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Brewers Designate Joel Payamps For Assignment

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The Brewers announced today that right-hander Aaron Civale has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. They have also recalled righty Carlos Rodríguez from Triple-A Nashville. In corresponding moves for those two, they have optioned righty Easton McGee while righty Joel Payamps has been designated for assignment. Milwaukee’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Payamps, 31, is having an ugly season so far. In 18 1/3 innings, he has allowed 17 earned runs, translating to an 8.35 earned run average. That has apparently exhausted the patience of the Brewers, getting bumped off the active roster. Since he’s out of options, they had little choice but to remove him from the 40-man.

It was that out-of-options status which led him to Milwaukee in the first place. He exhausted his final option season in 2021. Even before getting to that point, he had already been a frequent waiver claimee. The Red Sox claimed him from the Diamondbacks after the 2020 season. Before the 2021 campaign began, he went to the Blue Jays, back to the Red Sox and then the Blue Jays again on subsequent waiver claims. The Jays held him through mid-July that year before designated him for assignment and trading him to the Royals for cash.

Despite being out of options in 2022, he stuck with the Royals into August, before he went to the A’s on another waiver claim. Going into 2023, he was sent to the Brewers as a throw-in piece of the three-team, nine-player trade which sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta and William Contreras to Milwaukee.

Based on all of those transactions, several clubs clearly saw potential in Payamps, but the Brewers got the best results out of him. At the time he came to Milwaukee, he had thrown 113 innings with a 3.35 ERA. His 47% ground ball rate and 7.6% walk rate were strong marks but he only struck out 17.6% of batters faced.

Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he had a 2.78 ERA in 129 2/3 innings for the Brewers. His 42.6% grounder rate was a drop from his previous work but still roughly league average. His 6.7% walk rate stayed strong and he also punched out 26.1% of opponents. He was trusted enough to earn nine saves and 48 holds over those seasons.

But as mentioned, things have gone off the rails a bit this season, though it’s surely not quite as bad as his ERA indicates. His .373 batting average on balls in play and 52.2% strand rate this year are both on the unfortunate side. But on top of that bad luck, his strikeout rate has fallen to 19% while he’s only getting grounders on 29% of balls in play. His 4.44 FIP and 4.21 SIERA suggest he deserves far better than an 8.35 ERA but there are still some concerning trends.

For now, he heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Brewers could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. Even though he’s out of options and his numbers this year are poor, it’s possible there will be interest from other clubs based on his previous two campaigns. He is making $2.995MM this year and can be controlled via arbitration in 2026 as well.

Turning to the rotation, the return of Civale is a nice boost. He made just one start before landing on the IL due to a left hamstring strain and then suffered a setback while trying to get healthy. He has been a solid starter in his career, with a 4.08 ERA in 639 1/3 innings. He had a 3.53 ERA for the Brewers after being acquired from the Rays last year.

The Milwaukee rotation has been a bit of a revolving door this year, with Civale one of several pitchers to hit the shelf. Brandon Woodruff, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Nestor Cortes, Robert Gasser and Jose Quintana are all still on the IL.

Civale jumps into the rotation next to Freddy Peralta, Quinn Priester, Logan Henderson and Chad Patrick. Additional reinforcements appear to be on the way. Woodruff was nearing a return from shoulder surgery when an ankle injury set him back a little over a week ago. He restarted his rehab assignment last night and will probably make one more rehab start, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Hall is also on a rehab assignment and shouldn’t be too far off. Quintana is throwing a bullpen with the club today, per Rosiak, with next steps to be determined after that.

Ashby is on a rehab assignment but his five minor league outings have all been two innings or less. The two most recent appearances were of the single-inning variety, so perhaps he’s being brought along as a reliever rather than a starter.

Photo courtesy of Dave Nelson, Imagn Images

Looking At The Brewers’ Rotation Depth Options

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The Brewers have won the National League Central two years in a row and three of the last four. They will be looking to defend that title in 2025 but might face a steeper challenge than in years past. The Cubs have had an aggressive offseason, adding Kyle Tucker, Matthew Boyd, Ryan Pressly, Ryan Brasier and more. The Reds added Brady Singer, Gavin Lux, Austin Hays and will be getting several players back from injury. The Pirates have had a quiet winter but have a rotation loaded with young talent, fronted by Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. The Cardinals planned to do a teardown but ended up standing pat, so they’re going into the year with a very similar roster to the one that finished above .500 last year.

Milwaukee hasn’t done a lot to remake its roster relative to last year. They have added Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin but lost Willy Adames, Devin Williams and others. Whether the team is better or worse than last year is debatable.

The rotation wasn’t a strength in 2024. Their starters put up a collective 4.09 earned run average, putting them 17th out of the 30 teams in the league. Their bullpen was one of the best, however. Their relievers had a collective ERA of 3.11, second only to the Guardians, which helped the team cruise to that division title. That was despite Williams being injured for much of the year.

Going into 2025, the rotation looks like it could be in a similar situation overall, though with some personnel changes. Of the seven players that made at least nine starts for the club last year, four of them are gone. Frankie Montas and Joe Ross hit free agency at season’s end, the former by declining a mutual option. Bryse Wilson was outrighted and Colin Rea had a club option turned down, so they also hit the open market as well.

Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers and Aaron Civale are the three holdovers. Cortes was brought in from the Yankees as part of the Williams trade. In an interview this week with Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, manager Pat Murphy confirmed that those four make up his rotation core to start the season. Brandon Woodruff, who missed 2024 recovering from shoulder surgery, will be in there at some point but probably won’t be ready by Opening Day.

“I would think those four guys are [penciled in],” Murphy said, “and you can put Woody in there, too. But you can’t have him ready to start the season; he probably won’t be. But I think it’s pretty safe to say that those five guys are starters that, when healthy, are going to get opportunities.”

Taking things easy with Woodruff makes sense after his lost season, but that means the club will likely have to reach into its depth. Perhaps that will only be for a short time, but injuries are inevitable over the course of a season. For the long term, the need will be even greater. Civale and Cortes are both slated to be free agents after the upcoming season. Woodruff will certainly join them, as his deal has a $20MM mutual option for 2026 with a $10MM buyout. That was basically designed so that he would re-sign but with the club able to kick most of the payment down the line until the end of 2025. Peralta can be retained for 2026 via an affordable $8MM club option but is slated for free agency after that.

That means Myers is the only guy slated to still be on the roster when November of 2026 rolls around. Even he is not a lock to keep a spot going forward, as his strong 2024 season came after several years of poor minor league numbers. In short, the long-term rotation is wide open. Can the Brewers fill some of that in with guys already in the system? Let’s take a look at some of the options.

Aaron Ashby

Ashby, 27 in May, seemed like a potential rotation building block a few years ago. He tossed 139 innings in a swing role over the 2021 and 2022 seasons. His 4.47 ERA wasn’t especially impressive but his 27.1% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and 57.8% ground ball rate seemed like a solid recipe for success.

The Brewers were intrigued enough to make a bet on the lefty, signing him to a five-year deal during the 2022 campaign which guaranteed him $20.5MM and also came with club options for 2028 and 2029.

Unfortunately, shoulder problems got in the way. Arthroscopic surgery wiped out his 2023 season. He returned last year and was kept mostly in a relief role, but with some good results. Down the stretch, he tossed 19 2/3 innings over 12 appearances with a 1.37 ERA, 36.8% strikeout rate, 3.9% walk rate and 51.1% ground ball rate.

With those numbers, it might be tempting to keep him in a bullpen role, but the club seems interested in stretching him out. Back in November, Murphy said the club still hopes to see what Ashby can do as a starter. He still has one option year and can be sent to the minors if the club would like.

DL Hall

Hall, 26, was a first-round pick of the Orioles in 2017 and went on to be a top 100 prospect. He came to the Brewers as part of the Corbin Burnes trade last offseason. He hasn’t lived up to that prospect hype just yet.

He has pitched in the past three seasons but logged only 76 innings. His 4.74 ERA doesn’t impress but his 25.1% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 46.5% ground ball rate make for a decent mixture. A left knee sprain hobbled him last year, limiting him to just 84 frames between the majors and minors. In 2022 and 2023, the Orioles shuttled him between the majors and the minors, as well as moving him between starting to relieving. He tossed 98 innings in 2022 between the majors and minors, then 71 1/3 in 2023. His minor league work has generally featured big strikeout numbers but also plenty of walks.

Hall is still a work in progress but the Brewers probably don’t want to give up on him, given the upside here. Like Ashby, he has one option year remaining, so pitching out of the Triple-A rotation isn’t off the table. He has one year and 74 days of service time, meaning he is currently slated for five years of club control, though a lengthy optional assignment could push that to six. Either way, he’s cheap and controllable for a long time to come.

Robert Gasser

Gasser, 26 in May, won’t be an option in the short term but is definitely part of the long-term plans. A former top 100 prospect, he debuted with a splash last year by posting a 2.57 ERA in his first five big league starts. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in June, wiping out the second half of his 2024. He’s now slated to miss most or perhaps all of 2025. He has less than a year of service time at the moment and the Brewers therefore have six years of club control over him.

Jacob Misiorowski

Misiorowski, 23 in April, is not yet on the 40-man roster but is one of the top pitching prospects in the league. He reached as high as Triple-A last year, though the club eased off his workload by having him pitch shorter stints out of the bullpen to finish the year. Between Double-A and Triple-A, he tossed 97 1/3 innings on the year with a 3.33 ERA. He struck out 30.5% of hitters and got grounders at a 45.8% clip but also gave out walks 14.4% of the time. Though the club eased off the gas, that innings total is still his personal high thus far.

The righty is clearly going to factor into the mix at some point, but there’s clearly still some development going on. 2025 will likely be about reining in the control and getting the workload beyond the 100-inning mark, but it’s entirely possible that he throws some big league innings this year.

Elvin Rodríguez

Rodríguez, 27 in March, is a wild card at the moment. He spent 2024 in a multi-inning role for the Yakult Swallows in Japan. He logged 45 innings over 32 appearances with a 1.80 ERA, 24% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. Whether the Brewers view him more as a starter or a reliever is unknown.

Carlos Rodríguez

Rodríguez, 23, made a limited MLB debut last year. He tossed 12 1/3 innings over three starts with a 7.30 ERA. Over the past three years, he has logged 365 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.49 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate. Most prospect evaluators consider him a capable back-end starter but he’s still young and has a couple of options remaining, so he’ll likely be in the Triple-A rotation until circumstances change.

Chad Patrick/Logan Henderson

These two were each just added to the 40-man roster in November, to keep them out of the Rule 5 draft. Henderson, 23, is considered more of a legit prospect but he is still a question mark. Elbow surgery limited him to just 13 2/3 innings in 2022. He got that up to 78 2/3 in 2023 and then 81 1/3 last year. His minor league numbers are strong overall, with a 3.11 ERA, 34.1% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate. However, he mostly gets by with a fastball/changeup mix that leads some to predict he’ll end up in the bullpen. Patrick is considered more of a depth/spot starter.

Bruce Zimmermann/Thomas Pannone/Easton McGee

These three signed minor league deals with the club this offseason. They all have a bit of major league experience and give the club some non-roster depth. Zimmermann has a 5.57 ERA in 158 1/3 innings and Pannone a 5.46 ERA in 118 2/3 innings, while McGee hasn’t allowed a run in his 9 2/3 innings.

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Though the Woodruff timeline creates some uncertainty, there are plenty of intriguing options here for the short term. But as mentioned, the Brewers will likely see three starters departing at the end of the year and a fourth after 2026. Ideally, guys like Ashby, Hall, Misiorowski and Gasser would step up take those spots, because the club usually doesn’t have a lot of spending power for bringing in free agents. That makes 2025 a key season in Milwaukee, since their future rotation plans are completely in flux.

Brewers Select Joel Kuhnel

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The Brewers announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander Joel Kuhnel. In corresponding moves, right-hander Carlos Rodríguez was optioned to Triple-A Nashville while left-hander Robert Gasser was transferred to the 60-day injured list. The Brewers also announced their previously-reported deal to acquire Dallas Keuchel from the Mariners.

Kuhnel, 29, has bounced around the league this year. He signed a minor league deal with the Astros in the offseason and made that club’s roster in mid-April. He was later designated for assignment and flipped to the Blue Jays in a cash deal, though that club kept him on optional assignment before eventually designated him for assignment again. He cleared waivers and elected free agency, which led to his minor league deal with the Brewers a couple of weeks back.

Around those transactions, he has tossed 25 Triple-A innings between three different organizations with a 2.52 earned run average, 14.3% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and a lot of ground balls. Those peripherals are fairly in line with his major league track record, which consists of 85 2/3 innings dating back to his 2019 debut with the Reds. In that time, he has a 6.30 ERA, 19% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 52.2% ground ball rate.

He’ll give the club a fresh arm in their bullpen for the time being. He is in his final option season and can be easily sent back to Nashville at some point if the Brewers would like. He has not yet reached arbitration and could be retained beyond this season if he holds his 40-man spot all year, though he’ll be out of options next year.

Rodríguez was recently promoted for a rotation audition but currently has a 7.30 ERA through three starts. His optioning perhaps suggests that Keuchel will be added to the club’s roster to take that spot shortly. As noted by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com on X, the club lists tomorrow’s starter as TBA, with Colin Rea having previously been in that spot. That perhaps suggests that Keuchel will take the ball tomorrow and Rea will get an extra day of rest, though more information will undoubtedly be forthcoming between now and then.

As for Gasser, it was reported last week that he will require UCL surgery and is done for the year, so this transfer was an inevitable formality.

Brewers Outright James Meeker

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TODAY: Meeker has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A, according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

June 11: The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Carlos Rodriguez, a move that was reported last week. To get him onto the active roster, righty Kevin Herget was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. To open a 40-man spot, righty James Meeker was designated for assignment.

Meeker, 29, was just added to the club’s roster on Friday. He made his major league debut that night, tossing one scoreless inning before getting optioned the next day when the club signed Elieser Hernández.

Though it’s surely tough to lose his roster spot so quickly, the fact that he even made it at all is something for Meeker to be proud of, given his long and unusual path to the majors. He went undrafted in 2018 and then spent a few years in Indy Ball. He got a minor league deal with the Brewers in 2021 when he was already 26 years old.

He spent the past few years climbing up the ladder, including 27 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this year. He has a 2.67 earned run average on the farm so far this year with a 27.3% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. He’s generally been a ground ball pitcher throughout his time in the minors, keeping batted balls on the dirt roughly half the time.

The Brewers will now have a week to trade Meeker or pass him through waivers. Players with three years of service time or a previous career outright can reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, but Meeker doesn’t meet either of those requirements. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll stick with the Brewers as a depth arm without taking up a roster spot.

Brewers Reportedly Promoting Carlos Rodriguez

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The Brewers are going to promote right-hander Carlos Rodriguez, according to Spanish-language reports from Edgard Rodriguez (X link) and Fernando Rayo of 8 Deportivo out of Nicaragua (links from X one and two). The Nicaraguan hurler is not on the club’s 40-man but will need to be added before he starts Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays.

Rodriguez, now 22, was a sixth-round pick of the Brewers in 2021. He made his professional debut in 2022, tossing 107 2/3 innings between Single-A and High-A. He allowed 3.01 earned runs per nine frames while striking out 30.1% of hitters and giving out walks at a 9.3% rate.

That launched him onto the prospect radar, with Baseball America ranking him #14 in the system going into 2023 and FanGraphs putting him in the #20 slot. He spent most of last year in Double-A with one start in Triple-A late in the year. He tossed a combined 128 1/3 innings with a 2.88 ERA, 29.3% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate.

Here in 2024, he’s been back at Triple-A, having thrown 62 2/3 innings so far. His 5.17 ERA isn’t especially impressive but he’s looked better as the season has gone along, with a 2.83 ERA in six starts since the start of May. That strong showing will get him up to the big leagues for the first time.

The Brewers have put both Joe Ross and Robert Gasser on the injured list in recent weeks, further compounding a growing injury problem for the rotation. Brandon Woodruff is going to miss the entire season due to shoulder surgery and Wade Miley required Tommy John surgery not too long ago. DL Hall and Jakob Junis have each been on the IL for a while as well.

Tobias Myers is starting tonight’s game and should be followed by Freddy Peralta, Bryse Wilson and Colin Rea in the games after that. Rodriguez will then take the hill on Tuesday, which could perhaps be for a spot start or maybe a lengthier stay in the majors, perhaps depending on how he fares.

As for the 40-man roster spot, it’s possible that Gasser could relinquish his to Rodriguez, depending on how things develop in the next few days. The lefty was placed on the IL earlier this week with a left flexor strain. Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relayed an update on X today from manager Pat Murphy. Gasser apparently has damage “in the back of his elbow” and has been recommended for surgery by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. But this apparently contrasts with another opinion the club got, so the lefty will be getting a third perspective.

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