Brewers Sign Left-Handed Pitcher Grant Wolfram to Big-League Deal

[Matthew Trueblood]

They say you can never have too much left-handed pitching. The Brewers are going to prove that rule, or break it once and for all.

Image courtesy of © Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

In the same flurry of transactions that saw them scoop up lefty swingman Connor Thomas in the Rule 5 Draft Wednesday, the Brewers also signed southpaw Grant Wolfram, the Brobdingnagian answer to the Lilliputian Thomas. Wolfram, who will soon turn 28, became a free agent this fall after seven years in the Rangers organization. He stands 6-foot-8, and throws 96 from the left side. Do you really need to know any more than that?

Oh, shoot. You do, huh? Well, the rest of the news is not quite as exciting, so don't get all crazy. But keep in mind that he throws 96 and basically comes down out of the sky from the left side, ok? Wolfram has never reached the majors, and he doesn't even really dominate Triple-A hitters most of the time. His heater is fast, but it doesn't have a lot of carry on it, and his slider (though it has good velocity separation, at around 85 miles per hour) doesn't miss bats the way you'd like it to. Wolfram also walked 10.9% of opposing batters last season at Triple A, and while that figure was inflated by the puny semi-automated strike zone at that level, it still reflects suboptimal command.

The one feature of real interest here is that Wolfram's fastball has a significant amount of relative cut on it. We could see the Brewers reshape it into a true cutter, and if he can maintain the velocity he's shown while making that change, all bets are off. A version of Wolfram who throws 95 or better with a true cutter, with the length of his levers and the slider working off of it, could be the next coming of Bryan Hudson. In some sense, since they gave him a big-league deal after he became a minor-league free agent, we see the Brewers betting on that already.

Wolfram joins Hudson, Jared Koenig, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, and Thomas as prominent options to fill out the left-handed half of the team's pitching staff in 2025. Whereas Thomas's place in the organization couldn't be more fragile, though, it's easy to envision Wolfram sticking around a while. The Brewers waited to make this signing official until after the Rule 5 Draft, because they knew he would be eligible to be taken in it if they signed him before it. That tells you there was some competition for his services. Moreover, he has three minor-league option years left, so he can be flexible depth for as long as the team's 40-man roster stays clear enough, riding the shuttle between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville as needed.

Small upside plays like these are a specialty for the Brewers. It's wildly unlikely that Wolfram emerges as a star, but he could easily be the same kind of solid bullpen contributor Hudson was in 2024. Blake Perkins came into the organization under somewhat similar circumstances. Although he's a longshot, Wolfram is an intriguing one, and scooping him up is a reminder that the Brewers are always on their grind.

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[Jim Goulart]

 

[wallus]

Pitcher with options? Send him to the lab.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I don't know if he'll ever make it to Milwaukee. But if he does & they don't play 'Clap For the Wolfman' when he comes out of the bullpen, I'm done 🐺.

[Rick Daltons Flamethrower]

[biedergb]

Or for those who are fans of Phish:

 

[jay87shot]

This makes up for losing Shane Smith to a degree. Sounds like we think more of a Koenig upside here than a harder throwing Hudson.

[Lathund]

Our own Tungsten Arm O'Doyle!

[AKCheesehead]

21 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I don't know if he'll ever make it to Milwaukee. But if he does & they don't play 'Clap For the Wolfman' when he comes out of the bullpen, I'm done 🐺.

I feel the same way about Craig Yoho.  I'm hoping he comes out to the March of the Winkies from the Wizard of Oz. 

[Jim Goulart]