5 Mid-Tier Starting Pitchers the Brewers Can Add Before Opening Day

Just when you thought the Brewers could be done this offseason, another rumor rose to the surface. After a busy offseason, the Brewers' rotation will have a new look. Corbin Burnes is out, and DL Hall is in.

Even after bringing back Wade Miley, Colin Rea, and Brandon Woodruff, adding Jakob Junis and Joe Ross, and even after Aaron Ashby returns from injury, they may still need to be done. According to Robert Murray on the Baseball Insider livestream Monday, the Brewers are looking at the mid-tier starters that remain on the free agent market.

While it may not be Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, it's still action worth noting. So, for what kind of players could the Brewers be in play? Here are five players worth monitoring they should consider signing.

Michael Lorenzen
Let’s start with the two names mentioned on the livestream by Murray. If Miley isn’t ready by the start of the season, Lorenzen would be the perfect veteran addition to the rotation.

Lorenzen was one of the five men I mentioned as a player to retool the rotation in my first story on this site in November. While he struggled a bit in the later half of the 2023 season as part of the Phillies, he still pitched a no-hitter in his first home appearance.

Lorenzen had a 9-9 record for the season with a 4.18 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, and a 1.7 WAR. He represented the Tigers in the 2023 All-Star game and was relegated to the bullpen towards the end of the season and collected his first save.

Remember that one pitcher from the Reds that gave the Brewers trouble in June 2018? That pitcher hit a solo home run one day and a game-changing grand slam the next. His name was Michael Lorenzen. Though he hasn’t had a plate appearance since 2021, so don't expect him to step into the heart of Milwaukee's lineup any time soon.

Lorenzen is a great back of the rotation arm. Since the Crew has decent depth, they can take their time while Lorenzen stretches out for the season. Since he has more experience in the bullpen, he could be used as a long relief arm.

He held pitching sessions alongside another pitcher who may or may not be mentioned in late January. The Brewers could’ve been among the 16 teams scouting the 32-year-old pitcher. The Brewers can afford to pay the starter a deal around $8-10 million but can probably get him at a lower price now that it’s March and games have started.

Mike Clevinger
Clevinger was the second name mentioned in the livestream. Once one of the best pitchers in the Cleveland organization, he had a 3.20 ERA in five seasons, averaging ten strikeouts per nine and maintaining a 1.20 WHIP.

Clevinger was traded to the Padres along with others during the shortened 2020 season, during which eight players (including Owen Miller) were involved. His success continued in San Diego, and he was eventually offered a two-year extension. In 2021, however, he missed the entire season while he recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Last season, he had a 9-9 record in 24 starts with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP as part of the White Sox organization. Clevinger was the most consistent pitcher in the team’s rotation. He even recorded two complete games.

There was a bit of concern when MLB had to step in putting Clevinger under investigation due to an alleged domestic violence and child abuse case. The league made no disciplinary action against the pitcher.

Besides the alleged actions outside of baseball, Clevinger has been a solid pitcher since his surgery. While Clevinger has been a fly ball pitcher, he still only had a below-average home run percentage (2.9%) with a home ballpark that had the sixth-highest Park Factor from 2010-2016, according to parkfactor.com. In other words, he gives up fewer home runs while regularly pitching in a hitter-friendly ballpark.

The Brewers don’t need a prime Clevinger to have solid production in the rotation. Even a White Sox version of Clevinger would impact this team. After rejecting a $12 million mutual option with Chicago, he may settle for around $8 million salary or less this season as part of a competitive team.

Brad Keller
Brad Keller is the definition of a low risk/high reward type player. That might sound sketchy at first, but he still has the promise to be a decent pitcher for an organization.

The former Royal’s best season came in 2020, when, in nine starts, he threw a 2.47 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP, a 3.43 FIP, and 6.4 hits per nine innings. He was one of the few players who had a complete-game shutout that season.

Since that one season, Keller hasn’t had an ERA below 4.00 or a WHIP below 1.50. It is worth noting that Keller is a ground ball pitcher. He has a career 2.1 home run percentage and a below-average opponent slugging percentage (.386). Keller will have to work on his walk rate, which exploded to 8.9 walks per nine innings last season.

Keller is only 28 years old and has the tools to be a back-of-the-rotation arm. While the Brewers have plenty of those types of arms already, they have turned many pitchers' careers around. The most recent examples are Hoby Milner, Bryse Wilson, and Colin Rea. Who’s to say they can’t do it again?

Sure, Keller could be a young free agent again next year, but one good year in Milwaukee can up his pay. If it goes well, the Brewers have a decent one-year stopgap for the prospects on their way to the big league. Worse case, they spend at most $3 million on a pitcher that is either designated for assignment or becomes a long relief arm similar to Janson Junk.

Noah Syndergaard
What a fall from grace. Noah Syndergaard was once part of an elite set of arms in the New York Mets rotation. Back in 2015, the man known as Thor managed to strike out over 100 batters in just his first 15 career starts. He took fourth place in the Rookie of the Year voting, while Chicago Cub Kris Bryant ultimately went home with the trophy.

The next season, Syndergaard was selected to his first and only All-Star game. In that season, Thor collected a 14-9 record with a 2.60 ERA in 30 starts, striking out 218 batters. He also recorded the best FIP in MLB (2.29) and the lowest home runs per nine innings (0.5).

While his numbers didn’t falter, Syndergaard started piling up injuries. He had a torn latissimus dorsi, strained ligaments in his throwing hand in 2017, followed by hand, foot, and mouth disease in 2018, all before receiving Tommy John surgery prior to the 2020 season.

He may not have been the same pitcher as in 2016, but he was still productive for a few years. That was until the 2023 season when he joined the Dodgers. After a 1-4 start to the season with a 7.16 ERA in 12 starts, the Cleveland Guardians acquired the pitcher before the deadline. Thor ended his season with a 6.50 ERA with a 1.39 WHIP, striking out 59 batters in 88 2/3 innings.

So why would the Brewers want him? Well, for starters, he is still 31 and was last seen throwing with Lorenzen in a session where he was throwing in the 93-95 range. He’s still searching for a job and hasn’t lost much of a step.

Don’t look too much into the 2023 season, as that was his worst recorded season since his 2019 campaign, which happened prior to the Tommy John surgery. That season, he had a 4.28 ERA, giving up a National League-leading 94 earned runs while also striking out 202 batters.

While the home runs have gone up and the strikeouts have gone down, the opponent batting average last year stood at .252 with a BAbip (batting average on balls in play) is a .223. If he can find a way to give up fewer home runs, Thor has a chance to find his hammer and be a solid pitcher once again.

Domingo German
Outside of the reigning Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Gerrit Cole, the Yankee’s starting rotation hasn’t been too exciting. However, one pitcher in the rotation threw the first perfect game since Felix Hernandez in 2012. That pitcher was Domingo German.

During his perfect game, he only threw 99 pitches, striking out nine Oakland Athletics en route to an 11-0 victory. His performance was the 24th perfect game in MLB history and the fourth for the Yankees' organization.

Other than the perfect game, German recorded a 4.56 ERA with career lows in opponent batting average (.207), on-base percentage (.277), and WHIP (1.08). It may not have been his best-recorded season, but it will have a few highlights.

Unfortunately, he didn’t finish the season after stepping away from baseball to get treatment for alcohol abuse. It was reported German got into an altercation with manager Aaron Boone while under the influence. He was removed from the 40-man roster a few months later and cleared waivers.

This wasn’t his first issue with alcohol, as he was suspended 81 games for domestic violence back in 2019. He was intoxicated at a charity gala when he slapped his girlfriend at the event and became physically violent afterward.

While he doesn’t sound like a clubhouse guy, especially for the Milwaukee clubhouse, he may have worked on himself to get better. As of last month, multiple teams have offers out for German. Perhaps a change of scenery and the fun energy the Brewers provide could be a step in the right direction for personal reasons.

As for what goes on the field, German can be the fourth or fifth option in the rotation and could continue his success in the NL Central. If they want to use a pitcher like him right away, they might consider signing him to a minor league contract since he won’t be able to get sent down without going through revocable waivers.

While the speculation is still out there, the Brewers might still need to be done adding players. Will the Brewers add any of the players listed above? What other players would you like to see the Brewers add? Come back tomorrow when we look at why the Brewers could add one of the pitchers.