Brewers replace struggling infielder with a familiar face

The Milwaukee Brewers made several roster moves ahead of their series opener with the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. The team has elected to replace Elvin Rodríguez, whom they announced had been demoted to Triple-A Nashville yesterday afternoon, with left-handed reliever Bryan Hudson. Additionally, the Brewers also announced that infielder Vinny Capra has been designated for assignment and replaced on the roster by Andruw Monasterio, who has had several stints with the big league roster in recent years.

The Brewers, sitting at 19-19 on Friday afternoon, are searching for a way to spark some life into their roster amid a slew of injuries that have prevented them from playing at full strength for the entirety of the 2025 season. It's time to exhaust all options and try something new with the roster. As the team waits for the returns of household names like Garrett Mitchell and Brandon Woodruff from the injured list, they will turn to a few smaller roster moves in an effort to shake things up.

Brewers recall Andruw Monasterio, designate Vinny Capra for assignment

Capra's DFA was imminent. While he did end his 0-36 streak with a line drive single to left field during Monday night's game against the Houston Astros, the fact that he remained on the roster throughout the streak was frankly kind of amazing.

Capra's strong spring training and his lack of minor league options gave him a longer leash than many Brewers fans expected, but with a slash line of .074/.121/.130, it was clear that the time had come for the Brewers to part ways with the struggling infielder. Should he pass through waivers, the Brewers do have a need for depth at third base in their minor league system, with the only true third baseman in Triple-A being Oliver Dunn.

Part of the reason that Capra remained on the roster for so long was that there wasn't a clear replacement for him in Triple-A, as both Monasterio and Dunn struggled in the early part of the season. However, Monasterio has turned things around in recent weeks, posting an OPS of .847 since May 1st. He's slugged four home runs and swiped eight bags while playing all over the infield dirt for the Nashville Sounds in 2025.

Brewers fans should be more than familiar with Monasterio, who appeared in 151 games for the big-league club across the last two seasons. He has the ability to fill in at third base, second base, and shortstop, and was particularly strong against left-handed pitching in 2023, but struggled against southpaws a season ago.

Brewers promote Bryan Hudson to fill Elvin Rodríguez's roster spot

Yesterday, the Brewers announced that they were demoting the struggling Rodríguez to Triple-A, but waited to announce the corresponding roster move, leaving Brewers fans to speculate about creative ways that he could be replaced. With Freddy Peralta still not confirmed as the starter in Sunday's series finale against the Rays, some believed that the Brewers would add another starting pitcher to the roster, possibly even Brandon Woodruff. While that move could still come in the next two days, the Brewers will keep their bullpen at full strength by adding Hudson to the roster for the immediate future.

Hudson's 2025 season was off to a stellar start, before the towering lefty hit a rough patch in mid-April. He allowed earned runs in three consecutive appearances and was optioned to the minor leagues just two days later.

Now, he rejoins the major league roster after three strong appearances and one shaky one with the Sounds over the last three weeks. Hudson's main focus will be commanding his pitches, something that he struggled with during his first stint in the majors this season. If he can get back to the lights-out reliever that he was in the first half of 2024, the Brewers bullpen will look like one of the scarier ones in all of MLB.