The Milwaukee Brewers have had a terrible run of luck when it comes to the health of their starting pitchers. Even before the season started, All-Star right-hander and perennial Cy Young candidate Brandon Woodruff was ruled out for the year. Since then, Wade Miley and Robert Gasser also have been ruled out for the season, the latter being called up to take the place of other injured starting pitchers.
In addition to the three starters that are out for the remainder of the 2024 season, the Brewers have also lost Joe Ross, Jakob Junis, and DL Hall to injury. Junis was just reinstated on Friday, but the other two remain on the injured list for the time being.
Despite all of these injuries, the Brewers are 44-31 and have a comfortable six-and-a-half game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the top spot in the National League Central Division. Not only that, Milwaukee is just one of four National League teams currently with a winning record this year.
The Milwaukee Brewers Need Starting Pitching Depth
With so many of their starters injured, the Brewers have had to get creative and unconventional with how they approach each game. Left-handed reliever Jared Koenig has made five starts this season as the team’s “opener.” He typically will pitch an inning before the “scheduled” starter comes in for [hopefully] five or six innings of relief.
Milwaukee has also had to rely on young starters from the minors. Gasser was having a phenomenal rookie season until it was revealed that he needed Tommy John surgery. Tobias Myers got off to a rough start after his first call up and was sent back down to Nashville. However, his second stint in Milwaukee has produced excellent results, and he is 3-0 in his last three starts.
Carlos Rodriguez recently made his Big League debut, but he has struggled with command early in his few opportunities.
Undoubtedly, the Brewers will be buying starting pitching at the MLB trade deadline. However, one former Brewers pitcher thinks they should look to a controversial free agent first.
Former Milwaukee Brewers Pitcher Seth McClung Believes the Team Should Sign Trevor Bauer
Earlier on Friday afternoon, former Brewers reliever Seth McClung posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he believes Milwaukee is one of several teams that should go out and sign Trevor Bauer:
He might not be the best guy in the world, but I honestly think he’s served his time for being an ass.
As for the SA? He’s been cleared of that, to me that’s the end of the story as far as punishment.Teams I think should sign @BauerOutage @RaysBaseball @Brewers @Padres…
— Seth McClung (@Seth_3773) June 21, 2024
As one can see, McClung also listed the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins.
As McClung also notes, Bauer is not the best guy in the world. That being said, the former Brewers pitcher is of the opinion that the disgraced Cy Young Award winner has “served his time for being an a–.” Of course, that was not why Bauer was suspended; he was suspended for violating MLB’s policy on domestic abuse and sexual assault.
While he was never charged with a crime, the actions that he did commit violated the league’s policy. Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias is serving a similar suspension for domestic violence.
And while Bauer is free to sign with any team now that his suspension is over, that does not mean teams have to sign him. The fact of the matter is that if there was any locker room that had players that wanted to or would be okay with playing with him, he would have a job in Major League Baseball.
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