Jason Wang

While other teams scrambled to find new bats and arms in July, the Brewers were like a Prius at a muscle car meet: relatively quiet. They added no new position players, and instead picked up two project starters, an intriguing reliever, and a 30-year-old rookie. Here is the list of all of the deals they made: July 3: Acquired RHP Aaron Civale from Rays in exchange for SS Gregory Barrios (#19 ranked prospect in Brewers system) July 21: Acquired LHP Tyler Jay from Mets in exchange for RHP TJ Shook July 27: Acquired RHP Nick Mears from Rockies in exchange for RHP Bradley Blalock (#17 ranked prospect in Brewers system) and RHP Yujanyer Herrera July 30: Acquired RHP Frankie Montas from Reds in exchange for OF Joey Wiemer, RHP Jakob Junis, and cash It was well understood that Milwaukee would be vying for starting pitching, but Civale and Montas don’t seem like the difference-makers fans were hoping for. Both have clear weaknesses and are pitching to ERAs around 5.00 this year. They may be serviceable back-of-the-rotation guys, at least, but neither one will likely end up being 2008 CC Sabathia. Even more concerning is how dormant the team was compared to its closest rivals. The Cardinals are six games behind the Brewers in the NL Central and were a participant in this year’s sole three-team trade, involving the White Sox and the Dodgers. They added Erick Fedde to improve their rotation and reunited with Tommy Pham to help stabilize their outfield and bring a platoon advantage against lefties. The Pirates, also six games behind, also had a slight retooling by adding Bryan De La Cruz and Jalen Beeks while getting rid of a struggling Martín Pérez and a similarly below-replacement pitcher in Quinn Priester. Their roster still doesn’t seem to be as concerning as that of St. Louis, but with one more head-to-head series in September, they could take a few crucial wins away from the Brewers at the 11th hour. Looking at the broader competitive set of the National League as a whole, the Phillies and Dodgers did their best to make moves that would secure their postseason byes. The Phillies snagged lefty reliever Tanner Banks, Angels closer Carlos Estévez, and veteran outfielder Austin Hays. The Dodgers were arguably the most active, acquiring Jack Flaherty, Kevin Kiermaier, Amed Rosario, Tommy Edman, and Michael Kopech. Even the Padres managed to win the services of the highly sought-after Tanner Scott. All of these teams are potential postseason opponents for the Crew. Even if the Brewers hang onto the top spot in the NL Central, will their roster be enough to get past the Wild Card or Division Series? On one hand, it may not be entirely their fault. This is the organization’s typical MO, and it’s not like there were a ton of great rental arms up for sale. The Astros, neck-and-neck with the Mariners for the lead in the AL West, gave up a whole bunch just for Yusei Kikuchi, a guy with a 4.75 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. Other starters that got sold off include Paul Blackburn (4.41 ERA), Zach Eflin (4.11 ERA), and Trevor Rogers (4.53), players with numbers in line with the pieces that Milwaukee did manage to add. They were in on Flaherty, though more so a day or two before the deadline than as the final hours ticked away. They checked in on Fedde, but those talks didn't progress. Were they simply unwilling to compete with the Dodgers and Cardinals on price, or were they outmaneuvered in trade talks? Do they know something about Montas and Civale (or about Flaherty) that we don’t? Will they somehow find a way to sign the 1986 version of Teddy Higuera? Who knows. But with no new bats, no flashy arms, and the same crushing injury problems, things seem a little less rosy after watching playoff-bound rivals improve a bit more than the Crew did.

It was recently announced that Trevor Megill, the team’s closer in Devin Williams’ absence, has hit the 15-day injured list due to back issues. At this point, Brewers fans are all too familiar with pitching injuries, but this is part of a bigger concern outside of another hurt pitcher. Heading into trade season, the Brewers' clear point of strength was their bullpen. Despite an immense workload of 435 combined innings, they’ve posted a 3.31 ERA, which is third-best in MLB. Megill was having a standout year, posting a 2.41 ERA and 1.04 WHIP with 20 saves in his first year as a closer. Following the return of their All-Star Airbender, the Brewers had a clear surplus of relievers. Names like Joel Payamps and Hoby Milner were among those rumored to be potentially packaged away. Alas, nothing in Milwaukee can ever be that easy. Just a few days before Megill was sidelined, Bryan Hudson also hit the 15-day IL with an oblique strain. He had a rough few outings in July but was still pitching to a cumulative ERA of 1.60 and WHIP of 0.75 over his 50 ⅔ innings. So what does this mean for the next 24 hours? Well, the Brewers front office will have to figure out what they feel comfortable parting with. While Payamps and Milner may have been expendable before, they might now become integral, at least for the next few weeks. The Brewers have a somewhat comfortable six-game lead over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals, but recovery timelines have rarely gone the team’s way this year. Hudson and Megill could be out for a while, and Williams is coming off a long layoff. Luckily, the Brewers may have some position players who are reportedly drawing interest from suitors, namely Garrett Mitchell, so they still have some names to swap. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem likely that the team will continue to prioritize pursuing relievers. However, this may make acquiring a real impact starter or bat more difficult without making real sacrifices at the major or minor league level. As with most things in baseball, it’s hard to say exactly how things will pan out at this time. Milwaukee has been relatively quiet thus far, especially with the Cardinals making a splash and acquiring Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham in a three-team trade with the White Sox and Dodgers. For now, we can at least hope that both Megill and Hudson have speedy recoveries and continue their stellar seasons through October.

For the tenth year in a row, the Detroit Tigers are going to miss the playoffs. With the vultures already circling, waiting for their chance to acquire the team’s lefty ace, Tarik Skubal, teammate Jack Flaherty might be an undervalued short-term starter. That is exactly what the Brewers should be pursuing for the final portion of the 2024 regular season. What He Does Well When he’s at his best, Flaherty attacks the strike zone with extreme prejudice. His whiff, strikeout, and walk rates are all in the top decile of qualified pitchers. The tradeoff is that he gives up more barrels and gets fewer ground balls than he would like, but his 2.95 ERA and 0.96 WHIP over 100 ⅔ innings have shown that he’s winning more battles than he's losing. The years since his breakout 2019 campaign have been rocky. He’s only managed to pitch more than 80 innings once, and from 2020-2023, he averaged a 4.42 ERA. His strikeout rate remained high, at 24.1%, but he was giving up far too many baserunners, with a WHIP of 1.40 in that span. What’s he doing differently this year? His knuckle-curve has posted pretty consistent results since he's arrived in the big leagues, even when times were the toughest. However, 2024 seems to be the first time in a while that both his four-seam fastball and slider have been competitive pitches. His fastball doesn’t blow up the radar gun and averages just under 94 mph, but he’s commanding it much better this year, attacking the outside edges of the strike zone against lefties and righties. It has a 25.0% whiff rate and a 31.0% strikeout rate. His slider saw massive regression in 2023 and was a big reason for many of his rough outings. In 2024, he’s placing the pitch closer to the bottom of the zone, getting a whiff rate of 39.1% and a strikeout rate of 31.0%--massive improvements over his 26,5% and 15.0% numbers last year. Better command of the offering has made it a weapon against lefties, whereas it was a huge source of vulnerability against them in 2023. What He Doesn’t Do As Well Despite this year’s improvements, Flaherty still suffers from the same drawback of giving up hard contact, even on his best pitches. Even with high strikeout rates on both his fastball and slider, opposing batters still have ISO numbers of .151 and .221, respectively, against them. Because he lacks the velocity that creates margin for error, poor command can lead to the ball leaking into a hitter's nitro zone and getting crushed. Contract Status Flaherty is on a one-year, $14 million contract, and will be a free agent in 2025. It has been a great walk year for the young righty, and he's raised his stock considerably. He’ll probably sign a sizable contract with a team other than the Brewers, but Milwaukee really only needs him for the remainder of this season. With the Tigers still very much in a rebuild and having almost no use for the second-best starter on the team, he’s a great trade piece. He may not be as valuable or dazzling as Skubal, but he’d be a heck of a lot cheaper. Come October, he might be the second starter the Crew needs to make a deeper run into the playoffs.

Last month, I wrote about how Jackson Chourio’s improved swing decisions against fastballs helped drive an offensive resurgence. I worried about whether that topic would age like milk, but thankfully, it has aged more like the Franzia you bought when you first turned 21--not that Chourio would know. He’s kept up the good work and has had a few flashes of greatness, most recently in the series against the Twins. In two games, he racked up five hits, with a double, a home run, five RBIs, and two stolen bases. This home run was particularly impressive because it was against a pretty good fastball from Jorge Alcalá: 97.8 miles per hour, high and tight. Furthermore, high velocity was something that Chourio struggled with immensely early in the season. From the start of the season through May 31, he had just a .414 OPS against pitches with a velocity of 95 MPH or greater. Since Jun. 1, his OPS has jumped up to .851 against such offerings. Not coincidentally, that's very close to his overall line in that span, which is .309/.363/.504. Everything is looking better, but here are some of the most meaningful advancements: Before 6/1 After 6/1 BA .120 .321 SLG .200 .464 ISO .080 .143 K% 42.9% 16.1% BABIP .231 .364 It was the kind of incandescent showing that seizes the attention of every fan in attendance, and it certainly didn't escape the notice of his manager. "What can you say? That's amazing, what he's doing," Pat Murphy said after Sunday's contest. "These two games, you'd walk away saying, 'Wow, that kid deserves $150 million.'" In addition to making strides at the plate, he’s evolved into an outstanding defender. At the beginning of the season, there were some questions about his ability to play the corner outfield spots, after playing center for the majority of his time in the minor leagues. Furthermore, there were some shaky routes at the beginning of the season to add onto the concerns. Those worries, too, have been assuaged lately--especially this weekend. What’s Next? Although he’s come around to hit the four-seam fastball well, there are other pitches against which Chourio still struggles. He’s averaging just .179 against the changeup, with a 27.6% strikeout rate, something that hasn’t gotten much better throughout the season. He’s also struggled to hit the sinker with much power, posting a .038 ISO. Outside of his hitting, I’ve been curious about how soon it will be before he becomes a stolen base menace like his compatriots Brice Turang and Christian Yelich. He has 97th-percentile sprint speed, and he was aggressive in the minors, but he has just 12 stolen bases as a rookie. This may have been hindered by his relatively low OBP early on, but even in his hot streak over the past two months, he’s stolen just five bases. Nonetheless, all of the growth the wünderkind has had in a little over half a season is a reminder of why his prospect stock was so high. It took him around 200 plate appearances to start catching up to big-league velocity, but the sky’s the limit in what he’ll be able to do in the final 200 plate appearances of his rookie year. Brewer Fanatic's Matthew Trueblood contributed to this report.

Hoby Milner Following a marquee year where he posted a 1.82 ERA and 0.96 WHIP over 64 ⅓ innings, Milner has struggled to keep up the Hoby heroics. He has regressed meaningfully in ERA (4.91), WHIP (1.25), and H/9 (9.2) since the end of 2023. On the bright side, it might not even be his fault. A closer look at his quality of contact numbers show that he’s more or less been the same, pitch-to-contact ground-ball god that he was last year. His hard-hit rate has actually decreased slightly from 35.4% to 32.8%, and his barrel rate of 3.1% is in the 97th percentile, so what gives? To make a long story even longer, Jack Stern did a great job breaking down what has been going on this season but pretty much he’s been on the receiving end of some suspect batted balls. That might explain why his xERA of 3.17 is so much better than his actual ERA. While there are a ton of excellent video examples in the aforementioned article, here’s yet another one of a batted ball with an exit velocity of 72.3 mph and a launch angle of -59 degrees that became a hit. Freddy Peralta With Corbin Burnes being sent off to Baltimore and Brandon Woodruff being sent off to Sunshine Day Camp for Tommy John Recipients, 2024 was Peralta’s year to assume the role of team ace. It was an exciting opportunity for a young arm who has spent his entire major league career with the Brewers but things haven’t gone as swimmingly as some might have hoped. His 4.11 ERA and 1.19 aren’t bad numbers by any means but they are hardly what one would be hoping for out of the top guy in the rotation. Colin Rea and Tobias Myers have arguably outperformed Peralta whose own numbers are closer to that of Bryse Wilson, a long reliever turned emergency starter. His strikeout and whiff rates are top notch as per usual but he simply gives up too much hard contact at hitter-friendly launch angles, creating a barrel rate of 8.9%. Opposing batters are averaging .238 and slugging .411 against his four-seam fastball which has historically been his best pitch. When he’s firing on all cylinders, he’s a pleasure to watch and his 11.4 K/9 leads all Brewers pitchers, qualified or not. His overall strikeout rate of 30.1% creates a feast-or-famine pitching style that limited his ability to be great in the first 97 games of the season. Rhys Hoskins When Milwaukee first signed Rhys Hoskins, it was assumed that the recurring problems at first base would be alleviated. The Brewers didn’t get a ton of production out of their first basemen in 2023 until they acquired Carlos Santana in the second half, who was about league-average. Hoskins seemed like a plus-bat that would add some much-needed pop and pizzazz to the lineup and so far, it hasn’t really played out that way. He’s slashing .215/.308/.414 with just nine doubles and 14 home runs over 296 plate appearances. He is fifth on the team in slugging percentage among qualified hitters and has an OPS+ of 100. With negative defensive value, he’s actually slightly below replacement level given the offensive expectations of his position. Was it unreasonable to assume he was going to return to full strength after missing an entire year due to injury? Probably, but he’s the third-highest paid player on the team this year and is making more than twice the fourth-highest paid player. Surely the frugal front office wouldn’t have invested a minimum of $16 million into a first baseman with average production. Diagnosing his issues might be worth a deep dive of its own but for now, we as fickle, uncoordinated, unathletic, judgmental baseball fans can comfortably say that Hoskins hasn’t been what we had hoped he would be in a Brewers uniform.

While they were very much counted as part of the race, the Brewers didn't enter the 2024 season as favorites to win the NL Central. Yet, at the All-Star break, there they sit, four and a half games ahead of the Cardinals atop the division standings. To be so much outstripping their preseason projections, they needed to get some surprising performances. Here are three guys who have fit that bill. LHP Bryan Hudson For a player who was designated for assignment by the Dodgers in the last week of 2023, Hudson has already exceeded his anticipated value. He was acquired in exchange for Justin Chambers and a player to be named later, and has been outstanding since arriving in the great state of Wisconsin. His numbers are simply outlandish; absurd; mind-boggling. Over 48 ⅓ innings, he’s pitched to a 1.49 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 9.9 K/9. Despite not throwing anything harder than the low 90s, his 29.3% strikeout rate bespeaks his dominance. His four-seam fastball averages 91.7 mph, while his sweeper and cutter both sit in the 80s. His fastball pairing is competitive, but his sweeper is where the rubber meets the road. Opposing batters are averaging just .039 on plate appearances that end with that pitch, while striking out 45.6% of the time. The Brewers have been remarkably consistent at churning out top-tier arms, especially in the pen, and Hudson seems like the latest example on a long list of successful experiments. With a 6’8” frame and a crafty lefty delivery, Milwaukee may have found a real diamond in the rough with plenty of team control left. OF Christian Yelich As a Brewers fan, you’ve likely heard some version of “Christian Yelich is so back, I’m going to wager my child’s entire college fund on [insert gambling app] for him to win MVP” storyline, before every season since he wrapped up his superb 2019. In the years since, he’s struggled to be the same person he was when he first joined the Brewers, averaging just a .768 OPS from 2020-2023. But this year’s different, I swear. This is the most first-half momentum he has had in a while, slashing .326/.412/.521 on the way to receiving his first All-Star nod in five years. He leads the National League in batting average, but also has 12 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, and 21 stolen bases. His quality-of-contact numbers are mostly unchanged, but he’s striking out and whiffing considerably less. Specifically, he’s been able to cut down his strikeout rate against sliders by 10.1% and against sweepers by 19.1%. His 2.5 rWAR has already matched the mark he reached in 671 plate appearances in 2022, and he’s on pace to eclipse the 3.6 he had last year. While haters (Cardinals fans) may bet on regression down the stretch, he’s dazzled in the first half. 2B Brice Turang In 2023, the rookie Turang posted a .585 OPS and 60 OPS+ after nearly a full season of starting at second base. It was pretty rough, but after switching from whole milk to oat milk in the offseason (and accidentally adopting a new bat handle, and a few other crucial thing, Turang has evolved into one of the most impactful infielders in 2024. His OPS has jumped to .731, thanks to a boost in his batting average from .218 to .277. It's a meaningful jump. It’s even more meaningful when you realize that his top-tier speed has allowed him to steal 30 bases, four more than he did all of last season. The biggest driver behind this offensive renaissance is his newfound ability to pound the four-seam fastball. Last year, he averaged .198 and slugged .267 against four-seamers, making him an easy out for many pitchers. This year, he’s averaging .362 and slugging .486 against the same pitch. Combined with his stellar defense, his 4.0 rWAR leads the team by a comfortable margin. If 2024 Turang is indeed the Turang of the future, Milwaukee may have their hands on a powerhouse middle infielder for the next several years. In the meantime, every game seems to bring them closer to getting their hands on a second straight division title.

Round 3, Pick #93 - RHP Jaron DeBerry Slot Value: $788.7K A 6’3” starter out of Dallas Baptist University, DeBerry had a strong college career, capped off by a strong showing in his second season. He posted a 3.50 ERA and 1.23 WHIP over 90 innings pitched, with 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) and a 2.3 strikeout-to-walk ration (K/BB). His four-seam fastball sits in the low 90s, and he has a deep arsenal that contains a devastating sweeper in the mid-80s and a strong curveball. Round 4, Pick #123 - C Marco Dinges Slot Value: $583.4K This was the first season in which Dinges accumulated a considerable body of work with the Florida State Seminoles. At 6’0” and just under 21 years old, he slashed .323/.415/.583, with 12 doubles, two triples, and 15 home runs over 288 plate appearances. In addition to his great power, he struck out just 37 times against 38 walks. While officially listed as a catcher, he made just one appearance at the position and has more career games in right field than he does as a backstop. He primarily served as a designated hitter last season. He's a bat-first backstop, but maybe the Milwaukee pitch-framing infrastructure can work its magic here. Round 5, Pick #156 - RHP John Holobetz Slot Value: $422.9K The 6’3” Holobetz just wrapped up his junior year with Old Dominion University, where he pitched 62 ⅔ innings, with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. His four-seam fastball has been able to get up to the mid-90s, often paired with a low-80s slider. He’s listed as a reliever, but of his 15 total appearances in 2024, only five were outings fewer than four innings. He’s got excellent stamina for a bullpen arm, but developing more variety in his arsenal will be key if he wants to make the move to being a starter. Round 6, Pick #185 - RHP Chandler Welch Slot Value: $328.7K A 6’0” junior from Tulane University, Welch had a 4.65 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP over 89 innings pitched. He managed 8.9 K/9, but gave up a whopping 11.0 H/9 with 2.4 BB/9, so expanding the zone in search of weaker contact might be a good thing to work on in the future. Round 6, Pick #215 - LHP Mason Molina Slot Value: $257.4K Molina was most recently a starting pitcher for the University of Arkansas, after spending the first two years of his college career at Texas Tech. In his lone year with the Razorbacks, he put up a 4.47 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 58 ⅓ innings pitched. He’s a crafty 6’2” lefty, and his strikeout numbers were stellar at 12.5 K/9, but his command suffered--as shown in his 5.6 BB/9. His fastball sits in the low 90s, and he also throws a decent changeup and curveball combo, rounding things out with an average slider. Round 8, Pick #245 - LHP Sam Garcia Slot Value: $210.7K A 6’4” starter for Oklahoma State, Garcia spent his first three college years with High Point University. He pitched well in his senior campaign, amassing a 3.64 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over 89 innings pitched. He even managed 11.6 K/9 and 6.05 K/BB. Round 9, Pick #275 - RHP Griffin Tobias Slot Value: $190.9K The first of two high schoolers taken on the second day of the draft, the 6’0” Tobias has a strong commitment to playing baseball for Indiana University, which may make it more difficult to get him to sign. While pitching for Lake Central High School in 2024, he posted an impressive 0.95 ERA over 66 ⅓ innings pitched with 98 strikeouts. Round 10, Pick #305 - RHP Ethan Dorchies Slot Value: $180.4K Last but not least, the 6’5” Dorchies managed a 3.50 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 63 innings pitched in his senior year with Cary-Grove High School. He’s currently committed to the University of Illinois-Chicago, and throws a low 90s fastball with a slider/curveball combo. It looks like the Crew will also have some money to throw around on Day 3 of the draft, so it'll be interesting to see how they spend it. In the meantime, this is an interesting bumper crop for a farm that knows it needs to be fertile when it comes to pitching in the coming years. What do you think of the team's choices?

