Milwaukee Brewers Call Up Top Prospects Josh Hader and Lewis Brinson
As if being in first place wasn’t already enough, Brewers fans now have two more reasons to be excited.
The Milwaukee Brewers have called up top pitching prospect Josh Hader and top overall prospect Lewis Brinson from Triple-A Colorado Springs in a pair of recent moves.
On Friday, the team announced Hader would be called up as right-handed pitcher; Paolo Espino was sent down to make room. Hader was in uniform for Milwaukee Friday night, but did not appear in the game. He will be working out of the bullpen for the immediate future, Brewers general manager David Stearns told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. This is far from unheard of, as teams generally go to great lengths to protect their young arms. Chris Sale, for example, pitched out of the bullpen immediately following his call-up, as did David Price in the 2008 pennant race for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Hader has made 12 Triple-A starts this season, and is 3–4 with a 5.37 ERA in 51 innings. He has 52 strikeouts after recording 161 in 126 innings between Double and Triple-A last season.
The Brewers weren’t done, though, as it was announced Saturday afternoon that Brinson would be joining the team as a result of Jonathan Villar heading to the 10-day disabled list.
Brinson is slashing .312/.397/.503 in 45 Triple-A games this season. In his final five games before being called up, Brinson went 12–21 (.571) at the plate and drive in seven runs.
