Former Milwaukee Brewers Rule-5 Pick Selected By Los Angeles Dodgers Prior To Teams Squaring Off

The Milwaukee Brewers made a Rule-5 draft selection last November in which they snagged pitcher Gus Varland out of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.  He remained on the Brewers big league roster until mid May before being designated for assignment and returning to LA.  Three months after his return out west, and one day prior to the Brewers and Dodgers meeting for a three game series, Gus Varland has had his contract selected by Los Angeles.

Former Milwaukee Brewers Rule-5 pick Gus Varland had his contract selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

During his time with the Brewers Gus Varland pitched just 8.2 big league innings and had an 11.42 ERA.  A hand injury off a hard comebacker kept him sidelined for some time and a nine earned run outing against the Cardinals ultimately led to his designation for assignment.

What opened the door for him to be added to the Dodgers roster is the fact that new relief pitcher acquisition Joe Kelly was placed on the injured list. He also was very deserving of a promotion for while at Triple-A Oklahoma City he had a 2.16 earned run average in 33.1 innings pitched with a 29.3% strikeout rate.

It will be interesting to see if Gus Varland gets an opportunity against his former team.  The Brewers and Dodgers play a three game series starting Tuesday, August 15 and ending Thursday, August 17.