Brewers promote pitching prospect from tiny Trade Deadline deal in flurry of moves

The Milwaukee Brewers have made a couple of roster moves on Monday ahead of their three game series against the Miami Marlins. Included in those moves is a player who will be the seventh Brewer to make his MLB debut this season.

Four total moves were made, including a surprise promotion to help fill the pitching shortage the Brewers face.

Joey Wiemer is activated from the IL and Chris Roller goes back to Triple-A to make room for him. Then, the Brewers designated Thyago Vieira for assignment and called up Bradley Blalock all the way from Double-A Biloxi.

Bradley Blalock was acquired by the Brewers in a last minute Trade Deadline deal in 2023. Milwaukee sent Luis Urias, who was in the minor leagues at the time, to the Boston Red Sox and got Blalock in return. Blalock instantly joined the Brewers top 30 prospects list and thrived in High-A Wisconsin after the deal.

Blalock was Rule 5 eligible this past winter, and the Brewers wanted to keep him so they added him to the 40 man roster despite not pitching above High-A. He's been in Double-A Biloxi this year, and has a 2.27 ERA in seven starts covering 35.2 IP. Blalock has struck out 29 and walked just seven batters.

The Brewers are big believers in Blalock's stuff, which is why they acquired him last year and rostered him despite being in the lower levels of the minors. He's currently the 17th ranked Brewers prospect on MLB Pipeline. The 23 year old has a four pitch mix and missed all of 2022 with Tommy John surgery.

It's not immediately clear if the Brewers are calling Blalock up to be in the starting rotation or in the bullpen.

He takes the roster spot of a bullpen arm in Thyago Vieira, who was out of minor league options and had a 5.64 ERA in 16 appearances this year with 25 strikeouts but an unsightly 13 walks.

Bryse Wilson has had a tenuous hold on a rotation spot and could be moved back to the bullpen if the Brewers want Blalock to start. Blalock's only started for Biloxi this year.

Wiemer returns from his knee injury suffered back in early May and Chris Roller, who had just one at bat in his time in the big leagues, got sent back down. Roller was an emergency outfield fill in and now that Wiemer is back, he's no longer needed on the active roster.