Shoulder strain sidelines Black
Because he throws regularly in the high 90 mph range and is out of minorleague options, reliever Ray Black was a good bet entering summer camp to make the Milwaukee Brewers’ opening day roster.
Now, because of a strained rotator cuff, those factors became moot. After being removed from his last intrasquad outing Sunday with shoulder tightness, Black was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday.
“I think it’s a setback for Ray, for sure,” pitching coach Chris Hook said. “It’s a setback for our club because depth is going to be extremely important through all of this.”
Black, 30, was acquired last July 31 with left-hander Drew Pomeranz in a trade with San Francisco for infielder Mauricio Dubon. He appeared in 15 games for the Brewers, going 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA, with eight walks, 13 strikeouts and four home runs allowed over 14 innings.
With the Brewers expected to keep 16 pitchers on their 30-man roster to open the season, Black was considered close to a sure thing because he would have to go through waivers to go to the alternate training site, and the club would not want to risk losing an arm like his.
“I think that’s our big thing right now, just making sure we have plenty of guys ready to go and understanding that even the guys who go down to (the alternate training site in) Appleton, they’re really close to helping us,” Hook said.
“I think the 16 guys we have can do multiple things. We have length there, we have shorter guys (in terms of innings), we have guys who can do three or four innings. I feel really good about our depth right now.”
Lindblom to start in Pittsburgh
Right-hander Josh Lindblom will pitch in an intrasquad game Wednesday in Appleton instead of accompanying the Brewers to Chicago for their exhibition game against the White Sox. That outing would put him on schedule to pitch Monday in Pittsburgh in the Brewers’ second series of the season.
Lindblom pitched briefly for the Pirates in 2017 but spent most of the previous five years in the Korean Baseball Organization. He signed a three-year deal with the Brewers in December and has waited to make his debut through the long shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think he’s a pretty level-headed guy,” Hook said. “I think he’ll be excited to pitch (in Pittsburgh). Obviously, the fan component is different. I’m sure there will be some emotions there for him.
“His last start in spring training (in Phoenix), there was an intensity level he got to, and I think he had the same intensity level the other day.
“That’s kind of his whole thing. He was like, ‘Man, I had to get after it.’ And I thought he did. There was a lot more intent overall. I like where he’s at.”
Rookie makes impression
Manager Craig Counsell confirmed earlier this week that young right-handed reliever Drew Rasmussen won’t be included on the Brewers’ initial 30-man roster, instead opening at the team’s alternate training site in Appleton.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t impact the bullpen at some point.
Rasmussen turned more heads in the intrasquad game Monday when he struck out five in two innings, utilizing a fastball that topped out at 99 mph on the radar gun.
“Drew Rasmussen yesterday was just blowing the doors off guys,” veteran reliever David Phelps noted Tuesday.
Rasmussen made three appearances in the Blue vs. Gold Series and fanned seven of the 14 batters he faced. While he started most of his appearances in the minor leagues in 2019 – mostly to control his workload – he projects as a high-leverage reliever at the next level because of his ability to blow away hitters.
“Velocity is good. Velocity plays. We all know that,” Hook said. “He is mature. Knows who he is. Knows how he fits amongst this group. Understands that his stuff plays at this level; that’s really important. And then, kind of taking advantage of his opportunity. I think he’ll get plenty of opportunity in Appleton to continue to hone his craft.
“It’s electric stuff. We’re excited about it. He’s going to help us, I hope,
sometime during this year.”
Brewers make statement
The day after members of the San Francisco Giants, including manager Gabe Kapler, took a knee during the national anthem before an exhibition game to protest social injustice and police brutality against people of color, the Brewers made a statement by spurning their regular baseball jerseys to wear Tshirts that had the words “Justice, Equality, Now” across the front for Game 7 of the “Blue & Gold World Series” at Miller Park.
Players and coaches posed for a group photo before the game, each wearing that T-Shirt, that was posted on Twitter. Left-hander Brent Suter, also wearing the T-shirt, posted this message on his personal Twitter account: “For all who have been victims of oppression, suppression, or injustice, we demand justice and a fair shot at happiness in this life, NOW! These aren’t just words for the Brewers but an action-oriented campaign to make this country better for all. #JusticeEqualityNow”
During the broadcast of the scrimmage, Suter was interviewed on the topic and said, “We want to get the discussions going on the team and take action shortly. We want to be on the right side of this thing.” Suter said players on the team plan to be active in the community in various ways to push to end social injustice of all kinds.
David Freitas’ RBI single off Bobby Wahl in the bottom of the fifth inning tied the score, 2-2, and that’s the way the five-inning game ended. The Gold went 5-1-1 in the series and celebrated with a socially-distanced, circular tumble to the ground.
Freddy Peralta, who is lined up for a possible start in the third game in Chicago this weekend, pitched 31⁄3 innings, allowing four hits and one run with one walk and five strikeouts. The run he gave up came on a home run by Jace Peterson.
Christian Yelich grounded into a double play to end the game and went 2 for 23 (.087) in the series with 13 strikeouts.