had been throughout his minors career re-animates for the Brewers in 2022, the Brewers might really have a star player on their hands. They might need one, too, because, somewhat ironically, where once Grisham stood in for an injured Yelich, an improved Urias helped pick up the slack for a lessened Yelich in 2021. With Yelich no longer performing at the superhuman levels of his MVP seasons, and Lorenzo Cain beginning to show his age, the Brewers had to rely on a more egalitarian approach at the plate in 2021. Urias was a big reason why the Brewers were able to weather Yelich’s decline from a 170 wRC+ superhero in 2018-19 to an all-too-mortal 105 wRC+ in 2020-21. Willy Adames carried much of the load after his arrival from Tampa, but even his transformation into a middle-of-the-order bat (135 wRC+) didn’t come close to matching the firepower of Yelich in his heyday.

Manager Craig Counsell mixes-and-matches to maximize the production of an imperfect offensive roster, and he’s done so dating back to Yelich’s MVP years. The Brewers scored 754 runs in 2018 when Yelich won the MVP, 12th-most in the Majors, then 769 runs in 2019 when Yelich finished second, 15th-most in MLB. They scored just 247 runs in the truncated 2020 season when Yelich’s production first dipped, a mark that fell to 26th overall and resulted in a 29-31 season that barely qualified them for an expanded playoffs. Last season, they made the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season while scoring 738 runs, which landed them back at 12th overall in the Majors. In other words, the Brewers offense was about as good as it’s ever been with Yelich on the roster, despite Yelich himself producing barely better than average.

The Brewers under Counsell and GM David Stearns have always been a pitching-first organization, and that’s likely to continue in 2022 behind a rotation that’s among the most well-rounded in all of baseball. Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Freddy Peralta boast mind-bending pure stuff, but they’re buttressed by a pair of steady-eddies in Adrian Houser and Lauer, Urias’ traveling mate from San Diego. When healthy, Josh Hader, Devin Williams, and Brent Suter make up the core of a formidable bullpen, not to mention Aaron Ashby, the hard-throwing, bespectacled southpaw who appears to be the next big arm to establish himself on Counsell’s staff.

Pitching dominance, however, now more than ever, is prone to whims of injury and year-to-year variance. Less length from starters means spreading the innings load to more pitchers than in days’ past, and that means spreading the potential for variance around as well. There are plusses and minuses to meting out that responsibility to so many arms. The Brewers pitching staff has ranked among the game’s best by fWAR the past two seasons, but nothing is guaranteed on the hill. The offense will need to carry their own water.

There are paths to Milwaukee scoring enough runs to cover even an unforeseen letdown from the pitching staff, but as of right now, they’re gambles. Obviously, a bounceback season from Yelich would do wonders. A rejuvenated Cain in his age-36 season would be amazing, however unlikely. Even another season from Adames at his Milwaukee potency would register as a pleasant surprise.

The list goes on. They need Keston Hiura to find the form that made him a top prospect bat. They need Hunter Renfroe and Tyrone Taylor to make up the production left behind by the departed Avisail Garcia. They need Rowdy Tellez to maintain his role as a power force, though year-to-year consistency has eluded the southpaw slugger in the past.

Urias, now stationed at the hot corner, might be the safest best of them all. Heading into last season, the sheen had worn off of Urias, and the prospect of his realizing the potential that was once heaped upon his 5’9″ frame was as unlikely as any of Milwaukee’s annual offensive gambits, and yet here we are. The Brewers not only need Urias to be a star, but it’s not wholly unfair to expect it.

Gene Clines Passes Away

By Steve Adams | January 27, 2022 at 10:36am CDT

The Pirates announced this morning that former Major League outfielder and veteran big league coach Gene Clines has passed away at the age of 75.

“Gene was a speedy outfielder who was a key member of our 1971 World Series team,” Pirates president Travis Williams said in a press release. “He made a tremendous impact on the game, not only as a player after his career with the Pirates, but also as a long-time coach in the big leagues.

“It was an honor to have Gene back in Pittsburgh this past September to recognize him and his teammates from our 1971 World Series Championship team who took the field as part of Major League Baseball’s first all-minority lineup. It was a joy to talk to him about his deep passion for baseball, his love for his teammates and his appreciation for the city of Pittsburgh. Our hearts go out to his wife Joanne, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

Clines spent parts of 10 seasons in the Majors, debuting as a rookie with the 1970 Pirates and indeed playing a key role on that ’71 championship team, when he batted .308/.366/.392 through 300 plate appearances with the World Series-champion Bucs. He’d remain in Pittsburgh through 1974 before being traded to the Mets in advance of the ’75 season. New York flipped him to the Rangers a year later, and Clines eventually landed with the Cubs following a third trade.

All told, Clines played 870 big league games, batting a combined .277/.329/.341 through 2556 plate appearances. He hit just five homers at the MLB level but also notched 85 doubles, 24 triples and 71 stolen bases while logging considerable time at all three outfield positions. Clines may not have been known for his power, but the first postseason hit of his career was a solo homer in Game 2 of the ’71 NLCS that gave the Bucs some breathing room, pushing their lead over the Giants to 4-2. (Bob Robertson eventually tacked on his second and third homers of the day in what proved a 9-4 Pirates victory.)

Following his playing career, Clines remained deeply involved in the game. He spent several years as the Cubs’ first base coach before settling in as a highly respected hitting coach, working with the Astros, Mariners, Brewers and Giants in that capacity before finally returning to the Cubs for the 2003-06 seasons. Along the way, Clines coached some of the greatest hitters of the generation, working with a young Craig Biggio in Houston, a young Ken Griffey Jr. in Seattle and, eventually, Barry Bonds in San Francisco. In addition to that impressive collection of pupils, Clines also teamed (and at times shared an outfield) with all-time greats such as Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell while playing with the Pirates.

Between his 10 years as a player and 20 years as a coach, Clines amassed three decades in a Major League dugout, leaving his mark on multiple generations of the nation’s pastime. We at MLBTR extend our condolences to the friends, family, loved ones and former teammates of Clines, as well as the innumerable fans who are surely mourning his passing as well.

Brewers Hire Matt Klentak As Special Assistant

By Mark Polishuk | January 27, 2022 at 8:15am CDT

Jan. 27: Though Klentak’s formal title is special assistant to president of baseball operations David Stearns and general manager Matt Arnold, he’ll actually be assuming oversight of the team’s international scouting department, tweets MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. That responsibility had formerly fallen under the purview of vice president of player personnel Mike Groopman, but he was hired away by the Red Sox as an assistant general manager back in November.

Furthermore, Stearns indicated to reporters that Klentak’s role with the club is expected to eventually increase (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). “As he becomes more familiar with our processes, we look forward to his contributions in other areas as well,” Stearns said of Klentak.

Jan. 23: The Brewers have hired Matt Klentak for a special assistant role, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb (Twitter link). Since stepping down as the Phillies’ general manager in October 2020, Klentak had still been working in Philadelphia’s front office as a strategy and development officer, and Rosenthal notes that Klentak will depart a year before his contract with the Phils was up.

While known best for his time in Philadelphia, Klentak has close to 20 years of baseball experience, including stints with the Rockies, the Orioles, MLB’s Labor Relations Department, and four years as an assistant GM with the Angels. Klentak moved from Los Angeles to Philadelphia after being hired as the Phillies’ GM in October 2015.

Klentak took over a Phillies team in the midst of a rebuild, but the Phils never posted a winning record over Klentak’s five seasons in charge, even after turning the course and signing several bigger-name veterans heading into the 2018 campaign. An 81-81 record in 2019 was the best the Phillies could manage under Klentak, as while the club acquired Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Andrew McCutchen, Jean Segura, and many other prominent players, the Phils still couldn’t crack the .500 mark.

Not all of Klentak’s big acquisitions worked out, of course, and yet the ex-GM did better than most at landing premium veteran talents for the roster. The bigger issue seemed to be a lack of help from within, as beyond Aaron Nola and Rhys Hoskins, the Phillies had trouble developing in-house prospects to provide extra (and cheaper) production alongside the pricier names like Harper. After the club went 28-32 in 2020, Klentak stepped down as GM, though the Phillies just reassigned him rather than let him go from the organization altogether.

Klentak will now provide Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns and GM Matt Arnold with another experienced voice within Milwaukee’s front office. It isn’t yet known what Klentak’s specific duties will be with the Brewers, as “special assistant” responsibilities tend to vary based on the team’s needs and the talents of the individual in the job. Klentak is the latest familiar name to join the Brewers as a special assistant, as the team also has Doug Melvin, Carlos Villanueva, Dick Groch, Quinton McCracken, and Nick Davis working under that title in various departments.

NL Central Notes: Haudricourt, Pirates, Flaherty, Cardinals

By Mark Polishuk | January 21, 2022 at 8:46am CDT

Veteran sportswriter Tom Haudricourt announced his retirement yesterday, as the longtime Brewers beat writer for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will be officially stepping away within the next month or two. Haudricourt has been with the Journal Sentinel for the last 36 years, following an eight-year stint with The Richmond Times Dispatch that launched his baseball career when Haudricourt covered the Braves’ former Richmond-based Triple-A affiliate.

Both Milwaukee fans and MLBTR’s readers have become very familiar with Haudricourt over the years, as he has broken countless transactions and news items related to the Brewers and the greater baseball world as a whole. In addition to his work on the beat, Haudricourt has also authored several books on the Brewers, and regularly contributed to Baseball America’s coverage of Milwaukee’s farm system. We at MLB Trade Rumors wish Haudricourt all the best in his retirement, and congratulate him on a terrific career.

Organizational Notes: Brewers, Dodgers, Padres

By James Hicks | January 18, 2022 at 12:56pm CDT

The Brewers added a pair of new coaches to their major league staff, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. The club named Jim Henderson its new bullpen coach and Matt Erickson as its infield and assistant hitting coach. Henderson replaces Steve Karsay, who stepped down last week citing a desire to spend more time with his family, while Erickson assumes a newly created role in manager Craig Counsell’s dugout.

Henderson’s playing career spanned parts of four major league seasons, including three with Milwaukee. He served as the Brewers’ primary closer in 2013, notching 28 saves alongside a 2.70 ERA in 60 innings across 61 appearances. After a rocky start to the 2014 season, the righty underwent shoulder surgery and never quite regained his form. He appeared in 44 games for the Mets in 2016, posting a 4.11 ERA in 45 innings, but never made it back to the bigs thereafter. He’s been a coach in the Milwaukee system since 2018, serving most recently as the pitching coach at Triple-A Nashville. Erickson, who notched one hit in six big-league plate appearances (all with the Brewers in 2004), had been the manager of the Low-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers since 2011.

Other organizational notes from around the game:

The Dodgers have hired Damon Jones, previously general counsel for the Washington Football Team, for a multi-titled role that includes vice president, assistant GM, and baseball legal counsel. Prior to joining the Washington Football Team, Jones had worked in the Nationals front office for 13 years following the end of his college baseball career at UC Santa Barbara. The team also announced the promotions of Alex Slater (from director of baseball operations to vice president and assistant GM), Brandon McDaniel (from director of player performance to vice president of player performance), and Thomas Albert (from assistant athletic trainer to head athletic trainer).
The Padres announced their 2022 minor league affiliate coaching staffs today. Jared Sandberg, previously the Mariners’ bench coach, will manage the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas; Phillip Wellman, perpetrator of perhaps the most legendary minor league manager temper tantrum ever caught on film, returns as manager of the Double-A San Antonio Missions; Brian Esposito, who’d managed the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians in the Pirates’ organization since 2018, will manage the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps; and Eric Junge, who’d served as the El Paso pitching coach in 2021 before managing the team from mid-August, will manage the L0w-A Lake Elsinore Storm. A full list of the club’s minor league coaches can be found in the team’s official announcement.

