Milwaukee Brewers: 2 trade targets from the Colorado Rockies

The MLB Trade deadline is less than a month away, rumors are flying about potential trade targets that the Milwaukee Brewers could be looking to target.

The Brewers could add to any part of the team after dealing with injuries to several key areas including the outfield, starting rotation and relief pitching. They’re going to need help from a team that’s out of the playoff race and selling. One such team is going to be the Colorado Rockies.

Let’s look at two players from the Rockies that could be on the move at the deadline and help the Brewers.

Colorado Rockies targets for the Milwaukee Brewers: RHP Chad Kuhl

Chad Kuhl makes a lot of sense for the Milwaukee Brewers. Kuhl is on a one year-$3 million deal with the Rockies and has started 15 games for them so far this season. Brewers fans may recognize Kuhl from him spending the first five years in the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Brewers could use some rotation help with Freddy Peralta on the injured list and Adrian Houser out for a couple weeks.

Kuhl would be the perfect replacement for Adrian Houser. Their stats so far this season are eerily similar, with Kuhl having slightly better batting against statistics. Opponents are batting .249/.312/.401 against Kuhl, he currently has a 3.83 ERA, 1.324 WHIP, 8.6 H/9 and a respectable .9 HR/9.

Kuhl did finish a complete game shutout earlier this season against the Dodgers on June 27th, similar to the complete game shutout Houser threw against the Cardinals last September. Kuhl even uses a sinker as his primary pitch like Houser. Kuhl also employs a slider that is very effective, generating a an average exit velocity of just 84.0 MPH, a 35.4 percent whiff rate and .173 batting average against. Kuhl does occasionally use a curveball that has a spin rate in the 91st percentile in the entire league.

Chad Kuhl would be useful for the Milwaukee Brewers as a starter while Adrian Houser and Freddy Peralta are hurt. When those two are back, assuming the Brewers don’t make any other moves involving trading or acquiring other starters, Kuhl could be either a fill in starter or use one of Houser, Kuhl or Ashby in the bullpen or piggyback with one of those three in a playoff game.

Plus, because of his rental status as a free agent at the end of the year, he won’t block anyone in the rotation long term and the cost to acquire him should be relatively low.

Colorado Rockies targets for the Milwaukee Brewers: 1B/DH C.J. Cron

The other Colorado Rockies player the Milwaukee Brewers should look at is C.J. Cron. Cron has a 2.1 WAR and 133 wRC+, meaning Cron creates 33 percent more runs than the average MLB player.

Cron would be an option to platoon at first base with Rowdy Tellez and get some games as the Brewers designated hitter. Cron is slashing .295/.349/.549, his batting average and slugging are both currently career highs and his on base percentage is second only to the 2021 season. Cron has 20 home runs and 65 RBI so far this season, his power should translate well from Colorado to Milwaukee.

Cron does strike out a fair amount and is on the books for $7.25 million for this year and next year. As far as pitch type, Cron isn’t vulnerable to any certain pitch type, as evidenced by his home run splits, eight against fastballs, seven against breaking balls and five against off-speed pitches.

C.J. Cron is in the 94th percentile in barrels and is sporting a 78.0 percent contact percentage. The only thing that may make the Brewers shy away from Cron is that his left handed vs right handed hitting splits aren’t particularly what the Brewers need. Cron is much stronger against right handed pitching than left handed pitching, similar to the boat Keston Hiura is in.

Plus, Cron’s home/road splits show a massive difference between playing in Coors Field and playing on the road. He’s hitting .355 with a 1.085 OPS at Coors and hitting .229 with a .695 OPS on the road. While not Coors, American Family Field is a great environment for hitters so hopefully, if acquired, his stats won’t drop too much.

Where C.J. Cron has the advantage over Hiura is defensively. Cron has been an above average defender the last four seasons based on range factor versus the league average range factor.  Cron has a career .993 fielding percentage.