After claiming Nick Franklin off waivers yesterday, the Milwaukee Brewers still needed to make a 25 man roster move in order to clear space for the out-of-options utilityman before he reports on Friday. Today we learned that said move will be the removal of Taylor Jungmann from the big league roster, as he’s being optioned to AA Biloxi and will be stretched out as a starter. Milwaukee will go back down to a 7 man bullpen, at least for the time being.
Jungmann, 27, overcame his disastrous 2016 season in order to make the big league bullpen out of spring training. He appeared in only one game for Milwaukee during the opening series against Colorado, but allowed a run on two hits with a walk and hit batter in just 2⁄3 of an inning during yesterday’s game. He had to be pulled after turning a 6-0 game in the top of the 9th from a blowout into a save situation. Jungmann had a minor league option remaining, so Milwaukee won’t need to expose him to waivers in order to demote him.
Like with Jorge Lopez, the Brewers are shielding Jungmann from a return to Colorado Springs following his tremendous struggles there last season. After bombing in first five big league starts of the year, Jungmann imploded for the Sky Sox to the tune of a 9.87 ERA and 24:35 K/BB ratio (yes, you read that right) in 31.0 innings. He was able to right the ship a bit last year in Biloxi, and the Brewers hope that they’ll see more of the same when he returns there again this season. Jungmann will work to get his pitch count in shape in order to start ballgames, further adding to Milwaukee’s stable of rotation depth. He posted a 3.77 ERA/3.92 FIP in 21 starts for the Brewers as a rookie in 2015.
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs