Brewers news: Luis Rengifo released, Peter Strzelecki returns, Reds' star activated from IL

Despite the calendar already reading June 23, the Milwaukee Brewers are set to play just their second game of the season against their division rival Cincinnati Reds tonight after opening their series in the Queen City with an extra-inning victory last night. The Brew Crew remains atop a competitive NL Central as the halfway point of the 2026 campaign continues, but has seen plenty of roster turnover through the first three months of the season.

From early-season injuries to three of their key offensive contributors, Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, and Andrew Vaughn, to underperformance from their reshaped infield group, to several starting pitchers landing on the IL, though their record doesn't suggest it, it's been anything but smooth sailing for the Brewers this year.

That said, as July approaches, all three of Chourio, Yelich, and Vaughn are back in the lineup, Brandon Woodruff has returned from a nearly two-month-long stint on the IL, and the Brewers have seemingly solved their left side of the infield woes by promoting prospect Cooper Pratt to be their new everyday shortstop. That final move involved Milwaukee designating one of their few offseason free-agent signees for assignment, and just moments ago, the club, as was expected, officially cut ties with him.

Brewers officially release Luis Rengifo after recent DFA

The Brewers finally made the move to add Pratt to the big-league roster back on June 16, and after just one week, the move already looks like a wise one. In 20 at-bats, Pratt already has seven hits and has displayed his elite glove at shortstop. Adding Pratt to the roster forced the Brewers to make the difficult decision to designate Luis Rengifo for assignment.

It wasn't Rengifo's performance that made the decision to DFA him a difficult one for the Brewers -- the infielder was slashing just .205/.280/.254 through 57 games with Milwaukee. Rather, it was the fact that the Brewers handed Rengifo a $3.5 million contract during the offseason and still owed him roughly $2 million at the time of his DFA.

The remaining money on Rengifo's contract made it highly unlikely that any team would claim the struggling infielder after the Brewers exposed him to waivers, seeing as an acquiring would then be on the hook for the $2 million. However, if Rengifo cleared waivers and was subsequently released by the Brewers -- a situation that could present itself given Rengifo's ability to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A -- a team could sign him for the prorated league minimum salary, which turns him from an expensive, struggling big-leaguer into a cost-effective "buy-low" assignment.

The Brewers announced just moments ago that this expected series of events has officially played out. Rengifo has officially been released by Milwaukee, closing the door on what was a very disappointing tenure with the Brewers. Rengifo now heads to the free agent market where he will search for his next big-league opportunity.

Right-hander Peter Strzelecki rejoins Brewers on minor league deal

Just over one month ago, the Brewers promoted Peter Strzelecki to their major league roster before designating him for assignment the following day, without the right-handed reliever making a single appearance. Strzelecki, who was back with the Brewers on a minor league contract for the 2026 season, cleared waivers, but rejected his outright assignment to Triple-A and subsequently signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees.

Last week, after a string of unsuccessful appearances with the Yankees' Triple-A squad, Strzelecki opted out of his contract with New York, suggesting that he had an upward mobility clause included in his deal. Strzelecki thus became a free agent once again. Just moments ago, MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post revealed that Strzelecki has decided to rejoin the Brewers' organization on a minor league deal.

Despite Strzelecki struggling with the Yankees' Triple-A squad, with a 7.71 ERA in six appearances to prove it, he was off to a decent start with the Nashville Sounds prior to his unfortunate series of roster moves in mid-May. Now leaning into a sinker rather than his four-seamer, Strzelecki was clearly working through some changes in the Brewers' minor league system and will now get a chance to resume that work with his former coaching staff.

Reds' All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz returns to lineup for Tuesday night game against Brewers

Milwaukee's first matchup against the Reds last night didn't include Cincinnati's star shortstop Elly De La Cruz. The 24-year-old switch-hitting shortstop was placed on the IL with a right hamstring strain back on June 1, and has been rehabbing ever since. However, as announced by the Reds earlier today, De La Cruz will return to Cincinnati's roster for tonight's game against the Brewers.

The Reds' lineup, which was dominated by Woodruff last night, certainly looks much different with De La Cruz near the top of it. The 2x All-Star was slashing .280/.346/.509 with 12 homers, 13 doubles, and 10 stolen bases through his first 58 games of the season before landing on the IL. His unique combination of speed and power makes him one of the most exciting young players in the sport.

Cincinnati, who sits three games below .500, has certainly underperformed through this point in the season, but injuries are in part to blame. Not only is De La Cruz rejoining the roster today, but ace Hunter Greene, who has missed the entire 2026 season, was sent on a rehab assignment earlier today as well. A full-strength Reds roster, who the Brewers will face twice in the final month of the season, is certainly not a team to overlook.

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