Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Aaron Ashby

Brewers Notes: Taylor, Ashby, Adames

By | at

Brewers outfielder Tyrone Taylor has a sprained elbow that will keep him out of action for the first two weeks of spring games, with Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relaying word from manager Craig Counsell. There is no structural damage and Taylor will just need rest, though this will delay his ramp-up to readiness for the big league season.

Taylor has had a decent run with Milwaukee over the past couple of years, hitting 29 home runs and stealing nine bases in 213 games. His batting line over that 2021-2022 stretch was .239/.300/.448 for a wRC+ of 104. He also drew positive grades for his outfield defense, playing all three spots but primarily in center, leading to 3.4 fWAR in that time.

There’s still about five weeks until Opening Day, perhaps giving Taylor time to recover, though it will depend on how his elbow heals. If he needs to miss a bit of time, the club has a mix of outfielders that could step up. Christian Yelich and Jesse Winker seem likely to share the left field and designated hitter slots, with Garrett Mitchell perhaps getting an extended run of play in center. Right field could still go to Taylor if healthy, though the club also has Blake Perkins on the 40-man roster, as well as infielder/outfielders Brian Anderson, Mike Brosseau and Keston Hiura. In terms of non-roster options, Tyler Naquin just came aboard on a minor league deal, and there’s also prospects like Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer.

Some other notes from Brewers camp…

  • Left-hander Aaron Ashby has been sidelined by a shoulder injury that Counsell said would keep him out of action for “a couple of months.” The pitcher himself addressed the media yesterday, including Rosiak, and discussed the issue in more detail. “It’s a shoulder impingement, labral tear,” Ashby said. “That sounds really bad but everyone has these; it’s just kind of how it affects you. And in my throwing motion, it doesn’t feel great. It’s a really small tear. Then it’s the rehab process and retraining that muscle and working the proper way.” As for the timeline, “My hope is kind of middle of May,” he said. Over the past two years, he’s thrown 139 innings with a 4.47 ERA but stronger underlying metrics. His 9.7% walk rate is a bit high, but his 27.1% strikeout rate and 57.8% ground ball rate were both strong, leading to better marks from ERA estimators like a 3.95 FIP and 3.41 SIERA. Even without Ashby, the club projects to have six strong rotation options in Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer, Wade Miley and Adrian Houser. Ashby will have to work his way into that mix once he’s healthy, though it’s possible someone else in that group needs some time off by then.
  • Shortstop Willy Adames has previously expressed his willingness to sign a long-term deal to stay with the Brewers, though he also noticed the big contracts that shortstops were able to secure this offseason. “When you see the guys, you know, getting paid, I mean, the group of guys that signed this offseason, they were elite guys and they set the bar for us, you know, the guys that are coming up,” he tells Rosiak. He goes on to say he’ll let his agency handle the business side of things while he focuses on baseball but adds that those other shortstops “really set the bar for the guys that are coming up.” Carlos Correa ultimately settled for a contract below expectations after he had two deals scuttled by concerns over his physical, but the other marquee shortstops did well for themselves this winter. Trea Turner got himself $300MM from the Phillies, Xander Bogaerts got $280MM from the Padres and Dansby Swanson secured $177MM from the Cubs. The 27-year-old Adames will make $8.7MM this year before a final arbitration season in 2024, after which he’s slated to hit the open market. His performance over those next two seasons will determine what kind of contract he could be looking at on the open market but he’s trending in a strong direction. He posted a career-high 4.7 fWAR last year in a season that included 31 home runs and strong grades for his glovework. Milwaukee fans would surely love to keep him around long-term but he seems well aware of the kind of contract that awaits him if he stays healthy and productive for a couple more years.

Aaron Ashby Likely Out Multiple Months With Shoulder Injury

By | at

The Brewers anticipate that left-hander Aaron Ashby will miss “a couple of months” due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder, manager Craig Counsell told reporters this afternoon (relayed by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The skipper said Ashby has felt pain during his throwing session and will have to be shut down entirely for some time (via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

Milwaukee leadership had already suggested last week the southpaw wouldn’t be ready for Opening Day due to shoulder fatigue. The inflammation and complete shutdown represents a much more significant development than the Brewers had previously indicated. It’s not a complete surprise but frustrating news for the highly-touted young pitcher.

Ashby also missed time last season, logging injured list stints due to inflammation in both his elbow and shoulder. The latter issue cost him a month between late August and September, lingered into the offseason, and continues to pose a problem. His return timeline still seems to lack much certainty, though it looks as if he could be out of action for an extended chunk of the season’s first half.

The 24-year-old is a former top prospect. He’s only managed a 4.47 ERA in 139 career big league innings thus far, though he’s shown an enviable combination of bat-missing and ground-ball propensities. Ashby struck out 26.5% of batters faced in his 107 1/3 frames last season. He paired that with a massive 56.7% grounder percentage. Rays ace Shane McClanahan was the only other pitcher (minimum 100 innings) to strike out at least a quarter of opponents while keeping the ball on the ground over half the time a batter does make contact. That highlights why evaluators have been optimistic about Ashby’s upside.

Milwaukee clearly values Ashby as a long-term contributor. The Brew Crew signed him to a $20.5MM guarantee last summer, adding a pair of club options to extend their window of control by two seasons. He only appeared in eight games after signing that deal before injuries intervened. There’s obviously plenty of time for Ashby to get healthy and become the caliber of pitcher Milwaukee has envisioned, though that’ll be on hold as they try to sort out his shoulder issues.

Even in his absence, the Brewers have a strong starting staff. The trio of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta can rival any other club’s top three. Eric Lauer is a solid back-of-the-rotation arm, while Milwaukee reunited with Wade Miley on a one-year free agent deal. Ground-ball specialist Adrian Houser is on hand as the #6 option and would figure to start the season in long relief if the rest of the group stays healthy. There was some speculation the Brewers could put Houser on the trade block immediately after they signed Miley. Ashby’s longer-term health uncertainty seems to diminish that possibility.

Aaron Ashby Unlikely To Be Ready For Opening Day Due To Shoulder Fatigue

By | at

FEBRUARY 9: Skipper Craig Counsell implied Ashby was unlikely to be ready for Opening Day when speaking with reporters this evening (via McCalvy). Noting that the current soreness was related to the issue that affected him late last summer, Counsell said the southpaw “had to take a pretty big step back as far as rest.”

FEBRUARY 8: Brewers lefty Aaron Ashby will be behind schedule this spring as he’s dealing with shoulder fatigue, general manager Matt Arnold announced today (Twitter link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The team didn’t provide a timetable for when Ashby might be ready, but it’s a suboptimal start to the talented southpaw’s 2023 season.

Ashby, 24, opened the 2022 season in the Milwaukee bullpen, made a pair of spot starts in April and had forced his way into the rotation by late May. Through the season’s first two months, the 2018 fourth-rounder had pitched 40 innings of 2.70 ERA ball with a 29.8% strikeout rate.

After a shaky three-start showing in June, however, Ashby hit the injured list due to inflammation in his left forearm. He returned after a minimal two-week absence but was placed back on the 15-day IL in late August, this time due to inflammation in the same left shoulder where he’s now experiencing fatigue. Ashby did make it back to the mound in late September, when he tossed 11 innings with a 3.27 ERA and a 10-to-4 K/BB ratio in his final four appearances.

On the whole, Ashby’s first full big league season resulted in 107 1/3 innings of 4.44 ERA ball with a strong 26.5% strikeout rate, an elevated 9.9% walk rate that he’d surely like to pare back, and a massive 56.9% ground-ball rate. The Brewers, undeterred by Ashby’s June injury, signed the lefty to a five-year, $20.5MM contract extension in late July. The deal contains a pair of club options that can push the former top prospect’s guarantee to $40.5MM, plus a series of incentives and escalators that can bring the deal to a maximum of $53MM over a seven-year term.

Based on that investment, the Brewers clearly feel that Ashby can be a part of the team’s rotation over the long haul, but his current injury status clouds that outlook in the immediate future. Milwaukee already had a crowded rotation that might’ve left Ashby on the outside looking in, as Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and veteran Wade Miley give the club a solid quintet on which to lean this year. Right-hander Adrian Houser gives them a sixth strong option, too, even with Ashby sidelined to begin camp.

Uncertainty surrounding Ashby makes the Brewers’ rotation depth all the more critical. After the club signed Miley, it seemed safe to wonder whether the out-of-options Houser might emerge as a trade candidate, given both his $3.6MM salary and his ostensible drop to seventh on the rotation depth chart. Such a scenario seems less likely now, although Milwaukee still has further depth options on the 40-man roster, including Bryse Wilson (also out of minor league options), Jason Alexander, Janson Junk, Ethan Small, Gus Varland and Tyson Miller. Non-roster pitchers in spring training include righty Colin Rea and prospect Robert Gasser, acquired from the Padres last July.

It’s also fair to wonder whether any questions surrounding Ashby’s shoulder will prompt the Brewers to look for some further left-handed help. If the plan was to begin the season with Ashby in the bullpen, thanks to the veteran quintet ahead of him on the rotation depth chart, then a potential trip to the injured list for Ashby leaves Hoby Milner as the Brewers’ only lefty in the bullpen. There are several notable lefty relievers available in free agency, however; Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore, Brad Hand, Will Smith and Zack Britton are among the many yet-unsigned relievers with considerable big league experience.

NL Central Notes: Ashby, Lauer, Peralta, Thompson, Newcomb

By | at

The Brewers are planning to activate left-hander Aaron Ashby to start tomorrow’s game, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Ashby went on the IL August 22 due to shoulder inflammation and will now return after just under a month. The southpaw likely won’t be ticketed for extended duty at first as he hasn’t ventured out onto any kind of rehab assignment. He spoke to McCalvy about the decision, saying that he has been feeling good in recent bullpen sessions, getting up to around 30 pitches.

The Brewers are in a tight postseason race, currently sitting two games behind the Phillies for the final National League Wild Card spot with just over two weeks remaining in the regular season. Given that narrow timeframe, it seems the club has opted to try and get Ashby back on the mound quicker than perhaps they would have under different circumstances. With Eric Lauer and Freddy Peralta also landing on the IL in recent weeks, the club’s rotation has been a bit snakebit recently, which might have also motivated the club to get aggressive with Ashby’s return. Lauer and Peralta could get back into the mix soon as well, with McCalvy relaying that Lauer could return on Friday, though in a short stint similar to Ashby. Peralta might be a bit behind those two, having just started mound work today.

Through 96 1/3 innings on the year, Ashby has a 4.58 ERA with a very strong 27% strikeout rate and 55.6% ground ball rate. However, he’s been held back by a 10% walk rate and a 19.7% HR/FB rate.

Other notes from around the division…

  • Just like the Brewers, the Cubs will also be bringing back one of their starters for truncated work down the stretch. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune relays word from manager David Ross that right-hander Keegan Thompson will be activated in the coming days to pitch out of the bullpen. Thompson has had a solid sophomore effort here in 2022, throwing 104 1/3 innings so far with a 3.97 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate. His campaign was interrupted by low back tightness, sending him to the IL a month ago. With the season winding down and the Cubs well out of contention, they will let Thompson throw a bit more at the big league level before the offseason arrives.
  • Left-hander Sean Newcomb, designated for assignment by the Cubs on the weekend, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, per Montemurro. That’s hardly surprising, given that Newcomb already cleared waivers earlier this year and has an ERA of 8.78 for the season. Players who have been previously outrighted or those with over three years of MLB service time are eligible to reject outright assignments and elect free agency. Newcomb qualifies on both counts, meaning he could head to the open market if he so chooses, though it’s unclear at this point if he’s made a decision in that regard.

Injury Notes: Scherzer, Lowe, Cavalli, Ashby

By | at

The Mets have been without Max Scherzer for the past ten days, as the three-time Cy Young winner has battled some fatigue in his left oblique. That was a bit of a concern given that a strain in the muscle cost him around two months earlier this season, but Scherzer looks as if he’s on track to be reinstated when first eligible next Monday. He made a rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse tonight, tossing 59 pitches over 3 2/3 innings. After the game, Scherzer told reporters he feels “excellent” and would be ready to rejoin the big league rotation at the beginning of next week (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com).

Scherzer’s prompt return is obviously a boon for a Mets team battling for a division title down the stretch. At 89-55, New York holds a half-game advantage over the Braves in the NL East. They’re a postseason lock, but securing the division is likely to come with a first-round bye as a top-two seed in the National League. New York is five games clear of the third-seeded Cardinals, who lead the NL Central, putting the East winner in good position to join the Dodgers in earning an immediate trip to the NL Division Series.

