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Brent Suter

Central Notes: Brewers, Gallardo, White Sox, Cubs

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In the wake of Wade Miley’s multi-week injury, the Brewers have set their season-opening starting five, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. Brent Suter and Brandon Woodruff will fill out the rotation behind Chase Anderson, Zach Davies and Jhoulys Chacin, manager Craig Counsell announced Saturday. That spells bad news for offseason signing Yovani Gallardo, who won’t make the team, Haudricourt tweets. A highly successful Brewer from 2007-14, Gallardo rejoined the club for a non-guaranteed $2MM in December after spending time with the Rangers, Orioles and Mariners. The 32-year-old’s future is now in question. The Brewers could still trade Gallardo, according to general manager David Stearns. However, if no deal comes together by Monday, they’ll have to release him, per Haudricourt.

More on Milwaukee and a couple other Central teams…

  • The Brewers wouldn’t have had two open spots in their rotation if not for the right shoulder injury top starter Jimmy Nelson suffered late last year. Nelson continues to make progress in his recovery from September surgery and could start working from the mound again as early as mid-April, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports. Meanwhile, catcher Stephen Vogt – out since February with a shoulder issue of his own – is aiming to return to game action by May 1.
  • Like Milwaukee, the White Sox have also established their rotation for the beginning of the season. Righty Carson Fulmer has beaten out lefty Hector Santiago (who’s likely to stick around as a long reliever) for the No. 5 spot, Alyson Footer of MLB.com writes. Fulmer will round out a starting staff that’ll also feature James Shields, Lucas Giolito, Miguel Gonzalez and Reynaldo Lopez. Santiago, 30, signed a minors deal in February with the White Sox, with whom he pitched from 2011-13. Although Santiago has functioned as a starter for the majority of his career, he’s content to work in a relief role in his second go-round with the South Siders. “I’m open to whatever,” he said. “As long as I have a uniform on my back, I’m happy with the job that they give me. Right now, it’s in the bullpen as a long guy and I’ll be ready for any role.”
  • The Cubs are going with Victor Caratini, not Chris Gimenez, to back up starting catcher Willson Contreras, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Thanks to his well-known rapport with new Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish from their days in Texas, Gimenez seemed like the front-runner for the job at the outset of spring training; instead, he’ll head to Triple-A Iowa, per Wittenmyer. The 24-year-old Caratini, whom MLB.com ranks as the Cubs’ No. 8 prospect, hit .254/.333/.356 across 66 plate appearances during his first MLB action last season.

Central Notes: Moustakas, Bryant, Miley, Freese

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It has long been suggested that the White Sox would make for an interesting match with free agent third baseman Mike Moustakas, but we’ve seen little in the way of a clear connection. But now there’s evidence at least that the sides are “staying in touch,” in the words of Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Whether that means the South Siders have real interest that would drive a significant offer, of course, is not yet clear. Presumably, the club would be intrigued mostly in a value proposition of some kind, perhaps in a multi-year scenario. While few outside observers believe the Sox roster is primed to compete in 2018, Moustakas would boost the quality in the short term and (more importantly) is young enough that he could be installed as a solid asset for future seasons. With little in the way of clear demand from contenders, this remains one of the more intriguing fits on paper.

  • Cubs star Kris Bryant says this winter’s slow-moving free agent market has spurred him to take labor issues seriously, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. “I need to study up, have my voice heard, continue to learn, because this is going to affect us for years to come,” says Bryant. His own delayed promotion to start the 2015 season has obviously played a role in spurring his attention to the subject. It’s an interesting read on one of the game’s brightest young players, who says he and other players are readying to take a more proactive role. “I think with this next [CBA] things are definitely going to change, and there’ll definitely be more fight on our side just because we’re going to get the chance to experience the effects of some of the things we agreed to,” says Bryant.
  • The Brewers rotation still has plenty of questions at the back end; indeed, many fans would still like to see an outside addition to provide one answer. As things stand, though, there’s a camp battle underway with quite a few participants. Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wrote yesterday that, while it’s still plenty early, both Wade Miley and Brent Suter have made favorable initial impressions. In Miley’s case, at least, it might even be that his showing already makes him an odds-on favorite to crack the roster. He has over a thousand MLB innings under his belt, after all, and the Brewers might well lose him through an opt-out (he’s an Article XX(B) free agent) if they don’t ultimately put him on the 40-man. Of course, there’s plenty of time yet for candidates to rise and fall in camp.
  • Pirates third baseman David Freese had some salty words for the organization earlier in the winter, but he tells Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that they weren’t directed at finding his way to another team. Rather, it seems, Freese was making a call for all in the organization to recommit to winning — a possibility he says he believes in, particularly with the recent acquisitions of Corey Dickerson and Kevin Siegrist. Freese also says he understands he’s not likely to command the lion’s share of the time at third base. “I’ve had a good run in the big leagues,” he said, “and I just want to go out there and win some games.”

Brewers Place Brent Suter On 10-Day DL, Designate Michael Blazek

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The Brewers have placed left-hander Brent Suter on the 10-day DL with a left rotator cuff strain and designated right-hander Michael Blazek for assignment, as per a team announcement.

