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James Meeker

Brewers Outright James Meeker

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TODAY: Meeker has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A, according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

June 11: The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Carlos Rodriguez, a move that was reported last week. To get him onto the active roster, righty Kevin Herget was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. To open a 40-man spot, righty James Meeker was designated for assignment.

Meeker, 29, was just added to the club’s roster on Friday. He made his major league debut that night, tossing one scoreless inning before getting optioned the next day when the club signed Elieser Hernández.

Though it’s surely tough to lose his roster spot so quickly, the fact that he even made it at all is something for Meeker to be proud of, given his long and unusual path to the majors. He went undrafted in 2018 and then spent a few years in Indy Ball. He got a minor league deal with the Brewers in 2021 when he was already 26 years old.

He spent the past few years climbing up the ladder, including 27 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this year. He has a 2.67 earned run average on the farm so far this year with a 27.3% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. He’s generally been a ground ball pitcher throughout his time in the minors, keeping batted balls on the dirt roughly half the time.

The Brewers will now have a week to trade Meeker or pass him through waivers. Players with three years of service time or a previous career outright can reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, but Meeker doesn’t meet either of those requirements. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll stick with the Brewers as a depth arm without taking up a roster spot.

Brewers Sign Elieser Hernandez

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The Brewers announced the signing of right-hander Elieser Hernandez to a one-year big league deal with the team.  To create roster space, righty James Meeker was optioned to Triple-A, and left-hander DL Hall was moved from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.

The Dodgers designated Hernandez for assignment last week and then outrighted him off their 40-man roster on Thursday.  Since Hernandez has over five years of MLB service time, he had the right to reject that outright assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency, and the right-hander indeed took that path and quickly landed with the Brew Crew.  The decision seems like a wise one, as Hernandez has now landed both a guaranteed contract and a clearer route to playing time on a team with a lot of question marks in the pitching staff.

Milwaukee’s rotation has been ravaged by injuries, leading the Brewers to build something of a patchwork around innings leaders Freddy Peralta and Colin Rea.  Bryse Wilson and Tobias Myers have stepped into regular starting roles, and the Brewers were reportedly set to promote prospect Carlos Rodriguez in time for a start on Tuesday, though it’s possible this plan might change now that Hernandez is in the fold.

There is no guarantee that Hernandez will stick in the rotation, or even if he’ll necessarily be a primary starter — it’s possible Hernandez could be paired with Rodriguez in a piggyback situation to ease the rookie’s path into the majors.  Hernandez started only one of his five appearances with Los Angeles, and had an 8.38 ERA over 9 2/3 total innings.

That small sample represented Hernandez’s first MLB work since 2022, as he spent 2023 mostly dealing with injuries, while tossing only 9 1/3 innings in the Mets’ farm system.  Best known for his time with the Marlins, Hernandez showed flashes of being a solid starter over his five seasons with Miami, but injuries again hampered his ability to stay effective and stay on the mound altogether.  The right-hander has a 5.15 ERA over 297 1/3 career Major League innings, along with a 22% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate.  Opposing batters have taken Hernandez deep to the tune of a 16.5% homer rate, representing his biggest issue in run prevention.

A left knee sprain has kept Hall from pitching since April 20, and he’ll now be out until at least late June after suffering another sprain while on a rehab outing.  Hall told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (X link) that he is trying to pitch through some damage to his MCL, and a consult with Dr. Neal ElAttrache led Hall to attempt to return a quicker return to the mound, with a fuller treatment or possibly knee surgery saved until the offseason.  The other option for Hall is to receive a PRP injection now, but that would sideline him until September.

Brewers Select James Meeker

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The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander James Meeker. Left-hander Aaron Ashby was optioned to Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster, which is now full.

Meeker makes it to the big leagues for the first time at an unusually old age, as he turned 29 in March. That’s a reflection of his unusual path to get to the majors. He pitched for the University of Delaware through 2018 but didn’t get drafted and headed to the Indy Ball circuit. He bounced around for a few years but impressed the Brewers enough to get a minor league deal late in 2021.

In 2022, he tossed 64 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A, allowing just 2.38 earned runs per nine frames. He only struck out 21.3% of batters faced but limited walks to a 6.3% clip and got grounders on roughly half the balls that opponents put in play.

Last year, the results were fairly similar. He tossed 93 innings over 36 appearances in Double-A and Triple-A, including eight starts in an ill-fated move to the rotation. Despite some poor results in those starts, he still finished the year with a 3.39 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate, 3.8% walk rate and lots of grounders again.

Here in 2024, he has again split his time between Double-A and Triple-A. He has 27 innings on the year between those two levels with a 2.67 ERA. His walk rate has jumped to 10.9% but he’s also getting more punchouts, up to 27.3%, while still keeping the ball on the ground. He’ll give the club an extra arm in the bullpen and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

The Brewers have placed Joe Ross and Robert Gasser on the injured list in the past few weeks, thinning their rotation depth. Ashby was recalled a couple of days ago to make a spot start but has quickly been sent down to get a fresh arm onto the big league staff.

Tobias Myers is taking the ball tonight with Freddy Peralta, Bryse Wilson and Colin Rea likely to follow in the days to come. They would need a fifth starter by Tuesday, unless they plan to do some kind of bullpen game. Janson Junk was just optioned recently and there’s a 15-day minimum before he’s allowed to return, unless directly replacing a player going on the IL. Ashby is now in a similar position. Jakob Junis is on a rehab assignment but only tossed two innings in his first outing and may be built up further before being reinstated. Prospect Jacob Misiorowski is pitching well in the minors but hasn’t yet reached Triple-A and isn’t on the 40-man roster.

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