Milwaukee Brewers option Corbin Burnes, recall Aaron Wilkerson

The Milwaukee Brewers haven’t gotten many deep outings from their starting pitchers of late, putting excess stress on a bullpen that has already worked the most innings in the National League this season. Milwaukee’s relievers have tallied 312.0 frames so far in 2019, nearly 30 more than the second place team on the Senior Circuit (Pittsburgh at 285.0 innings pitched). With that heavy workload in mind, Slingin’ David Stearns made a much needed roster move to bring a fresh arm before this afternoon’s tilt with Cincinnati:

Corbin Burnes simply cannot find any semblance of consistency this season, even after getting dropped from the starting rotation back into the bullpen role that he thrived in during 2018. He didn’t do Our Hero any favors in the seventh inning yesterday, allowing three of Junior Guerra’s baserunners to score before letting in two runs of his own. For the season, Burnes owns an 8.85 ERA across 40.2 innings pitched.

Wilkerson has made three appearances at the big league level for the Menomonee Valley Nine this season, totaling 7.1 innings with six runs allowed. He’s been much better while pitching in the rotation for Triple-A San Antonio this season, however. At the highest level of the minors, Wilkerson owns a sterling 1.79 ERA with 52 strikeouts against 17 walks in 50.1 innings. He last appeared for the Missions on June 16th and should be quite well-rested in case Craig Counsell needs some length behind starter Jhoulys Chacin.

Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs