Milwaukee Brewers Roster Moves: Manny Pina activated from DL, Jacob Nottingham optioned to Triple-A

The Brewers begin a nine-game road trip tonight with a two-game series in Kansas City to start. Before the game, though, they made a roster move, bringing their starting catcher back into the mix.

Manny Pina had been out since injuring his calf on April 11 in St. Louis. He had hoped to avoid a DL stint, but it didn’t improve enough for him to avoid the DL, and was placed on it on April 16 (retroactive to April 13). A short stint on the DL allowed him to get his calf healthy again, and he was activated from the DL after just a minimum stint on it.

Meanwhile, Jacob Nottingham is heading back to Colorado Springs after working as the backup catcher with the Brewers for a week. He appeared in just three games, didn’t record a hit but did record two walks in seven plate appearances. Nottingham will head back to Colorado Springs for now and continue to develop, though he did show some good plate discipline and work behind the plate in his week with the team.

With Pina back, he figures to slide back into that starting catcher spot right away. Jett Bandy did a decent job holding down the spot while Pina was out, batting .219/.286/.375 with a home run over the last two weeks. However, Pina provides a better walk rate (10.8% vs. 2.2%) and strikeout rate (13.5% vs. 30.4%) over Bandy, which should help provide some stability at the bottom of the batting order.

Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.