Brewers right-hander Trevor Megill was positioned on the 7-day concussion record this morning, the workforce introduced. Proper-hander J.B. Bukauskas is up from Triple-A Nashville to take his spot on the roster. The damage occurred in weird and horrifying style, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (X link) Megill contracted meals poisoning final weekend and within the aftermath felt light-headed, fainted and wound up struggling a concussion when his 6’8″ body dropped to the bottom.
It’s one other robust loss for a Milwaukee bullpen that’s with out nearer Devin Williams for a minimum of the following couple months. Megill, 30, was an unheralded acquisition by the Brewers final offseason who’s tossed 36 2/3 innings with a 3.44 ERA with an enormous 35% strikeout price towards a strong 8.3% stroll price. With Williams sidelined, Megill, Joel Payamps and younger flamethrower Abner Uribe have been slated for vital late-inning work in first-year skipper Pat Murphy’s bullpen.
The Brewers didn’t present a timetable for Megill’s return, which is a lot comprehensible given the character of his damage. Concussions are tough to foretell, and the severity can differ tremendously. Even ostensibly minor concussions can have lingering results that influence a participant for prolonged intervals of time.
In Bukauskas, the Brewers will flip a bullpen spot over to a 27-year-old former prime prospect whom they acquired off waivers early within the 2023 season. He pitched six shutout innings for Milwaukee final yr however carries a 5.92 ERA in a tiny pattern of 24 1/3 massive league innings. Tough as that will look, Bukauskas additionally logged a 2.92 ERA, 26.8% strikeout price and 6.4% stroll price in 37 Triple-A frames for the Brewers final yr, and he fanned 16 of his 41 spring opponents (39%) en path to a 3.72 ERA. There’s loads of uncertainty within the ultimate few spots of the Brewer bullpen, so it stands to cause that with a robust first impression, Bukauskas might doubtlessly carve out a task for himself. He’s controllable for one more 5 seasons if he’s in a position to take action.
Megill’s damage will solely additional open the door for the 23-year-old Uribe to determine himself as a viable high-leverage possibility. He’s 3-for-3 in save alternatives on the younger season and, relationship again to final yr’s MLB debut, carries a 1.87 ERA and 29.9% strikeout price in 33 2/3 innings. Command is a matter for Uribe, who’s walked 15.3% of his opponents, plunked a hitter and unleashed six wild pitches in his younger profession. Nevertheless, he’s additionally averaged 99.4 mph on his blazing sinker and induced grounders at a hearty 53.4% clip, displaying clear late-inning promise.
The Journal-Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak spoke to Uribe and his teammates concerning the spectacular younger righty’s rise to significant late-inning work. “I reside for it,” Uribe mentioned of pitching in adrenaline-charged situations just like the save conditions he’s encountered to this point. Murphy tells Rosiak he’s been impressed with the right-hander’s demeanor regardless of his youth, noting that Uribe “has discovered to this point and actually stored his feelings beneath management and targeted on his activity.”
Payamps has picked up one save within the Brewers’ first 4 wins of the yr as nicely, however it appears Uribe would be the most popular possibility for ninth-inning work whereas Williams and Megill mend. Presumably, when Williams is ready to return, Uribe will slide again down right into a setup position. It’s all the time attainable the command struggles will flare up and result in a very tough patch, however a minimum of this far in his younger profession, Uribe appears to be like the a part of a official late-inning arm who can stick on the MLB stage. If that’s certainly the case, Milwaukee can management him right through the 2029 season and he received’t be arb-eligible till after the 2026 marketing campaign.
Elsewhere within the group, the Brew Crew remains to be within the early levels of navigating a shoulder damage for touted catching prospect Jeferson Quero. The 21-year-old suffered the damage in Nashville’s season opener, and GM Matt Arnold this week introduced that Quero has been identified with a subluxation in his proper shoulder (link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). He’s had one MRI and is receiving a second opinion to find out the severity of the difficulty and get a transparent sense of his rehab plan. The Brewers haven’t introduced a timetable for his return or whether or not surgical procedure may be required.
Quero is broadly regarded not solely as one of many Brewers’ greatest prospects however the very best prospects in all of baseball, touchdown on top-100 lists at The Athletic (No. 12), ESPN (No. 32), Baseball America (No. 33), MLB.com (No. 35), Baseball Prospectus (No. 38) and FanGraphs (No. 40). The Athletic’s Keith Regulation calls Quero a probable plus defender behind the plate with the potential for 20-homer energy throughout his prime years.
Quero spent the 2023 season as one of many youngest gamers in Double-A however greater than held his personal towards older, extra superior competitors. In 381 plate appearances, he slashed .262/.339/.440 (107 wRC+) with a powerful 10% stroll price towards a lower-than-average 17.8% strikeout price.
In higher damage information, McCalvy tweets that outfielder Garrett Mitchell is on a timeline of 4 to 6 weeks to return from the fractured finger in his left hand, which is to this point therapeutic as anticipated. The 25-year-old has gotten temporary appears to be like within the outfield in every of the previous two seasons, posting a mixed .278/.343/.452 slash (119 wRC+) with 5 homers and 9 steals. It’s very robust manufacturing, however these numbers are additionally propped up by a wildly unsustainable .441 common on balls in play and masks a extra ominous 38.3% strikeout price. It’s solely 141 plate appearances, however Mitchell will finally have to considerably reduce on the strikeouts if he’s to carve out a long-term position in Milwaukee’s outfield.
