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Baseball suspends Cubs reliever for throwing at Brewers Woodruff (AUDIO)

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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.

AUDIO: Mgr. Craig Counsell on pitchers pitching inside :23

AUDIO: Craig Counsell said intent is the key :14

Brewers place Cain on injured list

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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.

Brewers send Arcia to Atlanta

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The Milwaukee Brewers are going all in on Luis Urias at shortstop, trading Orlando Arcia to the Atlanta Braves for a pair of pitchers on Tuesday.

The Brewers acquired right-handers Patrick Weigel and Chad Sobotka in the deal, assigning both to the teams Alternate Training Site in Appleton.  The Brewers then replaced Arcia on the roster with veteran reliever Brad Boxberger.

Arcia was hitting .091 through the first four games, starting the team’s last two games at third base.

Arcia hit .260 in the pandemic shortened 2020 season but is a .244 career hitter.  Arcia’s best season came in 2017 when he hit .277 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI.

The 27-year-old Sobotka was a fourth-round draft pick of the Braves in 2014 and has pitched in 50 major-league games since 2018, all in relief.  He is 1-0 with a 5.36 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 47 innings.

The 26-year-old Weigel made his major league debut for the Braves last season, throwing 2/3 of an inning in one relief appearance.  He was a seventh-round pick by Atlanta in 2015 and missed most of the 2018 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  He split the 2019 season at Class AA and AAA, going 6-2 with a 2.73 ERA in 28 games, including 18 starts.

The Brewers originally drafted Weigel out of Oxnard College in the 22nd round of the 2014 draft but were unable to sign him.  The Braves picked him the following year out of the University of Houston.

 

Brewers open their season today, after COVID scare (AUDIO)

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The Milwaukee Brewers will open their 2021 Major League Season this afternoon against the Minnesota Twins (1:10 p.m.) at American Family Field and it comes after a COVID-19 scare.

An unidentified player had a false positive during COVID-19 testing earlier in the day on Wednesday.

“At the time we got it, we did not know it was a false positive, we treated it like a positive,” said President of Baseball Operations David Stearns.  “We went through Major League Baseball’s protocols and we are now confident that it was indeed a false positive.  We went through our entire contract-tracing protocol, went through our quarantine protocol.”

“Out of an abundance of caution and through the recommendation of Major League Baseball, we have gotten all our players re-tested today.  But we don’t anticipate any issues at this point.  We are confident this was a false positive and we’ll have our full complement of players tomorrow.”

Brandon Woodruff will make his second straight opening day start for the Brewers.  Woodruff said the COVID scare brought a [Read more…]

Peralta lands fifth starter spot in Brewers rotation (AUDIO)

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Freddy Peralta

Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell unveiled his five-man starting pitching rotation on Thursday and Freddy Peralta has landed the spot as the fifth and final starter in that rotation.

Peralta settled into the fifth spot after a solid spring in which he pitched 8 1/3 innings in three appearances with one start.  He struck out 15 hitters, had a 1.08 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP.  In his last appearance, a start against Seattle, he allowed a home run and a walk with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings of work.

“I thought his last start against Seattle was a great example of, he’s pitching like a starting pitcher,” Counsell said.  “The rhythm of the game, the pitches he used, the weapons he had for different hitters, different handed-ness of hitters…just really a complete step up from a couple years ago when he had to rely on the fastball, essentially.”

“He’s worked really hard to get to this place and I think he’s had a great spring.  He’s added things to his game that I think give him a chance of having a great, great season.”

It means Josh Lindblom will start the season pitching out of the bullpen. [Read more…]

Brewers add Shaw to 40-man roster

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The Milwaukee Brewers made it official on Tuesday, adding third baseman Travis Shaw to their 40-man roster which guarantees him a spot on the opening day roster.

Shaw signed a $1.5 million deal with another $1.5 million available in incentives.  To make room on the 40-man roster, the Brewers transferred Mark Mathias to the 60-day injured list with a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

Shaw clubbed 63 home runs and drove in 187 runs for the Brewers in 2017 and 2018, helping the Brewers capture the 2018 National League Central title.  But he struggled in 2019, hitting just .157 before being sent to the minors.

Shaw signed with Toronto following the season and hit .239 with six homers and 17 RBI for the Blue Jays during the pandemic shortened season.

Shaw is hitting .150 so far this spring (3 for 20), but his six walks give him a .346 on-base percentage.

Brewers to open season with fans

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The Milwaukee Brewers will start the 2021 season with a 25% capacity of fans at American Family Field.  The team expects to have between 11,000 and 12,000 fans in the seats for the April 1st season opener against the Minnesota Twins.

The Brewers made the announcement Thursday morning after reaching agreement with the City of Milwaukee Health Department.  The team had requested 35% capacity in a report to health officials last month.

The announcement will be a welcomed change for the players, who played a pandemic shortened 60-game season in 2020 without fans.

The Milwaukee Health Department didn’t approve pre-game tailgating in the parking lot however.  That will certainly be a disappointment for fans.

Brewers Season Seat Holders and Suite Holders will be contacted about their options for attending games in the next week.  Information on tickets to individual games will be announced at a later date.

 

Report: Former Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to sign with Brewers

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According to multiple reports, the Milwaukee Brewers are expected to sign center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to a two-year, $24 million deal that includes an opt-out after the first year.  The move was first reported early Thursday morning by the Boston Globe.

The 30-year-old Bradley has spent all eight of his Major League seasons with the Boston Red Sox, winning a Gold Glove in 2018.  He played on a one-year deal with the Red Sox last season and became a free agent after the 2020 season.

Bradley was an all-star in 2016, when he hit 26 home runs.  He is a career .239 hitter with 98 home runs, 376 RBI and 60 stolen bases with the Red Sox.

Bradley hit .283 with seven home runs, 22 RBIs, five stolen bases in 55 games in 2020.

How Bradley fits into the Brewers outfield remains to be seen.  Going into the spring, the Brewers appeared to be set with Christian Yelich in left field, Avisail Garcia in right field and Lorenzo Cain, returning to the club after an opt-out season, returning in center.

The Brewers could find a way to find enough games and at bats for those four, but Cain and Bradley make their living in center field.  You have four starting outfielders and three spots for them to play.  It’s a position of strength for the Brewers, but will Cain & Bradley be happy having to share time?  Could there be another move coming?

Brewers off to 2-0 Cactus League start

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Manny Pina clubbed a first-inning two-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers improved to 2-0 in Cactus League play with a 7-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Seven pitchers combined to limit the Diamondbacks to four-hits.  Corbin Burnes started and struck out two in his one-inning appearance.  Freddy Peralta followed with a three strikeout inning.

Arizona scored their only run off of Jordan Zimmermann, collecting three of their four hits.

The Brewers first round draft pick from last June, Garrett Mitchell, collected his first big league hit, a single in the seventh.

Josh Lindblom is scheduled to start against the Oakland A’s on Tuesday.

Brewers long ball to capture Cactus League opener

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Keston Hiura

Keston Hiura got Milwaukee off to a good start with a first inning, three-run homer and the Brewers went on to beat the Chicago White Sox 7-2 in their Cactus League opener on Sunday.

The Brewers also got home runs from Avisail Garcia, Tyrone Taylor and Dylan Cozens in a game that was limited to six innings.

The Brewers played before fans for the first time in more than a year, albeit a limited number.  The announced total was 2,347 for the game.

Eric Lauer gave up a pair of runs in the first inning.  The Brewers then got scoreless innings from Justin Topa, Angel Perdomo, Miguel Sanchez, Ethan Small and Aaron Ashby.  Perdomo and Small retired the side in order.  Ashby closed the game with three straight strikeouts..

The Brewers are back at it again on Monday, facing the Arizona Diamondbacks.