Brandon Kintzler

6:13pm: Milwaukee announced that it has rescinded the move and instead placed Kinzler on the 15-day DL, with the team apparently learned that Kinzler was suffering from a pre-existing knee issue.

1:23pm: The Brewers announced that they have designated right-handed reliever Brandon Kintzler for assignment in order to clear a roster spot for shortstop Jean Segura, who has been activated from the disabled list. Segura had been on the shelf with a broken pinkie finger.

The 30-year-old Kintzler has allowed five runs in seven innings since being recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs earlier this month, and his 6.35 ERA in 5 2/3 innings at Triple-A this year wasn’t much more inspiring. Still, as Adam McCalvy notes, Kintzler could have simply been optioned to Triple-A but was instead designated for assignment. He becomes the third relatively long-tenured reliever to be designated by the Brewers over the past few weeks, as the team outrighted Rob Wooten to Triple-A last night and did the same with Jim Henderson earlier this month.

Kintzler has been an effective middle relief option for the Brewers over the past two seasons, however. From 2013-14, he notched a 2.93 ERA with 5.9 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 135 1/3 innings of work, thanks in part to a 57.2 percent ground-ball rate. Milwaukee’s 40-man roster drops to 37 with Kintzler no longer on board.

The Brewers have outrighted Brandon Kintzler to Triple-A after the right-hander cleared waivers, the team announced via Twitter.  Kintzler was designated for assignment earlier this week.

Kintzler posted a 3.24 ERA, 4.8 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and 57% ground ball rate in 58 1/3 relief innings for Milwaukee last season.  The ground ball specialist has a 3.26 ERA over 174 career innings (all with the Brewers).  He’s already spent much of the year on the Triple-A roster, though he has only pitched in one game due to a finger injury.

With Kintzler’s situation settled, only three players (Grant Balfour, Daniel Corcino and Todd Redmond) remain in “DFA limbo” according to the MLB Trade Rumors DFA Tracker.

The Brewers have designated right-hander Brandon Kintzler for assignment, the club announced on Twitter.  In a corresponding move, the Brew Crew selected the contract of utilityman Elian Herrera from Triple-A.

Kintzler has spent much of this young season on the minor league disabled list with a finger injury.  The righty has posted a 3.26 ERA, 57.3% ground ball rate and 6.6 K/9 over 174 career innings (all out of the bullpen) with Milwaukee since 2010.  As you might suspect, that high grounder rate and low strikeout total has led to some variance between his ERA and advanced metrics, such as last season when he posted a 3.24 ERA but a 4.68 FIP, 3.87 xFIP and 3.71 SIERA.  Kintzler has displayed reverse-splits tendencies over his career, as right-handed batters have a .733 OPS against him while left-handed hitters have only managed a .624 OPS.

Kintzler was arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, and he avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $1.075MM deal with the Brewers.  He joins Grant Balfour (Rays), Gary Brown (Cardinals), Xavier Cedeno (Nationals), Kyle Drabek (White Sox) and Todd Redmond (Blue Jays) in “DFA limbo” according to the MLBTR DFA Tracker.