Some other injury updates around the game:

  • The Rays just placed Brandon Lowe on the 10-day injured list yesterday, the second baseman’s third such stint of the 2022 season. Manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that an MRI revealed some inflammation in Lowe’s back. He’s headed for further evaluation to determine treatment possibilities, but Cash indicated the club is still hopeful he’ll return to the diamond this season. The Rays look set to mix-and-match at second base while Lowe’s out, giving the last three starts at the position to Taylor Walls, Jonathan Aranda and Isaac Paredes respectively. Walls is the best defender of the group, but he’s not hit well this year. Paredes has only a .293 on-base percentage but has connected on 18 home runs in 92 games. Aranda has only 15 big league games under his belt, but he’s raked at a .318/.394/.521 clip through 465 plate appearances with Triple-A Durham.
  • Nationals right-hander Cade Cavalli has been out for the past two weeks after being diagnosed with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. That seems likely to end his season, as manager Dave Martinez told reporters (including Bobby Blanco of MASNsports.com) that Cavalli is unlikely to make it back to game action this year. With three weeks remaining and the Nationals virtual locks for last place, there’s no reason for the club to take any chances with the prized young hurler. Martinez indicated that Cavalli has been cleared to start throwing after a brief shutdown period and the team feels he’ll be able to work from a mound before the season is out, but it seems that’ll be in a bullpen session rather than in-game work. Cavalli, generally regarded as the top pitching prospect in the organization, made his first MLB appearance on August 26. He’s likely to compete for a job in the season-opening rotation as Washington continues their rebuild next year.
  • Aaron Ashby returned to a mound for the first time since landing on the injured list three weeks ago, tossing an 18-pitch bullpen session this afternoon (reported by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). He’s scheduled for another bullpen session over the weekend. The Brewers remain hopeful the southpaw will be able to make it back this season, although he’d work in shorter stints due to the abbreviated ramp-up period. Ashby has started 17 of his 23 appearances this year, but he came out of the bullpen for nine of his 13 outings in 2021. He’s thrived as a reliever in his MLB career, posting a 3.63 ERA with a 36.2% strikeout rate through 34 2/3 innings in that capacity. Ashby has been a bit more erratic when trying to navigate a lineup multiple times as a starter, although he’s still flashed the swing-and-miss and ground-ball combination that made him such a promising pitching prospect. Milwaukee sits two games back of the Padres for the National League’s final Wild Card spot, so they’d surely welcome any contributions they can get from the 24-year-old for the stretch run.

Brewers Place Aaron Ashby On Injured List With Shoulder Inflammation

By | at

The Brewers have placed left-hander Aaron Ashby on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 20, with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Righty Jason Alexander was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take the vacated active roster spot.

It’s the second time this season that Ashby is headed to the IL due to an arm problem. He was diagnosed with forearm inflammation in mid-June but only missed a couple starts, making it back to action when first eligible in early July. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets the club is confident his shoulder issue will also prove to be minor, although it’s not clear precisely when he’s expected to make his return. At the very least, he’ll be out until the first week of September.

A former top prospect, Ashby has logged his most extensive big league action to date in 2022. He debuted with 13 appearances (four starts) last season, and he’s gotten the start for 17 of his 23 outings this year. His results have been up-and-down, as he owns a 4.58 ERA across 96 1/3 innings. The hard-throwing southpaw has shown plenty of promise, though, racking up an enviable pairing of strikeouts and ground-ball numbers. He’s fanned 27.1% of opponents while inducing grounders on over 55% of batted balls, the only starter (minimum 50 innings) with that combination. The Brewers were intrigued enough by Ashby’s nearly unique skillset to look past his spotty control and sign him to an extension last month that guarantees him $20.5MM and could keep him in Milwaukee through 2029.

Obviously, the 24-year-old is a key piece of the organization’s long-term future. The more immediate concern is that the Brew Crew will have to go without a rotation member for at least the next couple weeks. Milwaukee has slumped to a 7-11 record in August, dropping five games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central entering play Monday. They’re a game and a half back of the Phillies for the final Wild Card spot in the National League with around six weeks remaining in the regular season.

Brewers Sign Aaron Ashby To Five-Year Extension

By and | at

The Brewers have announced a five-year contract extension with left-hander Aaron Ashby, running through the 2027 and including club options for 2028 and 2029.  Ashby will earn $20.5MM over the five guaranteed years of his extension, as per Joel Sherman of The New York Post (Twitter link).  He can more than double that total if the contract is maxed out, as Sherman notes that another $25.5MM is available if both options are exercised and Ashby hits all his escalators.  Ashby is represented by Turner-Gary Sports.

