Brewers recall Taylor Jungmann, Damien Magnifico, and Andrew Susac

With most of the minor league seasons done, the Brewers made their final wave of September call-ups official this afternoon. They added three more players, recalling Taylor Jungmann from Double-A Biloxi, as well as Damien Magnifico and Andrew Susac from Triple-A Colorado Springs. This will bring the Brewers active roster to 33 players (19 pitchers and 14 position players), and should be everyone the Brewers are bringing up this September.

It’s been a roller coaster year for Jungmann, but this call-up is a reward for Jungmann’s drastic improvement at Biloxi. After starting the season terribly for the Brewers (9.15 ERA, 6.10 FIP) and continuing the spiral at Colorado Springs (9.87 ERA, 8.85 FIP), Jungmann was sent to the rookie camp in Arizona to get his mind straightened out and get back on track. He went to Biloxi after that, and in 13 starts, recorded a 2.51 ERA and 2.99 FIP, as well as a 9.68 K/9 and 4.18 BB/9. That was enough to get him a return to Milwaukee this September. With the rotation full at this point, Jungmann will likely work out of the bullpen for now. However, a start or two has not been ruled out yet.

Damien Magnifico is also back with the Brewers after a successful season in the minor leagues. Magnifico was previously up in mid-August and pitched in two games, allowing 1 run, 1 hit, and 2 walks with no strikeouts. Meanwhile, in Colorado Springs, he recorded a 4.06 ERA and 3.82 FIP, as well as a 8.85 K/9 and 4.79 BB/9. What’s been most impressive for Magnifico is his home run rate, as he allowed just 2 home runs in 62 innings for Colorado Springs. He should also get some work out of the bullpen to finish the season.

The one player who will be making his Brewers debut is catcher Andrew Susac. Acquired as part of the Will Smith trade, Susac hasn’t seen much action in the minors since he joined the organization due to an oblique strain. However, he is healthy now and will serve as the team’s third catcher for the last month of the season, getting a few starts as well. Overall this season, Susac has recorded a .254/.320/.408 batting line with 8 home runs, 41 RBI, 32 runs, and a 62/27 K/BB ratio.

While this is it for Brewers call-ups, there are a few names missing that some people were hoping to see. The most notable two names are Josh Hader and Lewis Brinson. While both have put together excellent seasons in the Brewers minor leagues, it was simply a matter of playing time. With 33 players already on the active roster, Counsell didn’t see them getting enough playing time to justify a call-up. Meanwhile, there’s a few other names on the Brewers 40-man roster (David Goforth, Jorge Lopez, Garin Cecchini, Andy Wilkins, Michael Reed) who didn’t get call-ups either. While playing time could also be the reason here, with 40-man space needed this offseason, not getting a chance in September could hurt some of their chances to make it through that roster crunch.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs.