Brewers News: Jake Cousins, Elvis Peguero Among Next Round of Spring Cuts

With just nine days left before the Milwaukee Brewers open the 2023 regular season, the Opening Day roster is beginning to take shape. Though that leaves over a week for some players to grab one of those last remaining roster spots, others already know their fate to begin the year.

On Tuesday, another big group of players was either reassigned to minor league camp or optioned down to Triple-A Nashville. Among those were a pair of relievers who were battling for a final bullpen spot and a backup outfielder who will start the season in the minors.

On Tuesday, four players were optioned to Triple-A Nashville while five others were returned to minor league camp.

Perhaps the two most surprising cuts (if any) were a pair of relievers in Jake Cousins and Elvis Peguero. With the Brewers adding a bunch of options to the bullpen mix for this season after the unit underperformed some in 2022, those two had as good a shot as any to get an Opening Day nod.

For Cousins, though he missed a majority of the 2022 season, he ultimately returned and finished somewhat strong and has more familiarity with the team. He's had a rough spring, though, having given up seven runs on nine hits and four walks with a pair of homers surrendered over six innings.

Peguero, on the other hand, has looked better in the spring, leading the team in appearances with eight and giving up three runs over 7.2 innings on five hits and five walks while striking out 11. But with Milwaukee potentially looking to keep some bullpen arms who don't have minor league options to spare, Peguero finds himself on the outside looking in and down to the minors for now.

The other two players who were optioned down were less surprising. Blake Perkins could see some action as a backup outfielder at some point this season, but in a team-leading 16 Cactus League games he has hit just .185 with a .609 OPS and one homer.

The same could be said of Payton Henry, who finds himself in the Brewers organization for the second time in his career. He played in seven games this spring and hit .250. As the third catcher on the depth chart, he could easily see some time on the roster this season should an injury arise in the catching staff.

By this time this week, Brewers fans will just about know the exact Opening Day roster for the 2023 season. For players looking to grab one of those final spots, time is quickly running out.