Milwaukee Brewers announce first round of roster cuts

Opening Day is now fewer than three weeks away, and today the Milwaukee Brewers announced their first round of roster cuts to start whittling down from 57 players at the start of camp to the final 25 men who will comprise the Opening Day roster. Today’s cuts include eight players, seven of whom are pitchers:

Three players who were sent out are on the 40 man roster and thus required option years to be expended. This is Trey Supak’s first option year after his contract was selected during the most recent offseason. Milwaukee’s #11 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) pitched in only one game this spring, allowing three runs on two homers with a pair of strikeouts in 1.0 inning of work. Diplan, the org’s #17 prospect, is now on his second option year. He logged 2.1 innings in three appearances this spring, allowing four runs and five walks. Maybe this is the year he gets converted to a full-time reliever. This will also be Aaron Wilkerson’s second option season. He was added to the 40 man roster as a September call-up in 2017 then served as shuttle depth last season. In 5.1 innings this spring he punched out 10 batters, but also allowed five runs. He figures to get stretched out and begin the season in the rotation for Triple-A San Antonio.

The other five players were in camp as non-roster invitees and were reassigned to minor league camp. That includes two more ranked prospects: #6 Zack Brown, last year’s org Minor League Pitcher of the Year, and #10 Payton Henry. Brown impressed while allowing only one earned run across 6.0 innings this spring and should be on his way to joining the rotation in San Antonio. Henry, a 21 year old catcher, had one hit - a double - and an RBI in 12 at-bats across nine games. Bowdien Derby allowed five runs in 3.2 spring innings, while Jon Olczak allowed four runs in 3.0 innings but did strike out six. Both hurlers figure to work out of the bullpen in San Antonio. Finally, Angel Perdomo allowed two runs in 4.0 spring innings, but also punched out eight. He drew praise from manager Craig Counsell for his stuff on the mound and could head to Double-A Biloxi to begin the season. His arrival to the majors could be hastened by a full-time move to the bullpen.

After today’s cuts, Milwaukee’s spring roster is down to 49 players.

Statistics courtesy of MLB.com