Brewers News: Bennett Sousa Gets Shot at Bullpen, Recalled from Triple-A

While the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen has been performing better than last season, the team is still trying to find that perfect mix of relievers for the unit as a whole. They made a move on Friday to continue that search.

On Friday, the Brewers recalled reliever Bennett Sousa from the Triple-A Nashville Sounds ahead of the team's weekend series against the San Francisco Giants. The team announced the transaction early Friday evening.

The move gives the team another left-hander in the bullpen for the foreseeable future. The only one they had been carrying for most of the season was Hoby Milner outside of a very brief stint by Alex Claudio last month.

Left-handed reliever Bennett Sousa has been recalled by the Brewers while righty Jake Cousins was optioned to Triple-A.

Sousa, a 10th round pick by the White Sox in 2018 was acquired by the Brewers in early April. He became available when his second organization, the Cincinnati Reds, had designated him for assignment.

He was off to a decent enough start with the Sounds in 2023. Sousa had pitched in four games so far for Nashville, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks over 4.1 innings while striking out eight. One of those hits was a home run.

Sousa only has 25 games of Major League experience to his name, all coming last year with the White Sox. He gave up 19 earned runs in 20.1 innings over that span while also serving up three long balls. 14 of those runs came over an eight-game stretch in May and June.

To give Sousa his roster spot, the team sent reliever Jake Cousins back to Nashville. The right-hander had been on the roster since late April when he joined Claudio as dual call-ups when Matt Bush was placed on the injured list and Javy Guerra was designated for assignment.

Cousins appeared in three games during his brief stint, giving up one run over 4.2 innings. He was a little shaky in those innings, allowing three hits and walking four, though he did strand both runners that he inherited.

It may be that the Brewers want to see what they have in Sousa here in the early going. There has been a bit of roster churn among the last few 40-man positions and what he does in the near future could determine whether he keeps his roster spot going forward.