Brewers acquire veteran relief arm from Athletics amid string of pitching injuries

Major League Baseball's midseason trade deadline is still roughly two months away, but that isn't preventing Matt Arnold and the Milwaukee Brewers' front office from being active on the trade market. After enduring a string of injuries to their relief pitching staff over the last week, during which Rob Zastryzny, DL Hall, and Brian Fitzpatrick were all placed on the injured list, the Brewers have swung a deal with the Athletics to acquire right-handed reliever Joel Kuhnel.

The 31-year-old Kuhnel was designated for assignment by the Athletics yesterday, and before the veteran right-hander was exposed to waivers, the Brewers offered cash to acquire him. To make room on the 40-man roster, Milwaukee has transferred starting pitcher Quinn Priester to the 60-day IL.

Kuhnel is technically re-joining the Brewers, after a brief stint with the organization two years ago. In 2024, the Brewers signed Kuhnel to a minor league contract on June 11, promoted him to the big-league roster on two separate occasions over the next month, designated him for assignment twice during that span, and finally lost him to the Tampa Bay Rays via a waiver claim on July 23. Interestingly enough, despite Kuhnel spending a combined seven days in the major league bullpen between those two stints, he didn't make a single appearance for the Brewers.

However, despite his initial stint with Milwaukee not yielding any appearances with the major league club, Kuhnel is an intriguing arm, and one that could certainly help the currently banged-up Brewers' bullpen.

Brewers acquire right-handed reliever Joel Kuhnel for cash considerations in minor trade with Athletics

Since being designated for assignment by the Brewers in late July of 2024, Kuhnel has produced some of the best results of his career. He made five appearances out of the Rays' bullpen during the final two months of the 2024 season and allowed just one earned run in eight innings. He was granted free agency at the end of the season and ended up signing a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Kuhnel then spent the 2025 season pitching for the Phillies and New York Yankees' Triple-A squads, but never cracked either team's big-league roster despite having a solid 3.53 ERA.

Kuhnel was once again granted free agency after the 2025 campaign and signed a minor league pact with the Athletics. The 6'5", 290 lb right-hander quickly earned an opportunity with the Athletics major league club, as he was promoted from the minor leagues on April 7 of this year, and got off to an excellent start with the Athletics, maintaining a 1.84 ERA through his first 14 appearances out of the big-league bullpen. Athletics manager and former Brewer Mark Kotsay even called upon Kuhnel to save games during the stretch, and the veteran right-hander converted all four of his save opportunities.

His strong performance continued throughout the month of May and into June, but on Thursday Kuhnel allowed four earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning against the Chicago Cubs, and the Athletics, somewhat surprisingly, decided to designate him for assignment shortly thereafter. Kuhnel's season-long ERA jumped from 2.88 to 4.21 after the rough outing at Wrigley Field, which was his first really poor appearance of the season.

Kuhnel technically sports a six-pitch mix, but he's relied heavily on his sinker and cutter during the 2026 season. He throws the sinker, which has an average velocity of 94.3 mph this season, 53% of the time, and the cutter, which hovers around the 90 mph mark, 20% of the time. A slider and changeup make up the majority of his secondary offerings, with Kuhnel throwing the former mostly to right-handers and the latter to keep lefties off-balance.

The veteran right-hander, who was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds back in 2016, isn't a huge strikeout pitcher, with a K% in the 2nd percentile to prove it, but he limits walks and hard contact, and generates groundballs nearly 50% of the time.

There's certainly a lot to be intrigued by in Kuhnel's profile, and under the guidance of the Brewers' excellent pitching coaches, there's reason to believe that he can be even better than he's been in recent seasons. Kuhnel was immediately added to the Brewers' 40-man roster, but not their active 26-man roster, however, given the amount of injuries the Brewers have sustained over the last week, don't be surprised if Kuhnel is up with the big-league club sooner rather than later.

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