Latest On Brewers’ Coaching Staff

By Mark Polishuk | January 13, 2022 at 8:03pm CDT

Steve Karsay is stepping down as the Brewers’ bullpen coach, Tom Haudricourt of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Karsay is leaving the position due to family considerations. There isn’t yet any word on a possible replacement as bullpen coach, though Haudricourt suggests that Triple-A pitching coach Jim Henderson might be a logical internal candidate.

Best known for his 11 seasons as a big league hurler from 1993-2006, Karsay transitioned into coaching and spent seven seasons in Cleveland’s organization as a pitching coach at four different minor league affiliates. Karsay took over as Milwaukee’s bullpen coach prior to the 2019 season, and Haudricourt put it, Karsay was “serving in essence as co-pitching coach” alongside formal pitching coach Chris Hook and associate pitching/catching/strategy coach Walker McKinven.

In Karsay’s three seasons with the Brewers, Milwaukee relievers have led all bullpens in strikeout rate (27.9%) and rank second in SIERA (3.78). Such arms as Josh Hader, Brent Suter and Devin Williams have been the cornerstones of the pen, but the Brew Crew has also been successful in turning unheralded arms into valuable relievers or in mining bounce-back seasons from more experienced pitchers looking for a change of scenery.

Beyond Karsay’s departure, another change to Craig Counsell’s staff could be in the offing. Single-A manager Matt Erickson is under consideration for a promotion to the Brewers’ coaching ranks in an unspecified role (though not bullpen coach). Milwaukee is known to be looking for a third hitting coach, or Erickson could possibly be added in a more general coaching capacity. The Brewers currently have 10 members of their coaching staff, with an 11th to be filled once Karsay’s replacement is found.

Erickson is a longtime member of the organization whose only MLB playing experience came in a four-game cup of coffee with the Brewers in 2004. Since retiring, Erickson has both coached and (since 2011) managed his hometown team, as the A-level Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are located near Erickson’s birthplace of Appleton, Wisconsin.

NL Central Notes: Brewers, Mejia, Madrigal, Pirates, Newman

By Anthony Franco | January 10, 2022 at 11:18am CDT

A few weeks before the lockout, the Brewers acquired right-hander J.C. Mejía from the Guardians in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later. The 25-year-old had a tough rookie season in Cleveland, working to an 8.25 ERA/4.75 SIERA over 52 1/3 innings. He started 11 of his 17 appearances, holding down a rotation role for around two months while Cleveland dealt with concurrent injuries to Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale. Those lackluster results led to Mejía being designated for assignment after the season.

As part of a broader preview of the Brewers bullpen options, Will Sammon of the Athletic writes that the team would prefer to keep Mejía in a relief role moving forward. As Sammon points out, the righty did fare much better in his six relief appearances with Cleveland than he did as a starter last year. That’s an incredibly small sample on which to draw, but the Brewers’ strong rotation depth could afford them the opportunity to deploy Mejía in shorter stints. In 2021, he was rocked by left-handed batters (.328/.397/.656 in 137 plate appearances) but held his own against righties (.227/.327/.375 over 101 plate appearances). A bullpen role would give manager Craig Counsell some flexibility to shield Mejía from opposing clubs’ top lefty hitters.

More out of the division:

The ongoing lockout prevents players on a 40-man roster from having any sort of contact with club personnel. That’s not an ideal situation for anyone involved, but it could prove particularly challenging for players recuperating from major injuries but barred from speaking with team medical staffs. One such player, Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal, speaks with Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic about his ongoing recovery from the season-ending right hamstring tear he suffered in June. The 24-year-old says he’s progressed to sprinting of late but hasn’t been able to directly correspond with the team over the past five-plus weeks. Instead, he’s rehabbed at an independent facility (Scottsdale-based Helix Human Performance), where his trainers have been tasked with updating the Cubs on his status and relaying back recommendations from the team’s medical and conditioning departments. Injured players having to rely on independent “middlemen” to keep teams abreast of their progress is one of the quieter ways in which the lockout is impacting typical offseason business.
Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic opines that the Pirates are likely to make shortstop Kevin Newman available on the trade market coming out of the transactions freeze. That’s little surprise, given that the rebuilding Bucs are probably open to offers for everyone on the roster, save perhaps Bryan Reynolds or Ke’Bryan Hayes. Yet it remains to be seen if Newman would draw enough interest to make a trade worthwhile for a Pittsburgh club with very little certainty in the middle infield. The right-handed hitter is coming off a poor offensive showing, with his .226/.265/.309 mark checking in 46 percentage points below the league average by measure of wRC+. No other player who tallied 500+ plate appearances did less damage at the plate, although the mere fact that Newman commanded that level of playing time speaks to his contributions on the other side of the ball. Public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average were fond of his glovework, and he was a Gold Glove finalist at shortstop. Coupled with a modest $1.95MM salary, perhaps Newman could attract interest from teams like the Yankees or Twins seeking a stopgap pickup at the position, but his lack of productivity at the plate suggests he’s probably better suited for a utility role with a hopeful contender.

Devin Williams Discusses Last Year’s Season-Ending Injury

By Darragh McDonald | January 5, 2022 at 10:31pm CDT

The most recent news about Devin Williams was from October 5, with Williams having undergone surgery on his pitching hand, which he had broken when punching a wall the week before. At the time, the Brewers had finished their regular season schedule and were a few days away from starting their NLDS matchup with the Braves. There was still hope then that Williams could pitch in the World Series, if the Brewers were able to make it that far. Unfortunately, it was their opponents in that series who made it to the World Series, with the Brewers falling to the Braves.

It’s impossible to say whether the Brewers would have fared any better in the alternate reality where Williams doesn’t punch that wall, but it’s hard not to wonder. He had an incredible breakout during the shortened 2020 campaign, throwing 27 innings with a miniscule ERA of 0.33 and an absurd 53% strikeout rate. It would have been impossible for Williams to maintain that level of dominance in the larger sample size of a full season, but he still pitched well enough to prove that it wasn’t a complete mirage. Over 54 innings in 2021, he put up an ERA of 2.50, along with a 38.5% strikeout rate, still well above league average. But the Brewers had to head into the playoffs without him, due to the actions of Williams himself.

Now three months later, Williams sat down with Will Sammon of The Athletic to discuss the incident and the events surrounding it. As detailed by Sammon, the incident took place the night of Sunday, September 26, after the Brewers clinched the NL Central, with the post-game celebrations that started in the clubhouse eventually making their way into the outside world. Although Williams doesn’t go into explicit detail about what happened, he says that he became “upset over an altercation” and that “instead of taking it out on that person, I walked away, hit a wall.”

After eventually realizing the severity of the injury days later, Williams was left with the difficult task of informing his teammates about the situation. On the subject of whether he adequately expressed himself in that moment, Williams told Sammon, “I think most people understood what I was trying to say. They got the message. But that … that was the most difficult part.”

However, despite the emotional toll of feeling like he disappointed his teammates, he hasn’t been spending his offseason completely mired in guilt. That’s at least partially attributable to Hunter Strickland who, though now a free agent, was with the Brewers at the time. He had a similar self-imposed injury when with the Giants in 2018 and told Williams, “You have to forgive yourself at some point and move on. Otherwise, you’re just holding yourself back, keeping yourself from moving forward.” When asked if he heeded Strickland’s advice, Williams said, “There was definitely a month and a half when I was just sitting there, couldn’t do anything and I was down on myself. But if I stayed like that, I would never get to where I want to be.”

Williams is now on pace to return to full health before reporting to spring training, gearing up for 2022. He figures to be an integral part of a Brewers pitching staff that is largely the same as the one that was among baseball’s best in 2021, as the club looks to make the postseason for a fifth consecutive season.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Brewers Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect