The San Francisco Giants took a low-cost shot at strengthening their bullpen on Friday, claiming right-hander Joel Kuhnel off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers.
Kuhnel, 31, has worked in 35 relief appearances this season and carries a 4.84 ERA with 22 strikeouts and a 1.47 WHIP. His most recent outing for Milwaukee came on July 2 against the Cincinnati Reds, after which he landed on the 15-day injured list with right rotator cuff tendinopathy.
He later finished a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville before the Brewers designated him for assignment on September 2.
Over six big-league seasons with the Reds, Astros, Rays, Athletics and Brewers, Kuhnel has appeared in 117 games out of the bullpen. He owns a 5.58 ERA with 98 strikeouts across 129 innings.
The right-hander leans on a mid-90s sinker and a cutter, giving him a profile built more around contact management than missing bats. That sort of arm can still matter when a club needs someone who can cover innings late in the year.
For San Francisco, the move adds another middle-relief option for manager Bob Melvin without costing the organization a prospect. Kuhnel gives the Giants a piece they can use in blowouts and longer outings as the season winds down.
The Giants are 25.5 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and 16 games out of the NL wild card, so this is clearly a depth play rather than a move aimed at a serious postseason run.
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Brewers Bullpen Turnover Takes Another Interesting Late-Season Turn
The Brewers bullpen shuffle picked up another wrinkle this week when right-hander Joel Kuhnel was claimed off waivers by the Giants. Kuhnel had worked for both the Athletics and Milwaukee this season, logging 35 appearances overall and giving the Brewers a veteran arm who could be deployed in a variety of relief spots as the season wore on.
San Francisco is bringing him in with a clear immediate role in low-leverage situations, but the move also gives Kuhnel a chance to stick beyond the final stretch if he handles it well. For Milwaukee, it is another reminder of how quickly late-season relief depth can turn over, especially when clubs are constantly trying to find usable innings without losing flexibility elsewhere on the roster. [Read more 🡒]
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The broader concern is that this might be less about one bad day and more about the grind of his first full major league season beginning to show. Pitchers often need time to adjust to the workload, and for a young arm like Misiorowskis, that adjustment can come with some visible wear. Milwaukee does not need to panic, but it does need to keep an eye on whether the velocity trend and heavier reliance on off-speed stuff are signs of fatigue or just a temporary dip in form. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Face A Real Jake Bauers Problem This Offseason
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Jake Bauers performance has also made this a tougher market than it might have been a year ago. If Milwaukee does make that offer, he could still decide to test free agency in search of a richer deal, and there should be no shortage of interest from other clubs looking for a productive bat. For the Brewers, it is one of those offseason decisions that sounds simple on paper but can shape the shape of the roster well beyond the winter meetings. [Read more 🡒]