The Brewers announced that they have recalled the lefty Brian Fitzpatrick and the right hand Craig Yoho from Triple-A Nashville. In a parallel movement, to the left DL Hall placed on the 15-day injured list with a left and right pectoral strain Jake Woodford selected for assignment.
Woodford, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Rays at the start of the season. He activated the walkout clause in that deal and turned to the Brewers just before Opening Day. The righty has been serving a long relief role for Milwaukee since then. He threw 23 1/3 innings in 16 games, allowing a 6.94 earned run rate per nine. That probably exaggerates how badly he’s hit this year. His .378 batting average on balls in play and 62.5% strand rate are both unfortunate stats. His 3.96 FIP and 3.92 SIERA suggest he deserves the best.
The Brewers were hit a little hard yesterday, in a few ways. Lost 12-9 to the Giants, both Hall and Grant Anderson coming out due to injury. As mentioned, Hall is now in IL due to his pec injury. Woodford pitched the final three frames, allowing four earned runs, and threw 56 pitches in the inning.
Milwaukee plays three games at Coors Field against the Rockies tonight, followed by three games with the Athletics at Sutter Health Park. These are two of the friendliest places in the league. Rather than enter that facility with a haunted Hall and a ventilated Woodford, they decided to bring new arms to the lineup. With Woodford out of options, he needed to be completely removed from the 40-man roster.
Now he’s headed for DFA limbo, which could last a week. The waiver process lasts 48 hours, so the Brewers could take as long as five days to see if there’s a trade benefit, but they could also place him on waivers sooner than that. Players with at least three years of service time or prior employment directly have the right to decline direct assignments and elect free agency. Woodford is eligible on both counts and could opt for the open market if he clears waivers.
In his career, he used to circle the batter and attract ground balls without missing a ton of at-bats. In 279 1/3 innings, he has a 5.25 ERA, a 15.2% strikeout rate, a 7.4% walk rate and a 44.4% ground ball.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
