The Brewers have moved left-hander Rob Zastryzny off the 40-man roster, designating him for assignment, according to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Zastryzny was already on the injured list and working through a rehab assignment, but with no minor league options left, Milwaukee chose to open the spot rather than bring him back into the bullpen.
Zastryzny, 34, has not appeared in the majors this season because of a trapezius strain, and he has spent the year on the 60-day injured list. His rehab has been a stop-and-start process. He began four separate rehab assignments that were shut down before this latest attempt.
The lefty was a useful arm for Milwaukee over the last two seasons. From 2024-25, he logged 29 2/3 innings with a 2.12 ERA, along with a 20.5% strikeout rate and a 9.5% walk rate. Those numbers weren’t dominant, but they were good enough to make him a steady part of the Brewers’ relief mix when healthy.
This season, though, has been much tougher. Zastryzny has a 3.27 ERA in 11 minor league innings overall, but the more troubling detail is the drop in velocity. He sat around 92 mph during last year’s strong run, but in Triple-A this year he has averaged just 90.2 mph while trying to work back from the shoulder and upper back issue.
The Brewers can afford to be patient with some players, but this roster move shows how little margin there is for an injured reliever with no options left. Milwaukee has the best record in baseball and is pushing to lock up a first-round bye in the postseason.
Zastryzny was drafted by the Cubs in the second round in 2013 and has now appeared in parts of seven major league seasons. His 22 innings in the majors last year were a career high, and he has 89 big league innings overall with a 3.84 ERA. Even so, injuries, shaky rate stats and modest velocity have kept him from sticking for long.
He has also spent parts of 10 seasons in Triple-A, where he owns a 4.69 ERA across 437 1/3 innings.
Another club could still take a look if it’s intrigued by his 2024-25 work in Milwaukee, but any team claiming him would have to put him straight on a major league roster because he is out of options. He remains under control for three more years through arbitration, though that could be a tough sell for a journeyman reliever who will turn 35 next spring and has spent the entire season dealing with an injury that has left his velocity two miles per hour below where it was most recently.
If Zastryzny clears waivers, he can elect free agency and get a head start on the offseason. At that point, he would likely draw interest on a non-roster deal with an invitation to spring training.
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