Brewers: Yardley Sent Down After Slow Start, Perdomo Called Up

As outlined in our most recent ‘Studs And Duds’ article, Eric Yardley was struggling mightily and yesterday the call was made to send him to the alternate training site in Appleton. LHP Angel Perdomo was promoted to the Brewers major league squad in place of Yardley.

It was only a matter of time until Perdomo was called up as he had a very productive spring for the Brewers.

When asked about the move, Craig Counsell gave a few reasons for the decision, “One, I feel like we’re about to face a couple teams where having another left-hander is impactful and can be useful. Angel threw the ball very, very well in Spring Training, and we think he can help us. Two, this is what you’re going to see during this season with guys in our bullpen a little bit. And then three, I’m not sure Eric got completely locked in — you know, it was just three appearances [in which Yardley surrendered runs], but even through the spring he was just battling himself a little bit at times.”

Perdomo has only logged 2.2 innings in his major league career, those coming at the end of last year’s regular season. He surrendered six earned runs in those couple innings plus but he really opened some eyes in Cactus League play. Down in Arizona, Perdomo pitched 6.1 innings and struck out 12 batters without giving up a run.

He will be joining a pitching staff that ranks in the top 10 in the MLB in strikeouts, so he’ll fit in just fine as he’s been a relatively high volume strikeout pitcher throughout his career.

Eric Yardley will be heading down to the alternate training site with a 9.00 ERA in five appearances. He gave up one home run and his control struggled as well with two hit batsmen and three walks. Counsell had this to say about the possibility of Yardley rejoining the team, “He’ll get on track. He’s going to be back soon, I would guess. We’re going to count on Eric as we counted on him last year, but we are going to actively manage our bullpen this year.”

Perdomo will be the third left-handed pitcher in the Brewers bullpen joining the likes of Josh Hader and Brent Suter. He was acquired via free agency in 2018 and previously was in the Blue Jays minor league system.

Perdomo was also set to pitch in the ninth inning in the Brewers series opener against the Cubs but a roster mix-up prevented him from entering the game.