Brewers reinstate Josh Hader, option Hoby Milner

The Milwaukee Brewers are slowly getting back to full strength after dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, announcing before this afternoon’s game that Josh Hader is back in action on the active roster. Hoby Milner has been sent to the minors to make room, and to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, John Axford was moved to the 60-day IL.

Hader, 27, is in the midst of his strongest statistical season yet. Functioning as a one-inning Closer, Hader has appeared in 40 games and logged 39.1 innings while posting career-bests in ERA (1.83) and FIP (1.90). He’s punched out 67 batters against 14 walks, and the 2021 All-Star has so far locked down 22 saves while blowing only one.

Hoby Milner pitched a scoreless inning of relief to finish yesterday’s 10-0 victory of the Cubs and owns a 4.97 ERA in 12.2 MLB innings this season, with 20 strikeouts against just two walks. He’s dominated at the Triple-A level, yielding just a 1.50 ERA across 24 innings pitched with a 39:2 K/BB rate.

Axford’s season has been considered over since he blew out his elbow during his first outing after returning to the big leagues for the first time since 2018, but that will now become official as he has moved to the 60-day IL, where he will continue to receive and MLB paycheck and service time for the remainder of the season.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference