The Milwaukee Brewers made a roster move to help their beleaguered bullpen earlier today when they brought Brent Suter back to the majors at the expense of Kirk Nieuwenhuis. But the Brewers have also announced that a change will soon take place in their starting rotation, as Matt Garza is ready to return after starting the year on the year on the 10-day disabled list with a groin strain. Garza will make his season debut on Monday, with Tommy Milone being shifted to the bullpen.
Milone has made three starts for the Brewers and four appearances overall after signing as a free agent this past offseason. He’s worked 16.0 innings with a rather unsightly 5.63 ERA, though DRA (4.47) and FIP (4.04) both feel he’s pitched better than his results indicate. Milone is sporting a 12:1 K/BB ratio and has only allowed hard contact on 23.2% of the balls put in play against him this year, perhaps indicating that he may have been a bit unlucky to allow the 3 home runs that he has. Craig Counsell told reporters that Milone would be available beginning Sunday.
Garza, meanwhile, will rejoin the starting rotation after making two rehab assignments in the minor leagues. He logged a 5.0 inning start with Colorado Springs with 2 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts, and was going to make a second start with the Sky Sox before weather interfered. He wound up instead taking a turn in the low-A Timber Rattlers’ rotation, pitching 5.2 inning with 9 hits, 4 earned runs, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts. Garza was healthy enough only to make 19 starts last year, posting a 4.51 ERA (4.37 FIP) with 6.2 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, and a 54.8% ground ball rate.
Another roster move will need to be made by Monday in order to accommodate Garza’s arrival. That could mean that Brent Suter once again gets sent back out to AAA, which would make some sense as the lefty Milone slides into the ‘pen. That would probably be the easiest move to make, as well, as Suter has already used an option this season and the club can send him back and forth to the minor leagues freely.
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus