June 21: Milwaukee actually reinstated Junis from the 60-day IL tonight. The Brewers picked Bradley Blalock to Triple-A Nashville to make room on the active roster. Their 40-man roster is at a premium.
June 20: Brewers rookie lefty Robert Gasser will have surgery to repair the UCL in his throwing elbow, he told reporters this evening (X link via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). It won't be clear until surgery is done whether you need a full Tommy John reconstruction or a modified muscle repair. Even in the best case scenario for a less critical procedure like internal orthosis surgery, Gasser said he expects to miss at least a full calendar year.
The 25-year-old made his league debut last month. Gasser found immediate success, working 28 innings of 2.57 ERA ball over his first five starts. The University of Houston product walked only 114 batters he faced. Although he certainly would not save that Control level, Gasser has been a solid pitcher that many scouts expect to stick in the rotation. Baseball America ranked him as the #5 prospect in the Milwaukee program and ranked him among the top 100 minor league talents entering this season.
Gasser's first MLB success may have raised his stock slightly, although his 14% strikeout percentage was well below the swing-and-miss rate he displayed in the minor leagues. He certainly did well enough to continue to take the ball every fifth day in Milwaukee's rotation. Freddy Peralta again Colin Rea were constants. Peralta is the unquestioned ace of the staff, while Rea has pitched to a 3.29 ERA over 76 2/3 innings despite an average strikeout rate of 16.7%.
Milwaukee has cycled through several starters as they have navigated various injuries. They lost the whole cycle due to the long absence. Wade Miley he had Tommy John surgery after two starts. Jacob Junis hit once all season. DL Hall postponed from April. Joe Ross went down in May with a severe low back; he had a hard time a few weeks ago. Gasser is also out for the season. That doesn't even count Brandon Woodruffthe Brewers didn't know he would miss all of 2024 after shoulder surgery last October.
Bryce Wilson again Tobias Myers they have moved into the third and fourth rotation. While each carries good run blocking numbers, neither pitcher is without question marks. Wilson opened the season as a reliever and has an unimpressive strikeout and walk profile as a starter. Myers has signed with the minor league club for the sixth time in his professional career. His 21.7% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk percentage are good, but he's had to work on par with a high home run rate.
The fifth turning point has just fallen into it Carlos Rodriguez, a rookie who allowed seven runs in 8 1/3 innings in his first two innings. Junis is coming back from the 60-day injured list — MLB.com's Adam McCalvy tweets that he could be back as soon as tomorrow — but he's not expected to return to the rotation immediately. Junis only made two brief appearances for rehabbing Triple-A Nashville. The Brewers suggested he might work out of the bullpen at first as they try to expedite his return to the big league staff.
In that context, it's surprising that the Brewers own a 44-30 record and are out to a comfortable 7.5-game lead in the NL Central. They will likely bring in at least one starting pitcher before the July 30 trade deadline. There's a logical argument for GM Matt Arnold and his staff getting more pickups in the rotation. Losing Gasser should only add to the urgency to address what was the team's biggest question mark before their last few months of serious injury news.
Gasser is on the MLB disabled list and will collect service time and be paid the league minimum for any time he spends in IL. Milwaukee can move him to IL for 60 days to free up a 40-man roster spot whenever that need arises. (They already have room for Junis to be reinstated after the pick Elieser Hernández by assignment last night.) Gasser won't reach a full service year and remains manageable for six seasons beyond this one.
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