While some teams will be forced to decide between being a buyer or a seller over the next two weeks, the Brewers have given themselves enough of a cushion to be comfortably in the playoff picture. With a 5.5-game lead over the second-place Cardinals and a record of 54-39, things are looking pretty rosy. However, being invited to the postseason dance and actually being able to stay long enough to hear “Cha Cha Slide” are two different things. Milwaukee hasn’t won a playoff series since their 2018 run to the NLCS, despite making it to October four out of the past five years. Therefore, when it comes to the trade deadline, the overall directive seems pretty clear: bolster the roster for a deep playoff run. The best way to do so might be to focus on repairing the team’s tattered starting rotation. Let’s do a quick injury rundown, shall we? Having both received Tommy John surgery this season, Wade Miley and Robert Gasser are still a long ways away from returning to the active roster. Brandon Woodruff is closer, but still not close enough to be a factor for the 2024 season. DL Hall was looking good on a rehab assignment with the Nashville Sounds, but a hard comebacker led him to be shut down for another 3-10 days, pushing his eventual return even further down the line. Last but not least (in fact, kind of last but first?), Joe Ross just made the second outing of his rehab assignment, pitching 3 ⅔ scoreless innings with three strikeouts in Triple-A. He’ll likely be the first one to return to the team. While there are many ways to strengthen a rotation, the best bet for Milwaukee might be to get a short-term rental starter for the postseason. Why is this better than acquiring someone with more long-term potential? Because the Brewers might not need it. Assuming no one else runs into additional freak injuries (Jakob Junis-style), Woodruff should be back to help the rotation in 2025, followed by Gasser and Miley around the second half. Jacob Misiorowski might also be major-league ready next year, another potential X-factor. Aaron Ashby is also alive. The Brewers really just need an arm to hold them over for the remainder of this injury-marred season and give them a little more confidence in this one postseason, so anything more would just increase the price for not a whole lot of useful return. Who matches the description of a reliable rental starter? Jack Flaherty comes to mind. He’s been shoving for the Detroit Tigers, posting a 3.24 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 89 innings pitched. He’s signed on a one-year, $14-million deal and will test free agency for a second time in 2025. At 14 games behind the Guardians and seven games back from a Wild Card spot, it would make a ton of sense for Detroit to sell Flaherty for someone with more team control, especially given their current young core. Michael Lorenzen is another potential target, although a frustrating one, because he could have been had this winter for less than the Crew paid Junis. He has pitched to a 3.52 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over 92 innings with the Rangers this year. He’s on an even cheaper one-year, $4.5 million deal, and the Rangers are 6.5 games back from the division, seven games back from a Wild Card spot. If the team wants to add a lefty to the mix, Andrew Heaney could be a serviceable option. He’s got a 3.80 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over 90 innings pitched, and will also become a free agent after his two-year, $25 million contract runs out this year. He’s a bit more expensive than Lorenzen, but still a viable option, boasting an excellent chase rate (32.8%) and better-than-average walk rate (6.2%). Shopping for a rental starter good enough to make a feasible postseason impact is kind of like finding a great movie at the bottom of the bargain bin. There aren’t a ton of great options, but the feeling of finding a diamond in the rough is one of unmatched satisfaction. So while you look for the latest Steven Seagal DVD, Milwaukee should be looking for the final piece of their 2024 puzzle.

On Jun. 26, Gary Sánchez was placed on the 10-day IL for a left calf strain. To replace him, Eric Haase was called back up, and he's performed admirably in Sánchez's stead, slashing .455/.455/.727 over his 11 plate appearances with the team so far. It has been a great streak, for a player who managed just a .528 OPS in 2023. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and in this case, the good thing is probably Haase’s hot streak. Presumably, he'll come back to Earth a bit, and Sánchez is reportedly very close to returning to the active roster. If Haase is designated for assignment to make room for Sánchez, it’s doubtful that he’d clear waivers, given the way he's played all season both for Triple-A Nashville and with the Crew and the perpetual league-wide need for better catching depth. It was a mild surprise when he made it through at the beginning of the season, and the Crew are unlikely to get so lucky four months later, given the attrition and poor performances that have piled up in the meantime. The Orioles and Guardians are two teams that come to mind, the first trotting out James McCann (.571 OPS) behind Adley Rutschman and the latter having Austin Hedges (.421 OPS) as their secondary catcher. Hedges is practically a coach in uniform, but McCann would be relatively easy to let go for Baltimore, and of course, you never know which other teams might take an interest. In the short term, it wouldn’t make much sense to have three catchers on the roster, especially when one of them is as heavily used as William Contreras. Although he’s slumped big-time since his MVP-tier play at the beginning of the season, Contreras still has an OPS of .806 and is a consistent lineup presence. He plays almost every day. The Brewers have too many other good options (some of them, like Haase, tough to farm out) to let two roster spots be tied up in backing up Contreras. But what happens if Sánchez gets reinjured, or Contreras cracks under the burden of his workload? The options for Milwaukee in Triple-A aren’t great, at least from a hitting standpoint. Francisco Mejía has played the most innings at catcher for the Nashville Sounds, but is slashing just .249/.314/.385 over 239 plate appearances in a very hitter-friendly environment. Nor is he an inspiring defensive option. In an ideal world, the need for a backup catcher could result in highly-ranked Brewers prospect Jeferson Quero getting called up, but in the crueler one, he had season-ending shoulder surgery in April, so that’s not going to happen. Perhaps a trade would be in order. Just last year, the Crew sent catcher Alex Jackson to the Rays in exchange for Evan McKendry, a right-handed starter currently pitching in Triple-A. With Victor Caratini already a serviceable backup option for Contreras, Jackson was a redundancy languishing away in Triple-A as a 27-year old. It was a win-win move, with Tampa Bay receiving a major league-ready player who is now their alternate catcher behind Ben Rortvedt, and Milwaukee receiving more starting pitching depth. Maybe the Brewers could do something similar, but this time in reverse, pursuing a near-ready catcher to use in case of emergency. It wouldn’t make sense to make this a priority at the deadline, nor to give up too much, so picking the right target would be key. One possible name could be Brian Serven, whom the Blue Jays claimed on waivers this spring and has been very good for them in Triple-A (though not so in a brief stint with the parent club). Another could be Mets spare part Joe Hudson. Kevin Plawecki, another 33-year old minor-leaguer, could be an option. He’s got a .778 OPS over 155 plate appearances with the Padres' Triple-A affiliate and San Diego could definitely use more pitching, especially in the bullpen. Their catcher depth is already good, with Luis Campusano and Kyle Higashioka holding down the fort while No. 6-ranked MLB prospect Ethan Salas earns his stripes. Surely they have no need for a someone nearly twice the age of Salas, right? These thoughts are really just in preparation for a worst-case scenario, and there's a good chance that that doesn't come to fruition. If both catchers on the major-league roster eat their Wheaties and stay out of trouble, this should all be a moot point. However, it’s yet another interesting example of how the Brewers’ front office might have to get crafty to address unfortunate roster situations. With moves to acquire and (hopefully) get the best out of struggling starters Dallas Keuchel and Aaron Civale, the backup catcher conjecture would be the latest in a long list of challenges for Milwaukee management.