Lopez called up after switching roles

Former starter now in bullpen

CINCINNATI - A little more than a week after transitioning from the starting rotation to the bullpen at Class AA Biloxi, Jorge Lopez finds himself back in the major leagues.

The Milwaukee Brewers recalled the righthander on Thursday while also placing starter Chase Anderson on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left oblique.

“I didn’t know they were going to make that decision, but anything can happen in this game,” said Lopez. “You just have to be ready for it.”

Once considered one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, Lopez last appeared in a Brewers uniform at the end of 2015, when he made a pair of starts.

He spent all of 2016 in the minors, struggling his way to a 3-11 record and a 5.78 earned-run average in 25 appearances (24 starts) between Class AAA Colorado Springs and Biloxi.

Lopez turned in a strong performance this past off-season in the Puerto Rican Winter League and also pitched for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic in the spring, but he opened with a 3-6 record and 4.61 ERA over his first 13 starts with Biloxi.

It was at that point the Brewers shifted him to the bullpen, where he pitched three scoreless innings before getting the unexpected call to join the major-league team in Cincinnati.

“He was switched to the bullpen for a while to just try something different, really,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Try to get a different perspective. I think that’s when you try those things. It’s very new still, but he’s had some success.”

Lopez, 24, was a second-round draft pick of the Brewers in 2011. He said he’s happy to pitch out of the bullpen now but that he’d like to have an opportunity to return to starting at some point.

In the meantime, Lopez is thankful for his return to majors and ready to turn the page on what’s been a trying last season and a half.

“Everything is a process, man,” he said. “I take all of the negative things out and keep pressing.”

Lopez wound up pitching the final two innings with the Brewers nursing a big lead and struggled, allowing four hits, one earned run and a walk. But he also helped save the rest of the bullpen as the team heads back home for a weekend series with Miami.

As far as what the Brewers are going to do to replace Anderson in the starting rotation, Counsell said there likely isn’t going to be one permanent solution. Anderson’s turn in the rotation comes up next on Monday when the Brewers open a three-game interleague series with the Baltimore Orioles at Miller Park.

“Right now it’s start to start, I would say,” he said. “Just because we might be in a position where we have to be moving guys back and forth for a little bit based on what’s going on. If that’s the best way to do it, then we’ll do it. If somebody takes control of it, then we may do something (else).”

Take a break: Eric Thames was out of the lineup on Thursday, and he was definitely appreciative of the blow.

“Oh my God, yeah,” he said with a laugh.

Thames came into the day in the midst of a 3for-37 slump in which he’s struck out a total of 17 times and amassed a golden sombrero – a fourstrikeout game — twice, including Wednesday.

While he still leads the team with 20 home runs and has also driven in 40 runs, Thames’ average has dipped to .241. So after talking with Counsell, Thames made way for Jesús Aguilar at first base, and he may do so again on Friday when the Brewers return home to face the Miami Marlins.

“My mind’s been working way too much,” he said. “This gives me a few days to kind of relax and be able to breathe. When you start to slump a little you start doing more work, and so it’s going to be the opposite for me – read, relax, take a step back and breathe and then take on the Marlins.”

Thames said he’s noticing the high strike being called on him more than it was earlier in the season, which has led to him expanding the strike zone and chasing more.

Normally seen walking around the clubhouse with a bat in his hand and often times standing at his locker practicing his setup, Thames mostly stayed away from all that on Thursday. He did take batting practice and was available for pinch-hitting duty.

“I’m still making adjustments,” he said. “It’s going to be all right. We have a long ways to go, so I’m not worried.”