Starting pitching depth disappeared
One of the oldest baseball adages is that you never have enough pitching.
You certainly didn't have to tell the Brewers, who by late Wednesday afternoon found themselves with only three healthy starters. And by late Friday evening, possibly two.
With Brandon Woodruff going on the injured list Monday with a strained left oblique and Jhoulys Chacín joining him Thursday after straining his right latissimus dorsi muscle the previous afternoon batting against Cincinnati, the Brewers were down to Zach Davies, Chase Anderson and Gio Gonzalez, who recently returned from the injured list after missing more than a month with shoulder fatigue.
And Gonzalez did not make it through his start Friday night against the Cubs fully intact. He exited in the seventh inning with shoulder tightness, a red flag considering his recent stint on the IL. It remains to be seen if the veteran lefty can make his next start.
Since taking over as general manager in October 2015 and overseeing a largescale rebuilding project that got the Brewers within a game of the World Series three years later, David Stearns has emphasized the importance of building depth throughout the 40-man roster. With that focus, how did the team get caught so short of starting pitching options after the injuries to Woodruff and Chacín?
To answer that question, let's go back to spring training. With Wade Miley allowed to leave via free agency for Houston, where he has continued to perform well, the Brewers chose to open the season with their three best young pitchers, Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta, in the starting rotation, along with Chacín and Davies. That put Chase Anderson, No. 6 on the depth chart, in the bullpen as insurance if a starter went down. Veteran right-hander Josh Tomlin, in camp as a non-roster player, was cut loose and signed with Atlanta, where he has pitched exclusively in relief.
It didn't take long for Burnes and Peralta to pitch their way out of the rotation. Burnes couldn't keep the ball in the park, surrendering 11 home runs in 172⁄3 innings, and was removed from his starting role after going 0-2 with a 10.70 earned run average in four outings. He since has shuttled back and forth from minors to majors, and currently is sidelined with shoulder inflammation.
After going 1-1 with an 8.31 ERA in his first five starts, Peralta was shifted back and forth from bullpen to rotation before being move exclusively to relief in mid June. The numbers show where Peralta's true value lies with the Brewers: he is 2-2 with a 7.07 ERA in eight starts and 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA in 15 relief appearances, including his first save Wednesday against the Reds.
To fill the spots vacated by Burnes and Peralta, the Brewers moved Anderson back to the rotation and signed Gonzalez, who was pitching in the New York Yankees' farm system and exercised an "out" clause to get a big-league job. Anderson has held his own as a starter, going 4-2 with a 3.82 ERA, but averaged less than five innings over 15 outings, giving lots of work to the bullpen.
When Gonzalez was sidelined, righthander Adrian Houser was summoned from the minors to make some starts with mostly poor results (0-4, 7.83 ERA in six outings). It also opened the door for the return to the big leagues of Jimmy Nelson, who had been on the grueling rehab trail since suffering a severe shoulder injury September 2017.
Unable to command his pitches as hoped, Nelson was removed from a starting role after only three outings, going 0-2 with a 9.75 ERA and 10 walks in 12 innings. He was shifted to relief but developed an elbow issue and currently is trying to work his way back to the Brewers while pitching on minor-league rehab assignments.
No other starting pitcher at Class AAA San Antonio has been deemed worthy of getting a chance in the Brewers' rotation. Aaron Wilkerson and Burch Smith have come up and down but used only in relief in the majors. Right-hander Zack Brown, the organization's minor league pitcher of the year in 2018, has been a disappointment at San Antonio, going 2-6 with a 5.98 ERA in 18 starts.
The top performing starting pitcher in the Brewers' system has been righthander Trey Supak, who was 11-4 with a 2.20 ERA at Class AA Biloxi, twice coming within an out of throwing a no-hitter, before finally being moved up to San Antonio on Friday. Whether Supak, 23, can help at any point this season remains to be seen.
To provide another option in the majors, the Brewers agreed to a minorleague deal on July 1 with veteran lefthander Drew Smyly, released by Texas after a miserable showing there (1-5, 8.42 ERA). Smyly had an “out” clause in that agreement, and after going 1-0 with a 4.97 ERA in three outings, exercised it when the Brewers chose not to bring him to the majors.
Smyly quickly signed with Philadelphia and pitched six strong innings against Pittsburgh in his first start with the Phillies. The Brewers probably are kicking themselves now for letting him go but had no way of knowing at the time that Woodruff and Chacín would get injured in the same week.
The Brewers also signed another veteran pitcher released by the Rangers, right-hander Shelby Miller. But, after having trouble throwing strikes (three hits, four walks in two innings) in his first outing with San Antonio, Miller was put in the pitching garage for repairs and isn't an option now to help the Brewers.
So, this is where the Brewers find themselves at present. The depth they thought they had in starting pitching disintegrated via a combination of poor performances in the majors, injuries and failure of prospects to meet expectations. Even before getting injured, Chacín had transformed from asset (15-8, 3.50 in 2018) to liability (3-10, 5.79 this season), with the team going 6-13 in his 19 starts.
Manager Craig Counsell wants to keep Peralta in the bullpen, where he has thrived, so the Brewers likely will move Houser back to the rotation. But that leaves another spot to fill, either internally or externally, and possibly two, depending on Gonzalez's status.
Stearns has until 3 p.m. Wednesday to trade for a starting pitcher, if he is so inclined. But it's not a great market for starters, and those who would make an impact will come at a high cost in terms of prospects. And the Brewers' system no longer is highly regarded after several trades in recent years and the promotion of second baseman Keston Hiura to the majors.
It hasn't helped that his team has given mostly mixed signals to Stearns. Beginning in mid-June, the Brewers went into a 9-18 slide, against mostly losing teams, to fall into chase positions in both the NL Central and wild-card races. They rebounded to win series against Atlanta and Arizona before dropping 2 of 3 to last-place Cincinnati, entering the big weekend showdown with the Cubs at Miller Park.
By the time they get to Oakland next week, the Brewers must come up with one answer for the rotation. When they get to Chicago for another meeting with the Cubs next weekend, they'll need the second answer. And they have no idea if Gonzalez will make his next turn.
This is not optimal when you're trying to stay in playoff contention but such is life at times in the big leagues.