The Brewers are almost certainly using one of their September roster spots on JoJo Romero, but the more intriguing call-up decision sits behind him. Bo Naylor, the deadline pickup who has hit the ground running at Triple-A, could be next in line - unless service time gets in the way.
Naylor has wasted little time making his presence felt since Milwaukee landed him in the deal that sent Blake Perkins and Craig Yoho to the Cleveland Guardians. In 14 games with Triple-A, the left-handed-hitting catcher is batting .283/.353/.550 with eight extra-base hits and 17 RBI. He has also driven in at least one run in eight of those 14 games, a fast start that has clearly put him on the radar.
Manager Pat Murphy did nothing to cool that speculation. When he talked about possible September call-ups, he suggested the Brewers could carry a third catcher, according to Reviewing the Brew's Owen Jonas, among others. Murphy also left the door open for a right-handed-hitting outfielder - almost certainly Brandon Lockridge - which keeps Naylor squarely in the conversation for the final month.
Still, there’s a catch.
The Brewers may be weighing whether to keep Naylor in the minors long enough to preserve an extra year of team control. Milwaukee pulled off a similar maneuver with Andrew Vaughn last season, when he stayed in the minors after being acquired in a trade and ended up short of the six years of service time needed for free agency by season’s end. That kept Vaughn under club control for the 2027 season as well.
Naylor is in a different stage of his career, sitting at 2.113 years of MLB service time, but the math is similar. Brewers minor league expert Spencer Michaelis noted that if Milwaukee brings him up for about 12-14 days this year, Naylor could collect enough service time to leave the Brewers with only three more years of control. If they keep him below that line, they’d gain an additional year.
Whether that calculation actually drives the decision is still unknown. What isn’t in doubt is Naylor’s bat, which has been loud enough to force the issue. He also brings a postseason moment that stands out - last year, he cracked a three-run homer in Game 2 of the Guardians-Tigers Wild Card Series to break the game open.
So Milwaukee has a straightforward but tricky choice to make before rosters expand tomorrow morning: reward the production and add a third catcher for the stretch run, or protect the extra year of control and leave Naylor in the minors a little longer.
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