Robert Murray of FanSided reports the specific breakdown of terms (on Twitter). The young southpaw receives a $1MM signing bonus, and the year-by-year salary breakdown is as follows:

2023: $1MM
2024: $1.25MM
2025: $3.25MM
2026: $5.5MM
2027:$7.5MM

There’s a $1MM buyout on the 2028 option, which is valued at $9MM. The ’29 option is valued at $13MM.

The extension only cements Ashby’s place as an important piece of the Brewers’ future, and it also gives the 24-year-old some guaranteed money and security early in his career.  Ashby (the nephew of former big leaguer Andy Ashby) was a fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft, and he moved quickly through the minors, winning the Brewers’ minor league Pitcher Of The Year honors in 2019 and then making his MLB debut in 2021.

Pitching as both a starter and reliever over his two seasons in the Show, Ashby has a 4.56 ERA, 58% grounder rate, 27.5% strikeout rate, and 9.9% walk rate.  The unimpressive walk total is really the only blemish on Ashby’s resume, as other advanced metrics (including a career 3.40 SIERA and only a .291 xwOBA this season) indicate that his ERA is a bit misleading.  A .339 BABIP this year, for instance, weighs heavier on a groundball-heavy pitcher like Ashby.

Still, there is obviously a lot for the Brewers to like with his performance to date, and Ashby has moved from swingman to full-fledged starter in the wake of injuries in Milwaukee’s rotation.  Freddy Peralta and Adrian Houser are still on the injured list, though Peralta is set to begin a rehab assignment this weekend and Houser is expected back sometime in August.

With Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff both getting more expensive in their arbitration years and both scheduled for free agency after the 2024 season, it remains to be seen how the Brewers will address their rotation over the long term.  Eric Lauer will also be a free agent that same winter, and Lauer is raising his own price tag with a strong performance in 2022.  In locking up Ashby and Peralta to extensions, president of baseball operations David Stearns has already planted some cornerstones for a possible future without any of their other three starters, and the franchise’s proven ability to find and develop pitching continues to be a key factor in the Brewers’ ability to compete.

Peralta’s extension is an obvious comp for Ashby’s deal.  Signed back in February 2020, Peralta (with just over a year of MLB service time) inked a deal also consisting of five guaranteed years and two club option years, except worth $15.5MM in guaranteed money and $14.5MM more over the option seasons.  At the time, Peralta was also a swingman who had yet to fully establish himself as a rotation fixture, and Ashby’s larger guarantee could reflect his better big league results and perhaps simply two-plus years of salary inflation.

Brewers Activate Aaron Ashby From 15-Day IL

By | at

The Brewers reinstated left-hander Aaron Ashby from the 15-day injured list today, as Ashby is slated to start today’s game against the Pirates.  Righty Trevor Kelley was optioned to Triple-A to open up a 26-man roster spot.

Following his (retroactive) IL placement on June 17, Ashby ended up missing only a minimal amount of time — a sigh of relief, given that Ashby had been sidelined by forearm inflammation. The injury wasn’t considered to be too serious at the time, and Ashby will indeed make a pretty quick return to help a Milwaukee rotation that has been shorthanded for much of the season. Even with Ashby and (earlier this week) Brandon Woodruff returning, Freddy Peralta is still on the 60-day IL until late July, and Adrian Houser was just placed on the 15-day IL yesterday due to a flexor strain.

Ashby will try to pick up the slack by continuing what has been a pretty solid sophomore year in the big leagues.  Beginning the season as a swingman, Ashby’s last five outings were all as a starting pitcher.  The left-hander has a 4.25 ERA over 55 total innings, posting a 62.6% grounder rate and an impressive array of Statcast numbers, apart from a 10.7% walk rate that is well below the league average. Control has been something of an issue for Ashby at both the MLB and minor league levels, but his ability to miss bats and generate grounders makes him yet another intriguing product of the Brewers’ pitching development system.

In other Brewers injury news, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) that Luis Perdomo is “struggling to get going” from an elbow injury that sent him to the IL back in late May. Perdomo underwent a Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2021 season, though Counsell didn’t give any indication that Perdomo’s current issue was also season-threatening, or something that could require another surgical procedure.

Hunter Renfroe will also still miss a bit more time, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy writes that Renfroe has yet to start running on the field following a calf strain that sent him to the injured list over a week ago. Renfroe’s 10-day minimum IL time expires on Sunday, but the Brewers will continue to be cautious in bringing Renfroe back, for fear of exacerbating the injury.  Renfroe had 13 home runs and a .247/.300/.490 slash line over his first 217 plate appearances this season.

Brewers Place Aaron Ashby On Injured List

By | at

The Brewers announced they’ve placed starter Aaron Ashby on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 17, due to left forearm inflammation. Star reliever Josh Hader has been activated from the restricted list — he’d taken a bit more than the allotted three days on paternity leave — to take Ashby’s spot on the active roster.

Forearm inflammation is always an eyebrow-raising diagnosis for a pitcher, but Ashby downplayed any long-term concern when speaking with reporters (video provided by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). The southpaw indicated he’d felt some discomfort when trying to throw a breaking ball during yesterday’s bullpen session, necessitating the IL stint. He quickly added that an MRI conducted today didn’t reveal any structural damage, however, and expressed a desire to get back to throwing after a few days of rest.

It seems as if Ashby’s IL stint could be relatively brief, although the club will surely exercise caution with a young arm of his caliber. Regarded as one of the game’s top pitching prospects after a promising debut effort late last season, Ashby has started eight of his 14 outings this year. He’s tossed 55 innings of 4.25 ERA ball, but his excellent 27.5% strikeout rate and 62.2% ground-ball percentage demonstrate a rare combination. Ashby and Alex Cobb are the only pitchers (minimum 40 innings) to generate both strikeouts and worm burners at that kind of clip this season.

Ashby becomes the third Milwaukee starter to land on the shelf. Freddy Peralta will be out until after the All-Star Break due to a shoulder issue, while Brandon Woodruff has missed the past few weeks with a high ankle sprain and a bout with Raynaud’s syndrome. That leaves Milwaukee with a four-man staff of Corbin Burnes, Adrian Houser, Eric Lauer and Jason Alexander at the moment, although Woodruff is expected back soon after beginning a minor league rehab assignment last week.

Counsell: Freddy Peralta To Miss “Significant” Time

By | at

An MRI of Freddy Peralta’s sore right shoulder revealed a posterior shoulder strain, and the right-hander is expected to miss “significant” time, Brewers manager Craig Counsell announced to reporters Monday (Twitter link, with video, via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy). The Brewers expect that Peralta will be able to return this season, but a specific timetable isn’t yet clear. Surgery isn’t expected  to be necessary, Counsell added. Left-hander Aaron Ashby is expected to step into the Milwaukee rotation in his place, joining Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser.

Deep and talented as Milwaukee’s pitching staff is, there’s little denying that Peralta’s loss is a major one for the Brew Crew. The right-hander hasn’t been himself this year, evidenced by a pedestrian 4.42 ERA and a diminished (albeit still excellent) 30.3% strikeout rate through his first 38 2/3 frames. That’s solid production for a fourth or fifth starter but a far cry from Peralta’s dominant 2021 campaign, when he posted a 2.81 ERA and 33.6% strikeout rate through 144 1/3 frames.

The group of Burnes, Woodruff and Peralta looked to be arguably the top rotation trio of any team in the league, but it hasn’t played out that way this year. Burnes has been dominant, following up on his 2021 Cy Young win with a brilliant 2.26 ERA in 51 2/3 innings. But both Peralta and Woodruff have struggled to match last year’s outstanding results. Rather, it’s been Lauer who has stepped things up considerably, while through his first seven turns, the underrated Houser somewhat remarkably has perfectly replicated last year’s 3.22 ERA.

Ashby will now step into that mix and hope to solidify his place in the Milwaukee rotation for the foreseeable future. A former fourth-round pick, Ashby has generally been considered the Brewers’ top pitching prospect for the past few seasons and, so far in 2022, has looked the part. He’s split his time between the rotation and the bullpen, notching a 3.49 ERA with a strong 27.6% strikeout rate and a mammoth 64.8% grounder rate. Ashby’s command has been spotty, as advertised (13.8% walk rate), but he’s minimizing hard contact and getting tons of chases off the plate (35.5%). He’s yet to pitch more than four innings in an outing this season, though, so it’ll be telling just how Ashby fares when working deeper into games and perhaps turning a lineup over for a third time.

Show all

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

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top