Former Brewers pitcher finds irritating success after being let go by Milwaukee

Veteran left-handed reliever Tyler Alexander came to the Milwaukee Brewers on a one-year contract during the offseason, with hopes of reviving his MLB career as a swingman.

Alexander spent the previous six seasons with the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays. The best year of his career came in 2021 in a similar swingman role with Detroit when he posted a 3.81 ERA in 106.1 innings. It's not like the Brewers made a large investment in Alexander. It was a one-year deal that only paid him $1 million. But even with low stakes, he had an important role to begin the season.

Milwaukee traded Devin Williams in the offseason and then opened 2025 with Brandon Woodruff, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Nick Mears, and Tobias Myers on the injured list. Finding competent arms to eat innings and assemble a serviceable pitching staff was made much more difficult for the Brewers, but Alexander looked like he could be an important piece of the puzzle.

Unfortunately, Alexander pitched to a 6.19 ERA in his first 21 appearances of the season. His 1.49 WHIP was the highest of his MLB career, but his 3.58 FIP was somehow the best it had ever been.

On June 1, the Brewers activated Jose Quintana from the IL and designated Alexander for assignment. Just five days later, Alexander was released, and on June 8, he signed a major league contract with the Chicago White Sox.

Alexander has found success with the White Sox

Immediately after putting pen to paper, Alexander took an Uber from Milwaukee to Rate Field in Chicago. He was suiting up and pitching in a game just hours later and has not looked back since.

In 18 innings with the White Sox this season, Alexander has a 2.50 ERA. He has settled into his long relief role nicely and may even have enough value for the White Sox to move him at the trade deadline.

Alexander is doing exactly what the Brewers signed him to do...he just waited until he was on a different team to do it. That's irritating for Brewers fans, to say the least.

The White Sox have a lot of young arms on their 26-man roster, and an innings eater like Alexander will come in handy over the next few months. Meanwhile, in Alexander's absence, the Brewers have found success with their current relief group. Specifically, the additions of Hall and Ashby to the bullpen have been key not only to the team's recent winning ways but also to giving the other relievers some much-needed days off.

Even still, it would have been nice for Alexander to figure things out a bit sooner. The Crew needed him at the beginning of the season when injuries ran rampant, and he didn't deliver the way that he has with the White Sox.