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Williams likely out for the season with broken hand

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Devin Williams

The Milwaukee Brewers are expecting to be without the services of top setup reliever Devin Williams for the upcoming playoffs.  Williams suffered a broken right pitching hand after punching a wall after having a few drinks following Sunday’s National League Central Division clinching win over the New York Metw.

Brewers President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns told reporters on Wednesday that Williams will undergo surgery to put a plate in his hand to repair the fracture and that the injury will likely keep him out for the remainder of the season.

Williams told reporters that after the team celebration, he went out to have a few drinks.  When he returned home, he was a little frustrated, upset and punched a wall.

Williams won National League Rookie of the Year honors in 2020 and has an 8-2 record with a 2.50 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 54 innings this year.  He has set the table for Josh Hader and provides one of the best 1-2 closing combinations in the majors.  The Brewers are 70-4 this season when leading after seven innings.

The Brewers are making their fourth straight postseason appearance.  Veteran relievers Brad Boxberger and Brent Suter are likely next in line for setup duties.  Boxberger made his 70th appearance of the season in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Burnes and Hader combine for second no-hitter in Brewers franchise history (AUDIO)

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Corbin Burnes

With his pitch count at 115 after eight innings, Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell knew that Corbin Burnes has several more very important innings ahead of him.  It’s why Counsell removed Burnes, despite his not allowing a hit and allowed closer Josh Hader to nail down his 31st save and preserve a combined no-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night.

It’s the second no-hitter in Brewers franchise history and the first since Juan Nieves no-hit the Baltimore Orioles on April 15, 1987.

It’s been a remarkable year for Burnes, who continues to make a strong bid for the National League Cy Young Award.  He opened the season with 58 strikeouts before he walked his first batter, which set a Major League record.  He finished with 14 strikeouts on Saturday night.  A single walk in the seventh inning is the only thing that prevented Burnes and Hader from combining for a perfect game.

The Brewers pushed their record to a franchise best 33 games over .500.  Their magic number to clinch the National League Central is down to seven. [Read more…]

Brewers acquire veteran reliever John Axford

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The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired right-handed reliever John Axford from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations.  Axford will join the team in their series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight.

The 38-year-old Axford spent five seasons (2009-13) with the Brewers where he went 21-19 with a 3.35 ERA and 106 saves in 268 appearances.  He is the all-time franchise leader in saves for a single season with 46 back in 2011 and ranks second in franchise history to Dan Plesac (133) in career saves.  His 43 straight saves without a blow save in 2011 is a franchise record.

Axford hasn’t pitched in the Major leagues since 2018 and started as a studio analyst for Blue Jays television this season.  He then pitched for Team Canada in the Olympic qualifier before Toronto signed him to a Minor League contract on June 24.  He went 1-0 with a 0.84 ERA and 2 saves in 9 relief appearances at Triple-A Buffalo, holding opponents to a .061 batting average.

Axford has a career record of 38-34 with a 3.87 ERA and 144 saves in 543 games (1 start) during 10 Major League seasons with Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Oakland, Toronto and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 

 

 

Brewers add all-star infielder Eduardo Escobar before deadline (AUDIO)

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The Milwaukee Brewers have added some offensive help for the stretch as the Major League trade deadline approaches.  Milwaukee sent prospects (OF) Cooper Hummel and (Inf) Alberto Ciprian to the Arizona Diamondbacks for infielder Eduardo Escobar on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Escobar was selected to his first All-Star game and is hitting .246 with 22 HR and 65 RBI in 98 games with Arizona this season.  He made 92 starts (61g at 3B and 31g at 2B).  The switch-hitter entered the day among the National League leaders in HR (T5th) and RBI (T6th).

Escobar is a career .256 hitter with 132 HR and 511 RBI in 1,080 games during 11 Major League seasons with the White Sox, Twins and Diamondbacks.

Escobar’s best season came in 2019 when he hit .269 with 35 HR and 118 RBI in 158 games with Arizona. [Read more…]

Brewers acquire first base help

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With Daniel Vogelbach on the injured list and Keston Hiura continuing to struggle with the bat, the Milwaukee Brewers acquired first baseman Rowdy Tellez from the Toronto Blue Jays for pitchers Trevor Richards and Bowden Francis.

Richards was acquired by the Brewers earlier in the Willy Adames deal, while Francis was recently promoted from Class AA Biloxi to Class AAA Nashville in the Brewers farm system.

Just a day earlier, Hiura struck out four times in the Brewers 4-2, series opening loss to the New York Mets.  He had already been demoted twice to the minors.

The left-handed hitting Tellez is 26 years of age and has played his entire career with the Blue Jays (2018-21), batting .241 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI in 219 games.  He hit .209 with four homers and eight RBI in 50 games over two stints with the Blue Jays this season, and .298 with four homers and 11 RBI in 13 games with Class AAA Buffalo.

The Brewers game Tuesday against the Mets was postponed by weather.  It’ll be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday with 1:10 p.m. and 6:10 p.m. start times.

Brewers announce return to more fan-friendly policies

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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…]

Brewers to return to full capacity June 25

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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.

Brewers, Bucks to see fan capacity increase

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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.

 

Jordan Zimmerman announces retirement

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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.

 

Yelich still struggling with lower back issue (AUDIO)

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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.

AUDIO: Craig Counsell on Yelich’s condition after MRI :21