Milwaukee Brewers place Corey Knebel on 10-day disabled list, recall Adrian Houser

Tom Haudricourt of JSO tweets:

I’ve seen quite a bit of speculation of who would come up, from Junior Guerra to Taylor Williams, but Houser is a bit of a surprise.

Houser came to Milwaukee in the 2015 trade that sent Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to Houston in exchange for Domingo Santana, Brett Phillips, Josh Hader, and Adrian. With Houser now up, it is possible that all four could be contributors this season. Phillips, of course, is now at AAA serving as outfield depth after a successful debut last season.

Of the other potential call-ups, Williams made sense with a good spring training on top of a solid year last season topped off with a September call-up. However, it would appear that Williams is slated to be the Sky Sox closer, and perhaps the Brewers want him to work on that role in AAA if at all possible. JJ Hoover was also mentioned as a possible candidate, but he would have required a 40 man roster spot.

Houser was on the AA Biloxi roster, so his recall jumps some more experienced arms and some that perhaps are considered more advanced. Part of that thinking could be that Houser is coming back from Tommy John surgery in 2016, but his performance at the end of the 2017 season in A ball and the fall league, along with what he showed in the spring, make him the man most likely to succeed in the Brewers’ pen.

Houser (6’4”, 235) was a second round pick in the second round of the 2011 draft by the Astros. He has a mid-90’s fastball and an improving curve/slider combination. He put in a very brief two innings in the 2015 season after the trade.

An update on Knebel:

In Knebel's abscense, the club will use a closer by committee approach, at least to start. But Josh Hader is expected to remain in his current fireman role.