The Brewers are heading into the trade deadline with a rotation puzzle that may not fully solve itself in time.
Kyle Harrison is back on the throwing track after a flexor strain sent him to the injured list shortly before the All-Star Break, and Milwaukee now has a clearer sense of when the left-hander might rejoin the mix. The club said Harrison is aiming for a “4-up” live batting practice session this coming Saturday, July 25, followed by a rehab assignment on July 31. If that holds, an early-August return is the target.
That’s encouraging for Harrison, whose breakout season should be sidelined for only a little more than a month. But for the Brewers’ front office, the timing is awkward. With less than two weeks left before MLB’s midseason trade deadline, Milwaukee is trying to judge its pitching depth while several important arms are still working back.
The Brewers are sitting atop the NL Central and, as play begins on July 22, are just 0.5 game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in baseball. That puts them firmly in buyer territory, and the expectation is that they’ll chase a top-tier starter to strengthen a postseason rotation that leans heavily on inexperience.
There are internal options in the mix. Beyond Harrison and Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee could turn to Logan Henderson, Brandon Sproat, Robert Gasser, Shane Drohan, and Coleman Crow for rotation help. But none of those arms bring much major league or postseason mileage, which is exactly why the Brewers may still need to look outside the organization if they want a true No. 3 starter for October.
The Harrison timeline matters even more because DL Hall is also working back, and the Brewers hope to have him return before the end of the month after a pectoral strain landed him on the IL in early June. Hall has already made his first rehab appearance.
Meanwhile, David Hamilton, fresh off his first rehab start last night, is expected back on the roster sometime during this weekend’s series against the Colorado Rockies. Brandon Lockridge, out since early May, is hoping to return around the August 3 trade deadline and is set to begin a longer rehab assignment in Triple-A tonight.
Milwaukee also added Lance McCullers during the All-Star Break, giving the club another arm in the room but not necessarily the clean postseason answer it wants. McCullers has a track record as a “postseason hero” with the Houston Astros, and the Brewers can certainly hope he rediscovers that form. Still, the more likely path is an external addition if they want a clear No. 3 to pair with Misiorowski and Harrison.
So while the Brewers are positioned to buy, they may have to make those calls before they get a full read on how their own rotation looks once Harrison, Hall, and the others are back in action. That’s what makes the next two weeks so important.
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Milwaukee has been linked to the kind of pitching depth Cincinnati is expected to shop, which makes this a situation worth watching on both sides of the rivalry. The Brewers need arms, the Reds need to make sense of their deadline direction, and the fit could come down to how much value Milwaukee places on immediate help versus the cost of prying it loose. [Read more 🡒]