Travis Shaw sent back to minors; Hernan Perez called up, Burch Smith DFAed

Whatever happened to Travis Shaw will be one of the questions we ask about the Brewers’ 2019 season for awhile. Whatever the reason, Shaw hasn’t been able to snap out of his season-long funk at the Major League level, even after appearing to find his groove in Triple-A.

Now, after his latest failed run in the majors, he’ll be headed back to San Antonio. The team announced they were sending him back down and bringing back Hernan Perez to the big league team. Since Perez was previously DFAed and outrighted to the minors, he had to be re-added to the 40-man roster. After the trade deadline brought numerous arms to the Brewers, Burch Smith was the one DFAed off the 40-man to make room for the returning Perez.

Shaw appeared to be turning things around during his stint in San Antonio, but there was no clear place for him to play once he was brought back up, and the struggles at the big league level continued. He went just 2-for-14 since returning to the lineup on July 26th, managing just two singles and a walk while striking out five times. Those two hits came in the same game against Chicago on August 4th.

He cryptically made a tweet with a “peace” emoji before deleting it before the move was announced.

Perez was hitting .290/.372/.523 for an .895 OPS in Triple-A, which is just above average for the league this year. He picked up 5 home runs and 10 doubles in 27 games.

Perez will immediately be put back in the starting lineup, as he’s hitting 8th and playing shortstop tonight against Texas.

Shaw could be back in September once rosters expand, but it’s hard to envision a scenario where a contending Brewers team would have the at-bats (or the patience) for him in the lineup.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference