Milwaukee Brewers: Ranking The Possible September Call Ups

The September roster expansion is coming up soon, and there are a number of players the Milwaukee Brewers could call up.

For one final time, active rosters across MLB will expand to the full 40 man, allowing teams to call up a large number of minor leaguers to help with the playoff push. Starting next year, new roster rules will go into effect, with teams having a maximum of only 28 players in September instead of 40. The Milwaukee Brewers intend to fully utilize the 40 man roster while they can.

For most of the season, this Brewers team has had it’s depth tested with various injuries and players not being as productive as they had been in the past i.e. Travis Shaw. With only 25 roster spots, this caused a lot of shuffling between Milwaukee and San Antonio.

With Jeremy Jeffress and Brandon Woodruff on the 10 day IL, there are 13 minor leaguers on the 40 man roster that could get the call. Last year, the Brewers used 37 active players in September to win the division. This year could be similar. Let’s group the players into their likelihood of being called up.

The Obvious Choices

Travis Shaw, Ben Gamel, Freddy Peralta, Jake Faria, Aaron Wilkerson

For whatever reason, Travis Shaw has seen success in Triple-A this year, but has struggled in the big leagues. His last two seasons of high productivity are no fluke. He’s still a good hitter and he’s going to get another chance to earn some at bats, but he’ll be mostly a bench option and pinch hitter.

Ben Gamel was optioned the other day to make room for Cory Spangenberg, but it wasn’t meant to punish Gamel. Trent Grisham had surpassed Gamel for most of the fourth outfielder at-bats, and Gamel’s option gives him a chance to get some every day, regular at-bats in Triple-A so he can get into a groove offensively coming into September. He’s going to be an important bench bat and late game defensive substitution for Milwaukee.

The bullpen always gets supplemented with fresh arms with September roster expansion. It should be no surprise to see some familiar arms down there with Freddy Peralta, Jake Faria, and Aaron Wilkerson.

Call up chances: 95-100%

The Injury Returners

Jimmy Nelson, Brent Suter

Both pitchers are on the 60 day IL and both are close to returning to the roster. Brent Suter just had his best rehab start yet down in Triple-A, going four innings, giving up just one hit, no runs, no walks, and six strikeouts. He’s going to get at least one more start before the minor league season ends and then we’ll likely see him back for September.

Will Suter get starts? We’ll see, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him come out of the bullpen in his first few outings back.

Jimmy Nelson is also progressing well in his return from his elbow injury. It’s been a long road for Nelson since that 2017 shoulder injury, just returning earlier this year, but he battled his command and endurance during his starts. He was demoted to the bullpen and then continued to struggle before hitting the IL.

In his last four outings, covering eight innings, Nelson has given up just one run and one hit while striking out 14 batters. While Nelson likely isn’t ready to rejoin the Brewers rotation, he could make an impact out of the bullpen in short stints before rejoining the rotation next year.

Since both pitchers are on the 60 day IL, they’ll have to be added back to the 40 man roster, meaning someone else will have to be designated for assignment for either one to return.

Call up chances: 75%

The Toss-ups

Jacob Nottingham, David Freitas, Tyler Saladino, Tyrone Taylor, Corbin Burnes

Most teams will call up a third catcher for the month of September, and the Brewers will be no different. But they’ll have a tough choice to make between Jacob Nottingham and David Freitas. Nottingham’s bat has continued to stagnate and his power has gone from his calling card, to almost nonexistent.

However, it wasn’t too long ago that Nottingham was regarded as the future behind the plate for the Milwaukee Brewers. With Yasmani Grandal‘s contract up at the end of the year, the future at that position is more important now than ever. If Nottingham isn’t ready now, will he ever be?

Meanwhile, Freitas has raked in Triple-A, posting a .386 batting average with a 1.039 OPS and 12 home runs. He’s the clear best choice offensively right now, but Freitas is also dealing with an intercostal strain. If he’s healthy, I could see Freitas getting the call over Nottingham.

Tyler Saladino stunk it up in Milwaukee earlier this season and his spot has been taken by Hernan Perez and Cory Spangenberg. Will the Brewers want more redundancy with his position skill set and lack of offensive production?

Tyrone Taylor had a huge spring training but hasn’t done well most of the season in Triple-A. However, he’s 18 for his last 35 and has raised his batting average up to .281 on the season. But with Grisham, likely Gamel, and Perez/Spangenberg, would they want another outfielder? My gut says he comes up, and won’t see much more than pinch hit opportunities.

Corbin Burnes has been a major toss up all season, really. His struggles are shocking and confusing, but he still has legit stuff. He’s recently been demoted to Double-A, and lately has been at the Brewers new, state of the art pitching lab in Arizona at Maryvale. Hopefully they have some answers for him, and if they do, we could see him back.

A dominant return for Corbin Burnes in September would do a world of good for his confidence and for the team itself during their run. Is he actually ready? It’s impossible to know right now. So it’s a toss up if he gets the call.

Call up chances: 50%