The Brewers turned to a familiar name for bullpen help on Thursday, calling up left-hander Colton Gordon after a quick run through the organization that began with the Lance McCullers Jr. trade in July.
Milwaukee acquired Gordon, McCullers and Houston prospect Jayden Fielder in a three-player deal during the All-Star break. The Brewers’ initial hope was tied to McCullers, a former Astros postseason hero whose effectiveness had faded after a string of injuries.
That experiment lasted only two outings out of the bullpen, with the second ending after he issued four walks in 1.2 innings. Soon after, he was designated for assignment.
That left Gordon as the real prize for Milwaukee, even if the club never viewed him as an immediate major league answer. The Brewers took on McCullers’ remaining salary to reduce the prospect cost in the deal, much like the Shelby Miller and Jordan Montgomery trade deadline move Matt Arnold and company made last year. Gordon, 27, had already logged 95.1 innings for Houston across the 2025 and 2026 seasons before landing in Milwaukee, but the expectation was that he’d head to Triple-A and work his way forward from there.
That’s exactly what happened. Gordon stayed with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds after the mid-July trade, and now he’s finally getting his first crack with the big-league club.
The Brewers needed another arm after Kyle Harrison’s short start in yesterday’s series finale in Pittsburgh, so they sent right-hander Garrett Stallings to Triple-A and added Gordon to the major league roster. Milwaukee announced the move on Thursday.
Gordon’s Triple-A numbers have been uneven. In 10 starts with Nashville, he put up a 4.67 ERA, struck out 48 batters in 54 innings, and gave up 10 home runs.
He’s done a solid job avoiding walks, but his command inside the strike zone has been inconsistent, and that’s helped fuel the homer problem. The issue has followed him into the majors as well.
The left-hander works with two fastballs, a four-seam and a sinker, and he’s leaned more heavily on the sinker since arriving in the Brewers’ system. He also mixes in a slider against left-handed hitters and a changeup-curveball combination against righties.
There’s plenty to work with, but it hasn’t all lined up yet for Gordon. Milwaukee’s pitching staff will now try to help make that happen.
For now, the Brewers appear set to use him in a multi-inning, low-leverage role. Gordon hasn’t pitched since September 12, when he threw 97 pitches over 5.2 innings, so he should be fresh for tonight’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles. If he doesn’t appear in the first two games of the series, he could be in line to start Sunday’s finale, though the Brewers have not announced a starter for that game.
Stallings’ move down is more about timing than performance. He threw 42 pitches on Thursday afternoon and was not likely to be available for the next couple of games.
Still, he has been effective when called upon, allowing no earned runs in 14 big-league innings while striking out six batters in three innings yesterday. Milwaukee simply needed a fresh arm, and Stallings is one of the few relievers with minor league options left.
The Brewers will hope Gordon can be the next pitcher to find his footing in Milwaukee. Their front office has a strong history of turning struggling arms into useful big-league pieces, and Gordon now gets the chance to see whether that pattern holds again.
In Other News...
Brewers Open A Bullpen Spot As Veteran Lefty Nears Uncertain Return
The Brewers cleared a bullpen opening by designating left-hander Rob Zastryzny for assignment, a roster move that underscores how tight the margins can get in late-season pitching decisions. Zastryzny has spent this season on the injured list with a trapezius strain and has not appeared in the majors in 2024, leaving Milwaukee to make a choice on a pitcher whose status has been uncertain for some time.
Because Zastryzny is out of options, the Brewers could not simply stash him back in the bullpen while they waited for more clarity on his return. Instead, they removed him from the roster, a sign the club is prioritizing immediate flexibility even as one veteran leftys path back to the active roster remains murky. [Read more 🡒]
Cristopher Sanchez Is At The Center Of A Heated Cy Young Debate
The National League Cy Young race has turned into one of those late-season arguments that can split even the most numbers-minded observers, and Jacob Misiorowski has found himself right in the middle of it for the Brewers. ESPN analyst Bradford Doolittles AXE metric has Philadelphias Cristopher Sanchez sitting atop the field, yet Doolittle himself leans toward Misiorowski when weighing the season as a whole.
For Milwaukee, it is the kind of debate worth tracking closely because it speaks to just how dominant Misiorowski has been in his first full run at this level. The statistical comparison with Sanchez has become the centerpiece of the conversation, but the bigger question is whether the Brewers right-hander has done enough beyond the model to make the award feel like his to lose. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Have A Prospect Pipeline Detail Fans Will Love
The Brewers next wave of talent keeps showing up in conversations like this, and the broader picture is hard to miss: the Dominican Republic remains one of baseballs deepest talent pipelines. Any discussion of the games most electric players now starts with Juan Soto as the best active major leaguer from the island, and the prospect side is just as loaded, with Jess Made standing at the top of the current rankings. It is another reminder of how much impact Dominican-born players continue to have across the sport, from established stars to the next generation waiting in the wings.
For Milwaukee, that matters because the club has built a reputation for finding and developing talent wherever it can, and international scouting has become a big part of that identity. A ranking that runs through the top 25 Dominican prospects, complete with teams and positions, is the kind of snapshot Brewers fans pay attention to because it speaks to how much upside still exists in the systems broader ecosystem. The names at the top may belong to other organizations for now, but the pipeline itself is the sort of baseball current the Brewers want to keep tapping into. [Read more 🡒]