Milwaukee Brewers make another round of roster cuts

With Opening Day in San Diego now just ten days away, the Milwaukee Brewers announced another round of roster cuts after yesterday afternoon’s Cactus League victory over Dodgers:

The release of Ernesto Frieri had been reported earlier in the day yesterday, but shouldn’t come as a surprise based on how the veteran performed in camp. The 32 year old was called upon in eight contests, but registered only 5.2 innings while allowing nine hits and yielding five earned runs en route to a 7.94 ERA. He did strike out nine batters, but also gave up nine free passes and will now be looking for a new job elsewhere.

Keston Hiura was Milwaukee’s first-round pick last season and is currently rated as the org’s #1 prospect, and he did nothing to dampen that excitement during his first big league camp. Hiura was widely praised by coaches and teammates while batting .433/.452/.567 in 30 spring at-bats, cracking one double and launching a single home run. He’ll likely begin his first full season as a professional at Class-A Advanced Carolina and could be a quick-riser through the minors, so long as his elbow holds up and he shows he can handle second base.

The Brewers signed Brady, a 31 year old with 16 MLB appearances under his belt, to a minor league deal with a camp invite this past offseason. He was always on the outside looking in as far as breaking camp in the Brewers’ bullpen, but still managed to show well in his small spring sample size. Over six appearances, Brady tossed 5.2 innings with six strikeouts, zero walks, and two earned runs allowed. The veteran swingman will most likely start the year working in Colorado Springs.

Milwaukee is down to 41 players remaining in camp, although that includes both Jimmy Nelson and Stephen Vogt, who will be placed on the disabled list to start the regular season. That leaves Milwaukee with 14 more cuts to make before Opening Day, meaning that Milwaukee’s front office ought to be pretty busy making evaluations over the next several days.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference