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Jake Cousins

Astros Claim Jake Cousins From Brewers, Designate Blake Taylor

By Darragh McDonald | July 31, 2023 at 3:15pm CDT

The Astros have claimed right-hander Jake Cousins off waivers from the Brewers, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. There had been no prior indication Cousins had been removed from Milwaukee’s 40-man roster, so this will drop their count to 39. The Astros have now announced the claim, with left-hander Blake Taylor designated for assignment in a corresponding move and Cousins optioned to Triple-A.

Cousins, 29, was first added to Milwaukee’s roster in June of 2021. He made 30 appearances for them the rest of the way, allowing 2.70 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 35.2% of batters faced and kept 47.4% of balls in play on the ground, but also issued walks at a 15.2% clip. In 2022, he missed most of the year with a right elbow effusion, or a build up of fluid in the area. He was only able to make 12 appearances with the big league club.

Here in 2023, Cousins was frequently optioned to Triple-A and recalled for the first few months of the season. He made nine appearances with the big league club, posting a 4.82 ERA. He’s also made 13 Triple-A appearances with a 7.30 ERA, though a .533 batting average in balls in play and 58.3% strand rate are clearly inflating that number in the small sample.

The Brewers evidently tried to quietly sneak Cousins through waivers to open a roster spot, though the Astros swooped in to stop that from happening. He’s struck out 31.4% of major league hitters he’s faced in his career but has also walked 16.2% of them. They will surely try to help him better harness his stuff as he provides them with some bullpen depth. He has a pair of option years remaining, one of which he’s burning here in 2023, but can be sent to the minors for one more season in the future.

In order to take a shot on Cousins, the Astros are risking losing Taylor, who originally came to Houston in the 2019 trade that sent Jake Marisnick to the Mets. Taylor spent most of 2020 to 2022 with the big league club in Houston, making 92 appearances with a 3.06 ERA, 19.1% strikeout rate, 12.6% walk rate and 44.3% ground ball rate. Here in 2023, he began the season on the injured list due to a left elbow strain. He was activated in mid-April and immediately optioned to Triple-A. He’s made 35 appearances at that level with a 5.15 ERA. His 43.7% ground ball rate there has been solid but his 14.9% strikeout rate and 13.1% walk rate are both well worse than average.

The Astros will now have a week to trade Taylor or pass him through waivers, though the timeline on the trade option is much tighter with tomorrow’s deadline. Left-handed relief tends to always be in demand and Taylor still has an option year beyond this one, though time will tell if his poor results this year dampen the interest from rival clubs.

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Houston Astros Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Blake Taylor Jake Cousins

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Brewers Designate Alex Claudio For Assignment, Select Andruw Monasterio

By Nick Deeds | May 27, 2023 at 12:23pm CDT

The Brewers announced a flurry of roster moves this morning, as the club designated left-hander Alex Claudio for assignment, placed shortstop Willy Adames on the 7-day concussion list, and optioned left-hander Ethan Small to Triple-A Nashville. Additionally, the club selected the contract of infielder Andruw Monasterio and recalled right-hander Jake Cousins.

Claudio, who was selected to the big league roster last month, recorded just one out before heading back to the minors. The veteran left-hander has pitched for the Rangers, Angels, and Mets throughout his 10 season career aside from the Brewers, and owns a career ERA of 3.59 and a FIP of 3.83 in in 348 innings of work. The Brewers will have one week to trade or waive Claudio, who seems likely to re-enter the free agent market and search for a new minor league deal under which he can act as bullpen depth for an interested club.

Adames, meanwhile, heads to the concussion IL after being struck by a foul ball while in the dugout during last night’s game. Adames fortunately avoided any fractures or other serious injuries beyond the concussion during the terrifying moment. On the field this season, Adames has struggled with the bat somewhat, slashing just .205/.292/.384 (85 wRC+) in 51 games this season.

Adames’s injury leaves the Brewers without a clear option at shortstop, a conundrum that seemingly prompted Milwaukee to select Monasterio’s contract, for whom this is his first major league call-up. Monasterio, who will celebrate his 26th birthday on Tuesday, began his professional career with the Cubs and spent time with DC and Cleveland before landing with the Brewers last season, when he slashed .271/.364/.406 in 110 games split between the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Monasterio has had an excellent season at the Triple-A level so far in 2023, with a solid .271/.410/.400 slash line in 42 games while playing shortstop, second base, and third base.

Small made his 2023 debut for the Brewers just yesterday, when he pitched three innings of relief in a blowout loss to the Giants, surrendering five runs. The club’s first round pick in 2019, Small has struggled in limited big league opportunities to this point in his career, and moved to the bullpen for the first time in his career ahead of the 2023 campaign. Small figures to continue providing pitching depth to the Brewers going forward until a longer-term opportunity in the majors presents itself.

Small’s departure clears space on the roster for Cousins, a 28-year-old right-hander who’s pitched well for the Brewers in parts of three seasons now, with a 2.79 ERA and 4.03 FIP across 51 2/3 innings in that span of time. While he’s largely been a solid reliever for Milwaukee, his 8 1/3 innings in 2023 have raised concerns about his command, as he’s walked a whopping 21.1% of batters faced while striking out just 18.4%. Still, the Brewers are clearly hoping he can get right and contribute to their bullpen going forward.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Alex Claudio Andruw Monasterio Ethan Small Jake Cousins Willy Adames

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Brewers To Place Wade Miley On IL With Lat Strain

By Darragh McDonald | May 17, 2023 at 3:05pm CDT

3:05pm: The Brewers have now officially placed Miley on the IL, recalling righty Jake Cousins in a corresponding move.

9:34am: Brewers lefty Wade Miley departed  last night’s game in the second inning after throwing just 22 pitches. It was later announced that he has a left lat strain and will be placed on the 15-day injured list, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter links).

At this point, it’s not known who will take Miley’s roster spot or how long he’ll be out of action, with the southpaw undoubtedly set for further testing in the days to come. But even a mild lat strain usually requires about two to three weeks of recovery time, meaning Miley will likely be looking at more than a minimum stint on the injured list.

Miley was off to a solid start to the year, proceeding in his low-strikeout ways, succeeding by inducing soft contact. Through eight starts, he has a 3.67 ERA despite a modest 14% strikeout rate. But his 5.3% walk rate is excellent and Statcast pegs his average exit velocity in the 73rd percentile among qualified pitchers and his hard hit rate in the 76th.

Losing Miley for a few weeks will present a challenge to a Milwaukee club that is already dealing with a few other injuries to its rotation. Brandon Woodruff has a subscapular strain and isn’t expected back before late June, Jason Alexander has a shoulder strain of his own and is on the 60-day IL, while Aaron Ashby had shoulder surgery and may not be able to pitch this year at all.

That will leave the Brewers with Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser in the four rotation spots and a question mark for the final slot. It’s possible that they recall Colin Rea, who had been with the club in recent weeks until Houser returned from his groin strain. Rea has a 5.52 ERA in 31 innings this year over six starts and one relief appearance. He was only optioned a few days ago but would be eligible to return quicker than the standard 15-day minimum if he’s the corresponding move for Miley going on the injured list. Janson Junk is also on the 40-man roster and has a 3.86 ERA in Triple-A this year. He was called up to make a spot start in April but allowed four earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings.

Non-roster options would include Robert Gasser, who is one of the club’s top pitching prospects and is at the Triple-A level, but he has a 5.17 ERA there this year. Thomas Pannone is with the club on a minor league deal, having started the year in the Triple-A bullpen but getting stretched out recently. He has a 2.04 ERA through 17 2/3 innings there. Either of these two or any other non-roster option would require a corresponding move to get them onto the 40-man.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Jake Cousins Wade Miley

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Brewers Designate Javy Guerra For Assignment

By Steve Adams | April 24, 2023 at 3:55pm CDT

3:55pm: Bush will be shut down for two to four weeks, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

3:04pm: The Brewers announced a series of roster moves Monday, all pertaining to the bullpen. Right-hander Javy Guerra has been designated for assignment, with his spot on the 40-man roster going to veteran lefty Alex Claudio, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Nashville. Milwaukee also placed righty Matt Bush on the 15-day IL with tendinitis in his right rotator cuff and recalled right-hander Jake Cousins from Nashville.

Guerra, 27, was once one of the top prospects in baseball when he was a shortstop, but he converted to the mound several years ago and has been trying to establish himself as a flamethrowing reliever. He’s seen MLB time with the Padres, Rays and Brewers but has yet to find much consistency. So far in 8 1/3 innings with the Brewers, who acquired him from the Rays in exchange for a PTBNL (Victor Castaneda) back in November, he’s tossed 8 1/3 innings but allowed eight runs on 10 hits, nine walks and a pair of hit batters.

Guerra has averaged a blazing 98.4 mph on his heater this year and 98.1 mph overall in parts of five big league seasons on the mound, but command has regularly been an issue. Overall, he’s tallied 52 innings of relief work between those three previously mentioned clubs and walked nearly as many batters (12.1%) as he’s struck out (14.5%). The Brewers will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass the out-of-options righty through waivers.

Bush’s injury comes on the heels of some pronounced struggles for the 37-year-old this year. He’s pitched 7 2/3 innings but been tagged for seven runs on six hits and six walks with eight strikeouts. It’s a small sample, but that’s a 17.1% walk rate through his first nine appearances, which is nearly 10 percentage points higher than the combined 7.7% mark he posted from 2016-22. Add in that Bush’s average fastball is down from 97.4 mph in 2022 to 94.8 mph in 2023, and there are a few pretty glaring signs that he perhaps has not been pitching at full strength. The Brewers have not yet provided a potential timetable for his return.

Claudio, 31, is a familiar face for Brewers fans, having spent the 2019-20 seasons pitching in the Milwaukee bullpen. He returned on a minor league contract over the winter and has gotten out to a nice start in Nashville, allowing a pair of runs with a 5-to-2 K/BB ratio and a mammoth 73.3% ground-ball rate in his six innings of work so far.

Hearty ground-ball rates are nothing new for Claudio, who’s posted a career 59.8% mark over the life of 347 2/3 innings at the big league level. He struggled upon departing the Brewers organization, pitching to a 5.51 ERA in 32 2/3 innings with the 2021 Angels, but Claudio’s broader body of MLB work is solid: 3.60 ERA (3.83 FIP, 3.67 SIERA), 17% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate, 59.8% grounder rate, 14 saves, 51 holds. He does have emphatic platoon splits, however, which makes the three-batter minimum a particularly disadvantageous rule change for Claudio.

Cousins, 28, has given up five runs in 4 1/3 innings with Nashville so far, though virtually all of the damage against him came in one outing. What’s surely of greater intrigue to the organization is that he’s punched out 11 of the 24 batters he’s faced so far (45.8%).

Cousins has just 43 1/3 innings of big league work under his belt to this point in his career, but he’s averaged 95.9 mph with his sinker, 95.3 mph with his four-seamer and notched a massive 17% swinging-strike rate. His 14.7% walk rate and six plunked batters (out of 184 faced) show command that needs some serious refinement, but Cousins has the stuff to miss bats in droves. If he can throw more strikes, as he’d done so far in Triple-A (two walks in 24 batters faced), he has the potential to become a legitimate high-leverage arm. That’s far easier said than done, of course, but it’s easy to see why the Brewers continue to be intrigued by Cousins.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Alex Claudio Jake Cousins Javy Guerra Matt Bush

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Brewers Notes: Burnes, Voit, Hiura, Bullpen

By Steve Adams | March 22, 2023 at 11:28am CDT

Brewers ace Corbin Burnes was one of several recent players to speak publicly about the arbitration process, voicing some disappointment last month in some aspects of the team’s approach to the trial. Burnes has now enlisted the Boras Corporation as his new representation moving forward, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports (via Twitter).

Asked directly last month whether his relationship with the team had been damaged at all, Burnes candidly acknowledged that it had been to some extent, and that there was “really no getting around that.” Given his likely price tag on the open market, the former Cy Young winner was already a long-shot extension candidate for the Brewers, and the shift in representation won’t change that perception. The Boras Corporation has a reputation for pushing its players to reach the open market, though there are plenty of notable exceptions in recent years. Xander Bogaerts, Lance McCullers Jr., Jose Altuve, Stephen Strasburg and Chris Paddack are all Boras clients who signed multi-year extensions that pushed back their respective paths to free agency.

The Brewers are entering the 2023 season intent on contending for the playoffs and, even after trading Hunter Renfroe and Kolten Wong this offseason, reportedly made clear to other clubs that stars like Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Willy Adames were unavailable. Their first half will be one to watch closely. If Milwaukee falls out of contention, that trio will figure to all resurface in trade rumblings, given their relative proximity to free agency.

Each of Burnes, Woodruff and Adames is controllable only through the 2024 campaign. (Ditto Eric Lauer, Rowdy Tellez, Matt Bush and Adrian Houser.) Milwaukee probably wouldn’t aggressively shop that group, but the Brewers did make a tough call by trading Josh Hader when he had just a season and a half of club control remaining last summer. If nothing else, teams will be trying to pry some of that talent away from Milwaukee if the Brewers indeed drop out of the postseason race before this year’s trade deadline.

Turning to more immediate matters, the Brewers have some key personnel decisions looming in the near future. Last week, I outlined the dilemma they’re facing regarding Keston Hiura and their right-handed-hitting bench depth, and GM Matt Arnold touched on the situation yesterday (link via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). Hiura and non-roster invitee Luke Voit are competing for a similar role with the Brewers, and Arnold acknowledged that the club has some “tough decisions” to make. Arnold praised the “tremendous job” Voit has done so far in camp, noting that he’s done “everything he can possibly do” to make the club.

The 32-year-old Voit has indeed impressed, hitting .316/.333/.526 with a pair of homers — albeit with an ugly 11-to-1 K/BB ratio in 39 plate appearances. Hiura is hitting .156/.229/.219 with a 42.9% strikeout rate (15 punchouts in 35 plate appearances). Arnold praised the “electricity” in Hiura’s bat and touted the upside he’s flashed in the past, but the former first-round pick and top prospect is out of minor league options hasn’t performed with much consistency in recent years. Since his outstanding rookie season, Hiura’s strikeout woes have climbed, and he’s lost his grip on a regular spot in the lineup.

Voit had an opt-out clause in his minor league contract last week but agreed to push the date on that back to this Friday. The decision on whether to select him is in many ways linked to Hiura and perhaps to fellow right-handed-hitting bench options like Mike Brosseau and Owen Miller. Without mentioning specific names, Arnold seemingly acknowledged as much, stating: “…a lot of this comes down to not just [Voit], but the people around him and how this all works together is so important.” Both Brosseau and Miller offer more defensive versatility than Voit and Hiura, but both have minor league options remaining as well.

In the bullpen, the Brewers are continuing to narrow the competition. They optioned righties Jake Cousins and Elvis Peguero to Triple-A Nashville yesterday, but manager Craig Counsell made clear that both are squarely in the team’s 2023 plans (link via MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy).

“Jake and Peguero, those guys are going to definitely pitch for us,” Counsell said, adding that the calls could come early in the season if needed. Cousins has been impressive in brief looks over the past two seasons, showing huge ability to miss bats but also some worrying command issues. Peguero, acquired from the Angels in the previously mentioned Renfroe swap, fanned 11 of 35 hitters (31.4%) this spring but was always at risk of being sent out given the number of out-of-options arms the Brewers are currently rostering.

None of Houser, Joel Payamps, Javy Guerra, Bryse Wilson or Bush can be optioned to the minors. The only optionable members of the bullpen are closer Devin Williams, setup man Peter Strzelecki and southpaw Hoby Milner, but all three (Williams in particular, of course) are generally locked into spots, as are Bush and Houser.

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Milwaukee Brewers Corbin Burnes Elvis Peguero Jake Cousins Keston Hiura Luke Voit

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Brewers Outright J.C. Mejia, Activate Adrian Houser

By Anthony Franco | August 24, 2022 at 6:20pm CDT

The Brewers announced that reliever J.C. Mejía has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Nashville. The club hadn’t previously announced he’d been designated for assignment, but they apparently quietly placed him on waivers in recent days. The move opens a spot on the 40-man roster for Jake Cousins, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Nashville. Milwaukee also activated starter Adrian Houser from the 15-day IL to take the ball tonight against the Dodgers, optioning Trevor Kelley to clear a spot on the active roster.

Mejía made his big league debut with Cleveland last season. The right-hander logged 52 1/3 innings across 17 appearances (11 starts), but only managed an 8.24 ERA during his initial MLB action. He also struggled quite a bit in Triple-A, but he’d previously had strong minor league production. When the Guardians designated him for assignment after the 2021 season, the Brewers added him in a trade for a player to be named later (eventually announced as David Fry) with an eye towards converting him to relief.

That experiment never really got off the ground, as Mejía has pitched in just two big league games with Milwaukee. He tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Stanozolol and was hit with an 80-game suspension in May. He returned from that ban last week, but the club evidently no longer felt they wanted to carry him on the 40-man roster.

Having never previously been outrighted nor not having eclipsed three years of major league service time, Mejía doesn’t have the right to refuse an outright assignment. He’ll remain in Nashville — where he’s only allowed four runs in 14 2/3 innings — and try to pitch his way back to the big leagues before the season is out. The 25-year-old (26 on Friday) would qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if Milwaukee doesn’t add him back to the 40-man roster before then.

