4 corresponding moves the Brewers could make after the demotion of Elvin Rodríguez

It's an off day for the Milwaukee Brewers, but moves are still being made. The team announced on Thursday morning that struggling reliever Elvin Rodríguez has been demoted back to Triple-A Nashville after a brief second stint with the big-league team. However, the team has not yet announced a corresponding move at this time and will likely wait until tomorrow to reveal who will be replacing Rodríguez on the major league roster.

There are several avenues that the Brewers could take in replacing Rodríguez. Promoting a relief pitcher would ensure their bullpen remains at full strength, while adding a starting pitcher could give them length out of the pen should one of the first two games against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend get out of hand. One important thing to note is that the team elected to push Freddy Peralta's next start back a day due to his minor groin injury, so they will need someone to fill in as a starter in Sunday's series finale against the Rays.

With that in mind, let's take a look at four options the Brewers have when it comes to replacing the recently demoted Rodríguez.

Option 1: Brewers promote Logan Henderson to MLB roster

Logan Henderson feels like the most likely candidate to fill in for Peralta on Sunday, for two main reasons. The first is that Henderson is more than deserving of another start in the big leagues after his impressive debut on April 20th. In his debut, which came against the Athletics, Henderson covered six innings and allowed just one run while striking out nine batters. He looked more than comfortable on a big-league mound, but was unfortunately optioned back to Triple-A immediately after his lone major league start to make room on the roster for the return of Tobias Myers.

The second reason that Henderson will most likely be toeing the rubber for the Brewers on Sunday afternoon is timing. Since being optioned back to Triple-A two and a half weeks ago, Henderson has made just two starts for the Nashville Sounds. He pitched very well in both outings, going six innings and only allowing just one run in each of them. His last start came on May 2nd, meaning he's more than rested and ready to go for a start on Sunday, which would be nine days after he last pitched.

Option 2: Brewers activate Brandon Woodruff from 15-day IL

Wouldn't it be awesome if Brandon Woodruff made his long-awaited return to MLB on a Mother's Day afternoon game in sunny Tampa, Florida? While the weather forecast doesn't show sun in Tampa this weekend, there is a chance that Woodruff's return is the roster move that the Brewers are teasing fans with.

Woodruff's rehab assignment is coming to an end. As pointed out in an article by Adam McCalvy a few days ago, the Brewers will be forced to activate Woody from the IL next Tuesday, so they could either elect to have him pitch one more start in Nashville and wait to make his MLB return late next week or have him start Sunday's game against the Rays, which would keep him on schedule after pitching for the Sounds this past Tuesday.

Woody appears ready to go, and there's not much he has left to prove with another rehab start in the minor leagues. He's covered five innings or more and allowed two runs or less in his last three rehab appearances. The velocity on his fastball is sitting in the low 90s, but has touched the mid-90s at times. The Brewers certainly wouldn't push him if he were to start on Sunday, likely asking him to cover just a few innings and keep his pitch count around 75 pitches, but the good vibes of having their former ace back on the roster could alone be enough to spark some life into this team.

Option 3: Brewers promote Carlos Rodriguez to MLB roster

Brewers fans might be quick to dismiss a corresponding move that returns Carlos Rodriguez to MLB, given the performance he gave when he was called up a season ago. However, Rodriguez has been a completely different pitcher in 2025. As mentioned in an article last week, Rodriguez has revamped his pitch arsenal, opting for more off-speed pitches and his four-seam fastball over the sinker that he threw a majority of the time in 2024. The results have been eye-popping.

In seven starts with the Sounds this year, he's posted a 1.56 ERA and more strikeouts than innings pitched. Additionally, Rodriguez is already on the Brewers' 40-man roster, meaning the team wouldn't have to part ways with another player or add one to the 60-day IL in order to promote him to the big-league roster. Rodriguez is scheduled to start for the Sounds on Saturday night, so having him start for the Brewers on Sunday afternoon instead wouldn't be too much of a change to his schedule.

Option 4: Brewers promote a bullpen arm to MLB roster

The final option might be the least exciting of the four, but it also might be the most likely. The Brewers could certainly elect to promote a relief pitcher to their roster as the immediate corresponding move to the Elvin Rodríguez demotion. This doesn't stop them from sending a reliever back down to Triple-A and replacing him with a starting pitcher ahead of Sunday's series finale.

If the Brewers do elect to go the relief pitcher route, it will likely be one of three names that gets the call: Bryan Hudson, Craig Yoho, or Elvis Peguero. Each one of these players is already on the team's 40-man roster and has some experience pitching in the major leagues.

Peguero, who started the year on the major league roster, hasn't given up a run in his last five outings in Triple-A. Additionally, his first stint with the Brewers this season was bogged down by one bad outing, but he was very effective otherwise.

Hudson hasn't been as sharp since being sent down in late April. In four appearances with the Sounds, he holds a 6.75 ERA, but much of that was due to a poor outing he tossed last Sunday.

Yoho was the most recent member of the Brewers' active roster of the three relievers mentioned, and he has yet to make an appearance since being sent back down to Triple-A last weekend. The upside is still there, but it's likely the Brewers want him to hash out some of his command issues before returning him to the big leagues.

The most likely scenario is probably a combination of option four and one of options one or two, meaning the Brewers will likely elect to promote a reliever for the first two games of the Rays series to keep their bullpen at full strength before making another roster move on Sunday morning to get either Henderson or Woodruff back in the majors. The answer should come sometime on Friday morning or early afternoon, so stay tuned to see how the Brewers navigate this situation.