Brewers add some versatile pitching depth after intriguing free agent signing

The Milwaukee Brewers certainly could use a real splash this offseason. While the finances of such a move would be complicated, remaining in real contention in the NL Central is going to be tough without an impact move after losing both Willy Adames and Devin Williams this offseason. However, that doesn't mean that the Brewers shouldn't be looking to make interesting depth moves as well.

One such move came on Thursday with the word the Brewers signed Bruce Zimmermann to a minor league deal with a spring training invite. Zimmermann previously pitched for the Orioles with limited success, although his profile is far from uninteresting.

Brewers News: Milwaukee signs Bruce Zimmermann to minor league deal

Zimmermann is a bit of a weird profile as a pitcher and especially as a starter. His four seam fastball barely goes above 90 mph and his 5.57 ERA in 38 career big league appearances leaves something to be desired. On the surface, this doesn't look like much of a move to make by Milwaukee.

However, Zimmermann has demonstrated repeatedly the ability to get ground balls and miss bats in the minors thanks primarily to his breaking stuff. His numbers in the big leagues are not great, but he throws a lot of strikes and has seen significant success in the minors until recent years. Given his pitch mix, there could be some wisdom to trying Zimmermann out as a lefty long relief option as well especially with the departure of Bryse Wilson being made official.

Is signing Zimmermann the end all, be all of the Brewers offseason? Of course not. However, making moves like this is how Milwaukee has made their living during their current run of success. He may never be an All-Star, but Zimmermann was held on to for a while by a very analytics-forward organization in Baltimore previously. With the Brewers' ability to develop pitchers, one wonders if maybe they found another diamond in the rough here.

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