In a position to help the Milwaukee Brewers now, and at minimal cost, Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold didn’t hesitate.
On Wednesday, July 15 he pulled the trigger on a deal with the Houston Astros that netted a pair of major league arms in right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. and left-hander Colton Gordon as well as cash in exchange for a high-profile yet not highly rated prospect in Jadyn Fielder.
“Where we are in the season right now, we definitely want to insulate ourselves with as much pitching depth as we possibly can,” Arnold said. “Accessing two guys who have a chance to help us here in the second half is really important. We’ve obviously had some injuries lately and throughout the season, and adding a couple arms like this is something that’s really exciting for us.”
Indeed, the Brewers limped into the break with Brandon Woodruff and Kyle Harrison on the injured list and Jacob Misiorowski having skipped his final start, leaving their rotation quite thin as they begin their second-half push with a five-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the Central Division standings.
If and when McCullers will be able to help remains to be seen; the 32-year-old hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 13 due to a rotator cuff impingement. He was scheduled to make a fourth minor-league rehab start on Friday but it’s possible his next outing could be for the Brewers, who open a three-game series against the Miami Marlins at American Family Field on Friday.
“Pretty close,” said Arnold of where McCullers is in his recovery and rehab. “He’s going to travel to Milwaukee here tomorrow. I don’t know if he’ll be active immediately but it should be fairly soon. We’re going to talk about that with him tomorrow. We’ll work through some of those different options for him, get to know him and see where he is in his progression and make sure we don’t rush him.
“But we do think he has a chance to help us.”
The cash coming from Houston will help offset the roughly $8 million McCullers has remaining on his $17 million salary for 2026, although Milwaukee will be absorbing around $2.5 million of his contract according to reports.
McCullers was 2-3 with a 6.86 ERA and WHIP of 1.53 in eight starts for the Astros before his injury but has been a successful pitcher when healthy who boasts a 3.47 ERA in 19 postseason appearances.
“There’s definitely risk associated, but I think we talk about the upside with a player that has a really good track record as a winning pitcher and has pitched very well in postseason games,” said Arnold. “He’s struggled a little bit this year but there’s definitely upside here and we have some ideas on ways we can tap into his arsenal to improve.
“He’s throwing the ball well in Triple-A lately so we’ll get him with (Chris) Hook and Jim (Henderson) and put him in the car wash and hopefully he can help.”
Gordon, meanwhile, has put up a 6-3 record, 3.69 ERA and WHIP of 1.18 in 14 appearances (13 starts) at Class AAA Sugar Land. His numbers in four appearances for the Astros this season were ugly (11.57 ERA, WHIP of 2.57) but Arnold said Gordon’s overall skill set was enticing to the Brewers.
“I think he’s likely going to start for us in Nashville,” Arnold said. “He’s a guy that we’ve targeted for a while. He’s got really good pitchability. We really like his secondary weapons. He’s more of a command-and-deception type of guy but he’s pitched very well in Triple-A and these types of starters are really hard to access.”
In Fielder, the Brewers are parting with one of the sons of former first baseman Prince Fielder who signed the outfielder-designated hitter as an undrafted free agent a little over a year ago. He isn’t on any top-30 prospect lists, but he’d performed ably at Class Low-A Wilson with a .233 average, three home runs, 23 runs batted in an an OPS of .813 in 45 games.
“Love the kid and love the family, obviously,” Arnold said. “They mean so much to the Brewers and obviously he’s a kid that we’ll be pulling for. I hope he continues and has an unbelievable career. He did a really nice job for us coming to us as a non-drafted free agent and performing very well.
“We wish him all the success in the world and we’ll always be pulling for Jadyn Fielder.”
Arnold was asked to characterize the trade market right now with regard to acquiring starting pitching.
“It’s certainly tough. Especially with so many teams still in the race and especially in the American League,” he said. “But we felt like this was a responsible move to access two arms we liked and a major hat tip to Mark Attanasio for his support on this one taking on money.”
As for Woodruff and Harrison, Arnold indicated it’s still wait-and-see mode with both.
“Still working through that at this point, still trying to evaluate what the paths are there. We’re hopeful that he can be back with us later this season,” Arnold said of Woodruff. “It sounded like (Harrison) was progressing and feeling pretty good over the break.
“We’re going to get with him tomorrow and get a little more hands-on, but it’s not something we want to rush there with him. Just be ultra-cautious because of how much he means to our rotation.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers add needed depth to rotation picture at an affordable cost
Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
