4:29pm: Peralta will indeed remain in the rotation after the All-Star break, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). The move to option him, then, was simply a means of getting some additional arms in the ’pen. Peralta will be able to return to the club as early as Sunday after the All-Star break.
4:20pm: The Brewers announced this afternoon that veteran infielder Eric Sogard, who’d previously been designated for assignment, has been released. Milwaukee also announced that Wade Miley has been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list. Meanwhile, infielder Nate Orf and right-hander Jorge Lopez were optioned to Triple-A, with righties Adrian Houser and Alec Asher being recalled in their place. Lastly, right-hander Freddy Peralta was optioned to Class-A — though that move seems likely to be procedural in nature, as Peralta wouldn’t have been in line to pitch until after the All-Star break anyhow.
It’s been a nightmare of a season for the 32-year-old Sogard, who batted just .134/.241/.165 through 113 trips to the plate before being designated for assignment. He’s typically considered to be a strong defender at second base, but he’s spent more time this season at shortstop, where he hasn’t rated as well defensively.
Sogard’s production at the plate was a far cry fro last season’s .273/.393/.378 slash through 299 plate appearances — though he never seemed likely to repeat that career-best output. In 1743 career plate appearances at the MLB level, Sogard is a .238/.309/.314 hitter with terrific marks for his glovework at second base. He’s now able to sign with any club seeking to bolster its infield depth, and a new team will only owe him the pro-rated league minimum for any time spent in the Majors; the Brewers will be on the hook for the remainder of his $2.4MM salary — a sum of roughly $1.03MM through season’s end).
Miley, meanwhile, will return to the Brewers’ rotation after missing just over two months to a rather severe oblique injury. He pitched just 6 1/3 innings for Milwaukee earlier this season, missing the first several weeks of the year due to a groin strain and then injuring his oblique in just his second start of the season. Miley had a terrible run in 2016-17 between the Mariners and Orioles, leading him to a minor league pact with Milwaukee this season. He’ll look to reestablish himself as a useful source of innings moving forward, in hopes of securing a big league deal when he returns to the free-agent market this offseason.
