In less than one week the calendar flips to September. This means rosters will expand from 26 players to 28. Players called up must be on the 40 man roster and in order to be play-off eligible must be added to the 40 man or on the current 60 day IL by August 31st. In this article, we are going to look at three Brewers who should remain in the minor leagues instead of being promoted.
1) INF Keston Hiura
Hiura was last optioned down to the minor leagues on July 30th due to his performance. Rowdy Tellez breaking out and the addition of Eduardo Escobar are big factors into why we have not seen him since. Since that time, he additionally spent some time on the COVID-IL.
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From a performance standpoint, Hiura’s peripheral minor league stats look incredible. In 100 minor league at bats he has a .320 batting average, .980 OPS, and a .450 BABIP. However, over the last month his numbers have taken a significant dip to the tune of a .183 batting average. While Hiura is on the Brewers 40 man roster, it appears the best answer for him this year is to let him finish the season out in the minor leagues.
2) RHP Alec Bettinger
Bettinger was added to the Brewers 40 man roster last off-season. His impressive 2019 minor league campaign played a big role in this as well as his play at the alternative training site in 2020. He ended up making his major league debut on May 2nd against the Dodgers. Unfortunately, it was a debut he would like to forget that included surrendering 11 earned runs.
In general, 2021 has note been kind to Bettinger. He has been used primarily as a starter for the Nashville Sounds and currently possesses a 5.10 ERA. He has been a victim of a few blow up outings including a total of 15 earned runs during his first two starts in August. Results have been very mixed for the 26 year old and given his inconsistencies the Brewers likely will not want to promote him to the big league club during the last month of the season.
3) RHP Josh Lindblom
Lindblom elected to remain with the Brewers after being designated for assignment in May earlier this year. For the Sounds he has been very good. He has covered over 80 innings and has a 2.34 ERA.
The biggest issue with Lindblom is if this success will carry over to the major leagues. In two seasons he has struggled with the Brewers posting a 5.16 ERA in 2020 and 9.72 in 2021. After dominating over seas, Lindblom unfortunately has not panned out. If he were to be promoted this September, a corresponding 40 man roster move would have to take place.
Historically, Craig Counsell and company have had terrific Septembers. Call ups have played a big part of that so it will be interesting to see which players do make appearances. The Brewers are currently on pace for a franchise record number of wins, so they will want to add players who will contribute in a positive manner.
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