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Brewers extend win streak to four, sweep Royals

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The Milwaukee Brewers ran their win streak to a season-long four games, knocking off the Kansas City Royals 5-3 on Sunday at Miller Park.

Daniel Vogelbach drove in all five runs for the Brewers with two and three-run home runs and Josh Lindblom (2-3) tossed 5 1/3 innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball to secure the victory in the final home game of the season at Miller Park.

The Brewers improved to .500 (26-26) and remains tied with the Cincinnati Reds for third place in the Central Division, just a game behind second place St. Louis.  The Brewers control their own playoff destiny with three games against the Reds, followed by five against the Cardinals in St. Louis.  They’ll be trying to make the MLB postseason for the third straight season.

Vogelbach now has three home runs in 11 games with the Brewers.  He’s hitting .417 with 10 runs batted in since joining the team.

Brent Suter gave up a two-run homer to Salvador Perez in the ninth to make it a two run game.  When the Royals brought the tying run to the plate, the Brewers went to Josh Hader to close it out, collecting his 10th save of the season.

The Brewers send ace Brandon Woodruff (2-3, 3.45) to the mound tonight against Cincinnati’s Luis Castillo (3-5, 3.03).  First pitch is set for 5:40 p.m.

MLB’s playoff field to grow in 2020

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With the Milwaukee Brewers set to open their shortened 60-game season Friday night against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Major League Baseball and the players’ union have agreed to expand the playoffs from 10 to 16 teams.

Sixteen of the 30 major league teams will play a best two-of-three opening round.  The field will include the first and second place teams in each division, followed by the next two clubs based on winning percentage in each league.  The opening round winners move to the best-of-five Division Series.  The final four teams square off in a best-of-seven League Championship Series with the winners meeting in the best-of-seven World Series.

The higher seed in the first round would host all games in that series.

Major League Baseball, as a part of the deal, has agreed to a $50 million postseason pool if the entire postseason is played.

 

Brewers announce their 2020 summer camp roster

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The Milwaukee Brewers announced their 2020 summer camp roster on Monday.

The list includes a total of 45 players, 23 of which are pitchers, 12 infielders, six outfielders and four catchers.  In addition, nine players are non-roster invitees, including outfielder Keon Broxton and 2018 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Zach Brown.

Major League teams will start the 2020 season with 30-man active rosters.  Two weeks later, the roster is reduced to 28 players with a final reduction to the 26-player roster limit a month into the season.

All other players will be on the clubs taxi squad, working out and staying ready if needed by the Major League club. [Read more…]

Brewers set to return for extended spring training, prepare for season (AUDIO)

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Milwaukee Brewers players will begin arriving at Miller Park in the coming days with intake testing for COVID-19 beginning Wednesday.  Players will then undergo the usual physical exams prior to taking the field for the first full-squad workouts on July 4.

“It’s exciting for all of us to be able to talk about a season,” said Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns on Friday.  “We know it’s going to be an unusual season and a different looking season.  But it’s going to be a baseball season nonetheless.  That’s something that is meaningful to all of us.

“We have a lot of work left to do.  There are going to be many changes we’ll face going forward to get through this season.  But this is a positive start.”

Stearns told reporters in a Zoom webinar that their biggest challenge will be to keep the players safe and healthy. [Read more…]

Baseball’s long break finally set to end

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After months of negotiating that looked as if no good results would come, Major League Baseball’s players and owners have agreed to get the game going again.  Players will report for resumption of spring  training July 1 with a 60-game schedule set to begin July 24.

The players union had informed MLB that it would not accept the latest offer from management, forcing commissioner Rob Manfred to implement a season.  From that point, the players agreed on the COVID-19 protocols put forth by the league.

The shortened season will include the Designated Hitter in both leagues.

Schedules are expected to feature regional play.  The Milwaukee Brewers would continue to play teams in the NL Central, as well as contests against teams from the American League Central.

The postseason will consist of 10 teams, instead of 16 which was being discussed.  Without an agreement on a negotiated season, additional playoff teams went by the wayside.

The deal means no regular season games will be played into September as baseball is concerned about a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall.

Brewers select UCLA center fielder with top pick in 2020 MLB Draft

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The Milwaukee Brewers may have gotten a steal with their first round pick in the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.

