Players test positive at Brewers’ training site
Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns confirmed a report Saturday that two players and one staff member tested positive for COVID-19 at the team’s alternate training site in Appleton but said he didn’t expect it to impact the big-league club as it battles for a playoff spot.
The positive tests were first reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Stearns said the positive tests came Monday but wouldn’t identify the two players or the staff member involved. Players must give their permission for their names to be revealed after positive tests.
Stearns said the entire camp was placed in quarantine after the positive tests. Players from every team have worked out and played intrasquad games at alternate training sites to provide a pool of replacements if needed in the major leagues.
“We have gone through contact tracing,” Stearns said. “We do not believe it will have any impact at all on our majorleague team. We’ve been fortunate to get through this season relatively unscathed in this area. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get all the way there at our alternate site.”
The Brewers have had no positive tests among their major-league players and coaching staff this season as players have been tested every other day, for the most part, while following comprehensive and strict protocols to try to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.
Stearns said the Brewers still will be able to take taxi squad players with them on the team’s trip to Cincinnati and St. Louis in the final week of the season. He said those players have had repeated negative tests and the team is “confident” there would be no possible spread of the virus.
Carving his niche
The Milwaukee Brewers have received contributions this season from several players brought up from their alternate training site. Among the pitchers who have worn a big-league uniform, Drew Rasmussen has made the biggest impact
out of the bullpen.
The right-hander’s latest contribution came Friday, when he pitched a scoreless fifth inning behind starter Adrian Houser, an appearance that netted him his first major-league victory when the Brewers came from four runs down to beat Kansas City, 9-5, at Miller Park.
In nine appearances, Rasmussen has compiled a 2.13 earned run average and WHIP of 1.42 with 14 strikeouts in 122⁄3 innings, numbers that aren’t eye-popping until one considers that Friday’s appearance was just his 36th as a professional since being drafted by the Brewers in the sixth round in 2018.
He spent the rest of that season rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery and rapidly climbed the ladder in the minor leagues last season, getting as high as Class AA Biloxi.
Rasmussen received an invitation to major-league camp in the spring, impressed enough there to be invited to summer camp in July after the shutdown and has become a fixture in the bullpen with an explosive fastball that routinely hits 99 mph.
The ascension has been swift but also
well-earned, considering all Rasmussen has endured.
“Every inning you pitch in the major leagues is earned,” he said Saturday. “I had confidence in my stuff; I didn’t necessarily know where that would lead me role-wise. I pride myself on, whenever that phone rings and my name is called, being prepared and ready to take the mound. I didn’t really know exactly what it was going to be role-wise, but if you just go out there and compete when you’re handed the ball, that’s all you can really ask.”
Rasmussen has a couple of two-inning stints to his credit and has seen action anywhere from the fourth through the eighth inning as one of manager Craig Counsell’s “out-getters” where only closer Josh Hader has a clearly defined role.
His fastball is averaging 97.8 mph – ranking Rasmussen ninth in the majors – so it’s not surprising he throws it more than 70% of the time. What will help Rasmussen take the next step is better command of the slider he throws about 14% of the time and the curveball he throws around 11%.
In discussing his latest appearance,
Rasmussen said he was trying to make his off-speed pitches do too much rather than simply trusting them to do what they’re supposed to do when spotted properly.
“I think it comes down to conviction,” he said. “I think if you plan and you’re 100% dedicated to executing it, most likely you’re going to get a good outcome.”
By the way, Rasmussen and his fiancée, Stevie, are no longer living in the camper trailer the couple purchased after their three-city tour through the minors last season.
“I love it to death. We put it in a storage facility for now, just because we’re ending the season on the road,” he said.
Houser’s struggles continue
The struggles of starter Adrian Houser continued Friday night as he allowed three first-inning runs and was gone after four innings, having allowed five hits, two walks and four runs (two earned). Shaky defense certainly didn’t help but it has been a long time since Houser (1-5, 5.33 ERA) has made what good be called a strong start.
After pitching well in his first two outings of the season, Houser is 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA over his last eight starts, averaging less than five innings each time out. With no other great option and games running out, Counsell said it wasn’t practical to take him out of the rotation at this point.
“I think we have to stay on schedule,” Counsell said. “You’re going to make quicker decisions during games at this point, but the lack of off days, you have to factor that in. You can’t just burn through guys every single day because you’re going to run out.”
The bubble begins
Teams that have clinched postseason berths as well as those in contention will go into quarantined bubbles this week in an effort to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks as the playoffs begin. For teams playing at home, players will be sequestered in hotels in their cities.
The Brewers finish the season with three games in Cincinnati and five games in four days in St. Louis, so they already are going to be in hotels.