Wisconsin News and Sports
The Milwaukee Brewers announced on Tuesday, several changes to policies for fans attending games at American Family Field this summer.
With the team moving toward 100% capacity in late June, effective June 1, vaccinated fans will no longer be required to wear face masks while attending Brewers games at American Family Field. It is recommended that fans who are not vaccinated continue to wear masks at this time. [Read more…]
In a rare mid-May trade of significance the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday acquired shortstop Willy Adames and relief pitcher Trevor Richards from the Tampa Bay Rays. Milwaukee sent relievers J. P. Feyereisen and Drew Rasmussen to Tampa Bay in return.
Adames is considered a good defender and should be an immediate upgrade over Luis Urias, who has struggled defensively at the position. Adames is hitting .197 with 5 Homeruns for the Rays. Richards has pitched to a 4.50 ERA over 12 innings with 16 strikeouts.
Feyereisen was a big part of the Brewers late inning relief this season, helping set up for Devin Williams and Josh Hader. Manager Craig Counsell and GM David Stearns said Urias will still play, and take on the part of the “super” utility role around the infield.
Neither Adames nor Richards were with the team Friday night in Cincinnati, and it’s not known if either will be available for Saturday’s game.
The Milwaukee Brewers had just announced an increase in capacity at American Family Field from 25% to 50% for this Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. Just two days later, the team announced that the stadium will be back to full capacity by Friday, June 25.
The Brewers are expected to announce single-game tickets on Friday morning, along with the promotional schedule for the rest of the season.
Effective immediately, partial-season and full-season ticket packages as well as group ticket packages are available.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks are increasing fan capacity at American Family Field and Fiserv Forum increase from 25% to 50% capacity. The increase for the Brewers will be effective beginning with Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Braves, while the Bucks increase at Fiserv Forum will become effective with the start of the NBA Playoffs later this month.
The Health Department’s new guidelines today grant higher capacities for businesses in Milwaukee County that have submitted an approved safety plan.
Fans will still be required to wear face coverings at all times when inside Fiserv Forum, except when actively eating or drinking. Tickets will continue to be sold in pods.
Pitcher Jordan Zimmerman announced his retirement from Major League Baseball on Tuesday. The Marshfield, WI native became the 11th Wisconsin-born player to play for the Brewers. He made two relief appearances with the Brewers after signing as a free agent on Feb. 9.
Zimmerman retires after 13 seasons in the Major Leagues with Washington (2009-15), Detroit (2016-20) and Milwaukee (2021). He went 95-91 with a 4.07 ERA in 279 career games, including 275 starts. He was a two-time All-Star (2013-14) and author of the first no-hitter in Washington Nationals history on Sept. 28, 2014 vs. Miami. he pitched in the postseason with the Nationals in 2012 and 2014.
Zimmerman issued just 1.92 walks per nine innings during his Major League career, trailing only Josh Tomlin (1.32) among active pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched. He finished seventh in 2013 National League Cy Young Award voting after producing a career-high 19 wins. he finished fifth in 2014 National League Cy Young Award voting after posting a career-best 2.66 ERA. Zimmerman made 30+ starts four times (2012-15) and twice was an Opening Day starter (2018-19).
Zimmerman was selected by Washington in the second round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of the Division III University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is a graduate of Auburndale (WI) High School.
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich was activated from the injured list on Monday. Twenty-Four hours later, Yelich landed back on the injured list after his
Christian Yelich
back didn’t respond to game action like they had hoped it would.
“I think it goes to finding more answers and trying to get a better hold on what we’ve got going on, stop it from happening and get back out there healthy,” said Yelich on Tuesday. “I’m not where I need to be to go out there on an everyday basis. I wasn’t where I needed to be yesterday. It just wasn’t good. I was able to make it through the game but being able to stack them on top of each other, just health-wise and be able to play at a certain level, just wasn’t there. That’s pretty much back to where we are.”
Prior to Monday’s activation, Yelich has already missed three weeks because of the back issue and the Brewers don’t know exactly what they’re dealing with. They’ve already had MRI’s performed on Yelich that show no structural damage. [Read more…]
Christian Yelich
Christian Yelich was eligible to come off the Milwaukee Brewers injured list over the weekend, but that doesn’t appear to be ready to happen anytime soon.
An MRI on the outfielder’s strained lower back showed no major issues, but Yelich was sent back to Milwaukee after manager Craig Counsell said he hit a “plateau” in his recovery.
Yelich hasn’t played in a game with the Brewers since April 11.
“We basicly just ruled out anything significant structurally that would show up on the MRI,” Counsell said Sunday. “We still need to make progress to get him back on the field and so from that perspective not much has changed. But we’ll keep moving forward and see what some activity tomorrow at the field brings.”
Yelich is hitting .333 (10-for-30) in nine games with the Brewers this season.
Garrett Mitchell – Photo Courtesy of the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers 2020 first-round draft pick Garrett Mitchell will begin his pro baseball career in the Fox Cities with the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
Mitchell was the 20th overall pick by the Brewers out of UCLA. The centerfielder had an outstanding spring with the Brewers in Phoenix, playing in 22 games and hitting .355 (11 for 31) with one home run, six RBI, three stolen bases and .973 OPS.
The performance likely had the Brewers feeling good about having Mitchell skip Low-A Carolina and proceed to Wisconsin.
It’ll be Mitchell’s pro debut after his rookie season last year was cancelled by the pandemic.
Brandon Woodruff
Major League Baseball announced Thursday the suspension of Chicago Cubs reliever Ryan Tepera for three games and fined him an undisclosed amount of money for throwing at Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff during Tuesday nights game at American Family Field.
Tepera’s suspension was due to start Friday when the Cubs open a home series against the Atlanta Braves, but he is appealing the decision.
Cubs manager David Ross received a one-game suspension and will serve it Friday.
Tepera’s pitch in the fifth inning missed its intended target, going behind Woodruff’s legs. It’s believed the pitch came in retaliation for Woodruff hitting Cubs catcher Willson Contreras in the fourth inning. It’s the 3rd time this season that Contreras has been hit by Brewers pitchers in five games.
There were no ejections in the game, but the home plate umpire warned both benches and the remainder of the game went without further incident.
The Brewers and Cubs play each other again in a three-game series at the end of next week at Wrigley Field.
The Milwaukee Brewers put centerfielder Lorenzo Cain on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a left quadriceps strain.
The 35-year-old outfielder suffered the injury while running to first base in Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs at American Family Field. The Brewers called up outfielder Tyrone Taylor from their alternate training site.
Cain suffered a right quadriceps injury during spring training, which allowed him to play in just seven preseason games. He is hitting just .154 in seven regular-season games with two home runs and four RBI.
Taylor was one of the Brewers last players cut out of spring camp. He hit .293 in 19 games with 2 HR and four RBI. He hit .237 with two home runs and six RBI in 22 games during the pandemic shortened 2020 season.