Cousins hasn’t pitched since April, as he’s missed nearly four months with an elbow effusion. The right-hander has been on a rehab assignment since late July and fared quite well, allowing only three runs over nine innings in Nashville with 13 strikeouts against five walks. The club will give him a bit more time in the minors with his allowed 30-day rehab window wrapping up, but it seems likely he’ll be back in the MLB bullpen before too long. Cousins debuted in the majors last year and impressed, striking out a whopping 35.2% of opponents while working to a 2.70 ERA in 30 games.

Houser, meanwhile, is back after nearly two months on the shelf. The righty suffered a flexor strain in his forearm in late June, but he managed to rehab without requiring surgery. The veteran ground-ball specialist owns just a 4.72 ERA through 15 starts this season, but he worked to a 3.22 mark in 28 outings last year. He’ll reassume his rotation role for the stretch run as Milwaukee looks to erase a one-game deficit in the National League Wild Card standings.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Adrian Houser J.C. Mejia Jake Cousins

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Brewers Select Jason Alexander

By Anthony Franco | June 1, 2022 at 6:10pm CDT

JUNE 1: Milwaukee has officially selected Alexander’s contract, optioning Luke Barker to Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move. To create 40-man roster space, they’ve transferred reliever Jake Cousins from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Cousins went on the IL on May 1 with an elbow effusion, and he’ll now be out of action through at least the end of July. It seems unlikely he’ll be back when first eligible anyhow, as he recently told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter link) he received a platelet-rich plasma injection and would be shut down from throwing entirely for at least a month.

MAY 31: The Brewers are planning to start right-hander Jason Alexander tomorrow night against the Cubs, tweets Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. He is not yet on the club’s 40-man roster, so the Brew Crew will have to make a corresponding move.

Alexander, 29, is set to make his MLB debut. The younger brother of former Dodgers reliever Scott Alexander, Jason Alexander went undrafted in 2017. He signed with the Angels as a free agent, working his way as high as Triple-A but never getting onto the 40-man roster. Los Angeles released him in 2020, and he hooked on with the Marlins the following April.

The California native made just six appearances in the upper levels of the Miami farm system as he missed some time due to injury. He signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee in December and has spent the first couple months with their top affiliate in Nashville. Over nine outings (seven starts), Alexander has worked to an excellent 2.64 ERA through 47 2/3 innings. His 17.5% strikeout rate is below-average, but he’s posted a hefty 63.3% ground-ball rate and only walked 6.3% of opposing hitters.

Milwaukee has been hit by a couple key rotation injuries of late, forcing them to dip into their starting pitching depth. Both Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff have landed on the injured list, forcing Aaron Ashby into regular action alongside Corbin Burnes, Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser. The fifth spot is uncertain, with well-regarded prospect Ethan Small making a spot start yesterday during a doubleheader. Alexander will now get a chance to audition for a role himself.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Jake Cousins Jason Alexander

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NL Central Notes: Carlson, Brewers, Cousins, Pirates, Kuhl

By Mark Polishuk | May 21, 2022 at 10:06pm CDT

Brewers right-hander Jake Cousins has been shut down for the next 4-6 weeks after receiving a PRP injection, Cousins told Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters.  Cousins has been on the IL since May 1, though an issue with his UCL was detected two weeks ago and the reliever was known to be seeking out a second opinion before deciding on his next treatment.  Both of the consulting doctors recommended the injection, and Cousins will now embark on what will still be a pretty lengthy absence, even if he has been able to avoid surgery.  If Cousins’ arm problems weren’t enough, he also told the media that he recently recovered from a case of COVID-19.

Depending on when Cousins is cleared to begin throwing or if a 40-man roster spot is required, it is quite possibly that the Brewers could shift him to the 60-day IL at some point.  The righty made his MLB debut last season and made an immediate impact in Milwaukee’s bullpen, and Cousins has a 3.08 ERA over 38 total innings of big league action, with hefty strikeout (35%) and walk (14.7%) rates.

More from around the NL Central…

  • Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson looked to be favoring his left hamstring during a third-inning flyout, and had to leave the game with what the club described as hamstring tightness.  More will be known about Carlson’s status after post-game testing, but St. Louis has Corey Dickerson or utilityman Tommy Edman on hand to fill in for Carlson, and Lars Nootbar would likely be the first call-up from Triple-A.  The Cards are already short a regular in the outfield with Tyler O’Neill on the 10-day IL due to a right shoulder impingement.  After impressing during his first full MLB season in 2021, Carlson has hit only .247/.291/.363 in 158 plate appearances this season, in large part due to some brutal hard-contact numbers.
  • The Pirates decided to non-tender Chad Kuhl last winter, resulting in Kuhl signing a one-year, $3MM deal with the Rockies.  Kuhl has started all seven of his games with Colorado (with a solid 3.86 ERA), and told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey that the Pirates were only interested in retaining Kuhl if he made a full-time move to the bullpen.  “No offense to anybody who’s starting in Pittsburgh right now, but I felt like I was worthy of being in the starting rotation there….Me and [GM Ben Cherington] had a talk. That’s where they saw me,” Kuhl said.  “No bad blood or anything like that.  It just gave me an opportunity to start somewhere else.”  Kuhl missed around half of the 2018 season and all of 2019 with a forearm injury that resulted in Tommy John surgery, and then posted a 4.62 ERA over 126 2/3 frames for Pittsburgh in 2020-21, starting 23 of 39 games.
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Colorado Rockies Milwaukee Brewers Notes Pittsburgh Pirates St. Louis Cardinals Chad Kuhl Dylan Carlson Jake Cousins

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Injury Notes: Cousins, Buxton, Wendelken

By Mark Polishuk | May 7, 2022 at 8:52pm CDT

The Brewers placed Jake Cousins on the 10-day injured list on May 1 with what was described as a right elbow effusion, or a build-up of fluid within the elbow.  However, an MRI also revealed a “concern” with Cousins’ UCL, manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters, and a second opinion is being sought.

It makes for a very ominous situation for the 27-year-old righty, who seemingly came out of nowhere to post a 2.70 ERA and 35.2% strikeout rate (albeit with a 15.2% walk rate) over 30 innings out of Milwaukee’s bullpen.  Batters did a little more damage against Cousins this year, as he had a 4.50 ERA, 34.2% strikeout rate, and 13.2% walk rate in eight innings before heading to the injured list.

Some notes on other injury-related situations around baseball…

  • Byron Buxton left today’s 1-0 Twins victory over the Athletics due to tightness in his right hip, acting manager Jayce Tingler told reporters after the game.  Buxton is day-to-day with the injury, but even a seemingly minor issue has to be of concern given Buxton’s import to Minnesota’s lineup, and his long injury history.  Exactly one year ago today, the Twins placed Buxton on the 10-day IL with a right hip strain that cost the outfielder six weeks of action.  Buxton has a spectacular .278/.342/.722 slash line through his first 79 plate appearances of the season, adding nine homers and his usual great glovework in center field.
  • Diamondbacks right-hander J.B. Wendelken was reinstated from the COVID-related injured list, with righty Luis Frias heading to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Wendelken has been out since April 28 due to a positive COVID-19 test.  Since the D’Backs claimed Wendelken off waivers from the A’s last August, the righty has a 4.33 ERA over 27 innings in an Arizona uniform, though with only a 15.31% strikeout rate.
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Arizona Diamondbacks Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins Notes Byron Buxton J.B. Wendelken Jake Cousins

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Brewers Place Jake Cousins On Injured List, Reinstate Victor Caratini

By Darragh McDonald | May 1, 2022 at 12:11pm CDT

The Brewers have announced that they have placed right-handed pitcher Jake Cousins on the 10-day injured list with right elbow effusion, relays Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The same news was relayed by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, who describes the injury as a buildup of fluid. Catcher Victor Caratini returns from the Covid-related injured list in a corresponding move. Players on the Covid-IL don’t count against a club’s 40-man roster, but the Brewers had an open spot in that regard, negating the need for a move there.

Cousins, 27, made his MLB debut with the Brewers last year, throwing 30 innings with a 2.70 ERA, excellent 35.2% strikeout rate but high walk rate of 15.2%. He’s largely carried over that profile this year so far, logging another eight innings with a 4.50 ERA, 13 strikeouts and 5 walks. The club hasn’t provided a timeline for the injury, but it’s always somewhat concerning when a pitcher has issues with his elbow.

Caratini went on the Covid-IL April 26 and now returns five days later. After Pedro Severino was given an 80-game suspension during Spring Training, the Brewers had to scramble and quickly traded for Caratini and Alex Jackson just a few days before Opening Day. Caratini has been great so far, in the small sample of eight games, hitting .238/.360/.429, 132 wRC+. Jackson was called up to take Caratini’s place when the latter went on the shelf, but seems to be sticking around for now. Along with Omar Narvaez, that gives the club three catchers for the time being. However, rosters are shrinking from 28 to 26 after today’s game, meaning Jackson could be optioned back to Triple-A.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Jake Cousins Victor Caratini

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