[Updated Brewers depth chart at Roster Resource]

Suter’s injury could very well explain his lack of effectiveness over his last three starts (13 ER in 14 1/3 innings), though the southpaw has provided the Brew Crew with solid overall results as both a reliever and starter this season.  Suter has a 3.79 ERA, 2.72 K/BB rate and 7.4 K/9 over 59 1/3 IP, starting nine of his 16 appearances.  Prior to this ugly three-start stretch, Suter had been on fire, with a 1.50 ERA over his previous five starts and 30 innings pitched.

It isn’t yet known who will step into Suter’s rotation spot.  Junior Guerra is probably the likeliest candidate, though the righty has struggled with both injuries and ineffectiveness in the wake of his breakout 2016 year and is currently at Triple-A.  Paolo Espino and Wily Peralta are also options in the minors, though these two have also not provided good results at the big league level this season.

This is the second time Blazek has entered DFA limbo this season, as Milwaukee designated the right-hander in April and then outrighted him to Triple-A.  A big contributor out of the Brewers’ bullpen in 2015, Blazek struggled last season and has been hit hard in limited action this year, allowing six homers in just 8 2/3 IP en route to an 8.31 ERA.  Blazek’s numbers at the Triple-A level have been solid, however, so he’s likely to continue on as organizational relief depth.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/3/17

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Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the game…

  • Infielder Tony Renda has been dealt from the Reds to the Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets. The 26-year-old had been outrighted over the winter after struggling in his MLB debut last year. Through 198 plate appearances at Triple-A in 2017, he was slashing just .260/.305/.326 — albeit with just 18 strikeouts to go with a dozen walks.
  • In another minor swap, the Giants purchased Tyler Herb from the Mariners for an undisclosed sum, both teams announced. He’ll actually represent the player to be named later in the deal that sent Chris Heston to Seattle, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, with some undisclosed technicality requiring the particular treatment. The 25-year-old was taken in the 29th round of the 2014 draft. He made it up to the Double-A level last year and has thrown well there upon a repeat assignment. Herb has made it through 98 innings in 16 starts on the year, posting a 3.31 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9.
  • Nationals righty Jacob Turner has accepted an outright assignment after clearing waivers, per a team announcement. Still just 26, Turner has given the Nats some badly needed innings this year, though his ERA stands at 5.08 after 39 frames of action. He is expected to resume working as a starter in case he’s needed in that role at the major league level.
  • Also outrighted was Blue Jays outfielder Ian Parmley, Toronto announced. He was up for a brief stretch, but will return to plying his trade at Triple-A Buffalo. over 205 plate appearances there on the year, Parmley is slashing .289/.332/.369.
  • The Mariners released southpaw Nick Hagadone, according to Triple-A Tacoma announcer Mike Curto (via Twitter). As Curto notes, Hagadone has been particularly impressive of late. The 31-year-old has seen action in parts of four MLB seasons, all with the Indians, but missed all of last year after an elbow fracture. He landed in Seattle on a minors deal and has thrown 33 1/3 innings of 3.51 ERA ball — with 9.5 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 — since arriving in Tacoma. (It could well be, then, that Hagadone utilized an opt-out clause, though we’ve heard no indication of that as of yet.)

Earlier Transactions

  • The Brewers announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Michael Blazek from Triple-A Colorado Springs. The 28-year-old was outrighted off the 40-man roster earlier this year but remained in the organization and has posted a solid 3.13 ERA in that extremely hitter-friendly setting. While all of Blazek’s 104 career appearances in the Majors have been in relief, he’s been working as a starter for his past 10 trips to the hill in Triple-A. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy suggests (via Twitter) that Blazek could very well pitch today in relief of left-hander Brent Suter. Piggybacking the two would certainly make some sense, as Suter may not be fully stretched out with his most recent start coming back on June 13. Milwaukee already had an open spot on the 40-man, so there’s no corresponding 40-man move needed to accommodate Blazek.

Brewers Designate Jhan Marinez For Assignment

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The Brewers announced that they’ve designated right-hander Jhan Marinez for assignment and recalled lefty Brent Suter to take his place on the roster. The move makes the 27-year-old Suter the lone southpaw on what had been an entirely right-handed Brewers pitching staff.

[Related: Updated Milwaukee Brewers depth chart]

Marinez, 28, was acquired from the Rays in exchange for cash last season. The right-hander turned in a strong performance with the 2016 Brewers, logging a 3.22 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 58 2/3 innings, but he’s struggled to a 5.40 earned run average through his first 16 2/3 innings in 2017. More troubling, perhaps, is that after walking just 21 hitters all last season, Marinez has already issued 11 free passes.

Marinez does average nearly 95 mph on his fastball and has logged a 51.9 percent ground-ball rate across the past two seasons, so it’s possible that he could hold some intrigue to clubs in need of bullpen depth. However, he’s also out of minor league options (likely the primary factor behind Milwaukee designating him for assignment), so any club that picks him up will have to carry him on its 25-man roster.

Suter has seen action with the Brewers in each of the past two seasons, pitching a total of 29 innings with a 3.72 ERA, 6.2 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate. However, he’s also been shelled by lefties in the Majors, as same-handed opponents have clobbered him at a .356/.408/.511 clip. That production has come in an admittedly minuscule sample of 49 plate appearances, but Suter has never dominated southpaw hitters in the upper-minors, either.

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