Perdomo waits ‘em out
PHOENIX - Suffice it to say that things have not gone smoothly for lefthander Eric Lauer since the Milwaukee Brewers acquired him in a four-player trade with San Diego in late November 2019.
Lauer was optioned to Class AAA Nashville on Friday, though he is scheduled to pitch in a “B” game Sunday against the Dodgers, along with righthander Josh Lindblom. Before that transaction, Lauer did not throw the ball well in Cactus League play.
In three exhibition outings, Lauer was charged with eight earned runs over five innings (14.40 ERA), with six hits — including three home runs — and seven walks allowed. But even those numbers did not show the extent to which he struggled.
In a March 9 appearance against San Francisco, Lauer was credited with two innings pitched to make the box score even out. Actually, both innings were “rolled,” moving on to the next inning without three outs being recorded. Lauer actually retired only two of nine hitters he faced, allowing two hits and five walks.
Lauer’s poor spring has come on top of a disastrous 2020 in which he suffered a shoulder injury in spring training, then went on the COVID-19 list at the outset of summer camp after coming in contact with someone who tested positive.
He made two dreadful starts for the Brewers, with six-run innings in each, finishing with a 0-2 record and 13/09 ERA in only four appearances covering 11 innings (17 hits, nine walks).
“We’re building him up,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I think he threw the ball probably the best he has his last time out (in a camp game) so there’s signs of improvement. Velocity was up.
“We’ve got to take some steps forward, but I think we are. The first couple didn’t go great. But he has been on the mound. He’s taken the ball. It didn’t go well at first. I’m still optimistic.
“It’s probably taken a little bit longer than we would have liked, but I’m still optimistic he’s on the right path.”
Caution: Small sample size
Entering Saturday, Orlando Arcia led the Brewers with 64 innings in the field – 34 at third base (seven starts) and 30 at shortstop (five starts) – as management has tried to get a look at how he might fare at the hot corner while also getting Luis Urías enough opportunities to play shortstop.
Has Counsell seen anything from Arcia to this point that would suggest to him Arcia couldn’t play well at third at least on a part-time basis?
Eric Lauer gave up eight earned runs over five innings (14.40 ERA) in three exhibition outings.
“I think if we were going the other way around, that would be a question,” he said. “But going shortstop to third base, he can succeed at this for sure, yes.”
That said, Counsell cautioned against making any sweeping generalizations about Arcia or anyone else based on the three weeks’ worth of Cactus League games that have been played to this point.
“We haven’t seen a lot of baseball yet. From any of these players,” he said. “Never would we make wide, sweeping generalizations about this sample size. It’s really dangerous to do so. I know that’s what you guys ask me to do every day, but it’s really dangerous.
“(Most of) these guys have 25 plate appearances and 40 innings in the field. That’s four games. So, that’s not a lot, and unfortunately that’s where we’re at still.”
Counsell admitted it’s been a transition getting back to analyzing players over longer periods of time a year after basing roster decisions on a 60-game season. Utility man Brock Holt, for instance, was cut loose just 16 games and 36 plate appearances in after being a high-profile addition early last spring.
In a normal season, Holt would have been afforded a much longer leash.
“We talk about that still,” he said. “That’s something that we agonized over a little bit because it just didn’t make any sense from what we’ve had ingrained in us, that you need a bigger sample. We’ve got to get back to that.”
Left-handed reliever Angel Perdomo, who has thrown the ball well in camp, was optioned to Class AAA Nashville. But optioned players can still see action in Cactus League games and Perdomo was given the ninth inning of the Brewers’ game against Arizona.
As Perdomo began warming up in the bullpen, the Brewers starting putting men on base against Diamondbacks reliever Tyler Clippard. Then, more men. And more men. Clippard eventually was charged with seven runs as the Brewers took a 9-3 lead, and to make it worse, he had to exit with a shoulder injury.
By the time the Brewers finally made three outs, 45 minutes had passed. Perdomo was up in the pen the entire time, but unfazed by that long delay, came on to strike out all three hitters he faced to end the game.
“I was really proud of Angel Perdomo,” Counsell said. “That’s not an easy situation after sitting there for a long,
long time. And he came in just pumping strikes. Did a really nice job.”
It has been all about throwing strikes for the 6-foot-8 Perdomo, a hard thrower who sometimes gets out of whack with his mechanics. He had trouble doing so last season when making his major-league debut, allowing three hits, seven walks and seven runs (six earned) in 22⁄3 innings over three appearances.
Perdomo, 26, has been much better this spring with five hitless innings over five outings, with only three walks and eight strikeouts. The Brewers think he could make an impact in the bullpen this season.