Trade reinforces commitment to Urías at shortstop
CHICAGO – The Milwaukee Brewers took a calculated risk in committing to unproven Luis Urías as their primary shortstop Tuesday when they traded Orlando Arcia to Atlanta, but manager Craig Counsell said it's a risk teams such as the Brewers must take.
“Look, the trade is a commitment to Luis Urías,” Counsell said. “That is a commitment that we made. He has earned this and it's an important time for him. He's going to get a great opportunity here.
“I think the Milwaukee Brewers are always going to have to commit to young players. You can describe it how you want but a necessary part of us remaining competitive means having to commit to young players.”
When the Brewers acquired Urías, 23, in late November 2019 as part of a fourplayer trade with San Diego, the plan was to give him a chance to win the shortstop job from Arcia, who had not met expectations either offensively or defensively as the organization's top prospect.
But that plan had to be tabled when a combination of injuries, COVID-19 illness and the pandemic stopped Urías from getting a proper chance to be the shortstop in 2020.
Urías finally got on the field a few weeks into the season but it was mostly at third base, with Arcia one of the few players to perform somewhat consistently offensively. Urías made 31 starts, including 20 at third base and seven at second base, hitting only .239 with no home runs and 11 RBI.
But the plan for Urías was put back in motion this spring, with Arcia seeing action at both third and short. Urías remains an unproven player in the majors, with a .221 batting average in 83 games with San Diego, .318 OBP and .649 OPS, and just 39 starts at shortstop, but the Brewers believe in his talent.
“This is what organizations do,” Counsell said. “You have to make evaluations and you have to believe in them. That's how this works. It's not like Luis wasn't playing baseball before he came to Milwaukee. He was a really good baseball player before we got him.”
That doesn't mean it wasn't sad to bid farewell to Arcia, one of the longest-tenured Brewers since signing as a 16-yearold international prospect in 2010. He came up to the big leagues in the second half of the 2016 season at age 21 and played in 542 games for Milwaukee as David Stearns and his staff rebuilt the club and turned it into a contender again.
“Look, this is a player who spent 12 years in the organization,” Counsell said. “He's been here in the big leagues with us for the last five, he's been part of – and frankly, right in the middle of – all the memorable moments that have happened here in the last four or five seasons.”
Boxberger joins bullpen
When reliever Brad Boxberger agreed to stay with the Brewers at the end of spring training, he couldn't predict how quickly the chance would come to be added to the big-league bullpen. Boxberger was placed on the 26-man roster to replace Arcia, making it an even mix of 13 pitchers and 13 position players.
“I was definitely contemplating other options I had at that point,” said Boxberger, who had an “out clause” if not added to the big-league roster five days before opening day. “I felt like in spring training, I liked the guys, I liked the coaches, I liked the front office and how things were run here.
“I definitely wanted to take a second run at it after not making the team out of camp. Then, if I wasn't one of the first back I had an option to figure that out. Thankfully, it worked out this way and I'm ready to go.”
Boxberger, 32, a veteran of seven bigleague seasons, accompanied the team to Chicago as a member of the taxi squad, having thrown an inning in a ‘simulated' game Friday at American Family Field to stay ready.
Cain nursing sore oblique
Centerfielder Lorenzo Cain was out of the starting lineup for the third consecutive game because of an oblique issue. He last played Saturday against Minnesota at American Family Field.