UCLA center fielder Garrett Mitchell was projected as a top 10 pick in the draft, so the Brewers were certainly excited to see him fall to 20th in Wednesday night’s opening round.

There was some speculation that teams considered him a risk because he has Type 1 diabetes, but that didn’t scare the Brewers away.  Mitchell learned of his condition when he was eight years old and has learned to live with it.

The Brewers selected prep pitcher Dylan Covey with their top pick in 2010.  He was discovered to have Type 1 diabetes in his draft physical, decided to pass on the Brewers and attend college.

Mitchell is considered a top defensive center fielder with speed and batted lead-off for the Bruins.  he hit .349 during his sophomore season and led the nation with 12 triples.  This past season, Mitchell was off to a .355 start when the Bruins season was suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is the second time Mitchell was drafted.  He went in the 14th round of the 2017 draft but decided instead to go to UCLA.

The Brewers have four more picks on the second and final day of the draft on Thursday.

Brewers to make five selections in 2020 Draft

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The Milwaukee Brewers will make five picks in the 2020 First-Year Player Draft, which starts at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday night.  They will have the 20th overall selection in the opening round.

This years draft has been shortened from the usual 40 rounds to five rounds in a cost-cutting move because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This years draft is deep in college pitching, which means the Brewers could draft that position for the second straight season.  They made Mississippi State lefty Ethan Small their top pick in last year’s draft (28th overall).

The Brewers have single picks in rounds two through five on Thursday.  They traded their Competitive Balance Round B selection (No. 64) to Seattle over the offseason in the deal for catcher Omar Narvaez.

Wednesday nights opening round will be televised on the MLB Network and ESPN.  The rest of the draft will be conducted Thursday, beginning at 4 p.m.

 

Brewers, Hader to swap salary figures today

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Josh Hader File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

The Milwaukee Brewers and their ace closer Josh Hader are scheduled to swap salary figures today.  Hader is in his first year of arbitration as a “Super 2” player (ranking among the top 22% of players with between two and three years of service time).

Hader hit the cutoff date at 2 years, 115 days, which gives him four years of arbitration instead of the customary three.

In 151 games in the majors, Hader is accumulated a 11-9 record, 2.42 ERA, 49 saves and a 0.845 WHIP.  He’s won the National League’s Reliever of the Year award the last two seasons.

Hader is expected to make between $4 million and $5 million in his first year of arbitration.  The figure [Read more…]

Brewers sign outfielder Avisail Garcia to free agent deal

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The Milwaukee Brewers  have signed free agent outfielder Avisail Garcia to a two-year contract with a club option for 2022.

The 28-year-old Garcia hit .282 with a career high 20 home runs and 72 RBI in 125 games with the Tampa Bay Rays this past season.  Garcia made 122 starts overall, 89 in right field, 23 games as a DH and 10 games in center field.  He hit .294 (42-for-143) with runners in scoring position.

“Avisail provides an impactful right-handed hitting force in our lineup,” said President of Baseball Operations and General Manager David Stearns.  “Adding him to our current group of outfielders strengthens what was already one of the strongest outfields in baseball.”

Garcia owns a career batting average of .273 with 96 home runs and 374 RBI in 763 games with Detroit (2012-13), Chicago-AL (2013-18) and Tampa Bay (2019).  His best season came with the White Sox in 2017 as he hit a career-high .330 with 18 home runs and a career-high 80 RBI in 136 games.  He was named to his only All-Star Game that season.

The native of Anaco, Venezuela was originally signed by Detroit as a non-drafted free agent on July 6, 2007.  He was a member of the 2012 American League-champion Tigers during his rookie season.

 

Hader, Yelich nominated for first-ever All-MLB Team

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Major League Baseball on Monday announced the introduction of the first-ever All-MLB Team, which will commemorate the top regular-season performances from 2019.  Two Milwaukee Brewers are represented on the ballot:  pitcher Josh Hader and outfielder Christian Yelich.

The selection of the All-MLB Team will be determined equally by an online fan vote on MLB.com as well as by a panel of baseball media, broadcasters, former players and other officials throughout the game.  A first and second team will be named with one player from each of the following positions:  first base, second base, third base, shortstop, catcher and designated hitter.  Each team will also feature three outfielders (not based on specific outfield positions), five starting pitchers and two relievers.

Fans may cast their ballots once daily beginning now until the polls close at 4 p.m. CT on Tuesday, December 3. [Read more…]