Paolo Espino optioned for Jeremy Jeffress, Brandon Woodruff expected soon

Jeremy Jeffress is back with the Milwaukee Brewers after a deal at the trade deadline, and now he’s back on the 25-man roster. The team announced after Tuesday night’s win over the St. Louis Cardinals that Paolo Espino will be sent back to Colorado Springs and Jeffress would be taking his roster spot.

Espino was recalled on July 28th, but didn’t pitch during his latest cup of coffee in the big leagues. He last pitched for the Brewers on July 2nd, working the last two innings of a 10-3 loss to Miami and giving up 4 runs.

It’s unclear what Jeffress’ role will be in the Brewers bullpen, with Corey Knebel and Anthony Swarzak holding down the 9th and 8th innings. He could team up with Jacob Barnes to handle the 7th inning when needed, but with his struggles this year, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Craig Counsell work Jeffress into some lower-leverage situations before calling on him in close games.

In other pitching news, Brent Suter was officially announced as the Brewers’ starter for tonight’s game after the club previously listed the starting pitcher as TBD heading into the series. The starter for Thursday’s series finale is still TBD, but the team’s hope is it will be a returning Matt Garza.

If Garza can return, the team will still need a spot starter this weekend against the Tampa Bay Rays. There are rumblings that it could be Brandon Woodruff, who would finally be able to make his major league debut (barring any hamstring flare-ups in his pre-game routine).

Two more roster moves would have to be made to make room for Garza and Woodruff (or whoever the second starter would be). Considering recent comments about the centerfield situation and the team’s apparent desire to give Keon Broxton most of the playing time there, it’s possible Lewis Brinson is one of the two players sent back down in the next few days. The other is more likely to be Wei-Chung Wang optioned than a Carlos Torres DFA.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference