Photo via Twitter / Rockies
Jose Urena
When the Brewers let Jose Ureña leave in May, they couldn’t have thought it was very likely they’d see him again this season. A late addition to the Brewers’ roster in late March, the 30-year-old righty struggled to throw strikes and miss bats in a brief stint in Milwaukee. All told Ureña pitched in just four games for the Brewers before the organization opted to move on and designated him for assignment a month into the season.
Ten days after reaching free agency in May Ureña signed a new deal with the Rockies and was assigned to AAA Albuquerque, where he continued to struggle. He had an ERA over 7.00 when the Rockies, in need of a starter, called him up anyway and he’s been a revelation ever since. Entering Saturday’s start Ureña had pitched six innings in each of his first three starts for Colorado and had a 1.45 ERA. He pitched into the sixth inning again on Saturday before the Brewers finally got to him.
As an organization the Brewers tend to cycle through a lot of pitchers in recent years in search of someone who can help them win games in the long term. In 2021, for example, they used 38 different pitchers and 14 of them pitched in four games or fewer. They have eight more pitchers in that club in 2022 after Jake McGee made his debut on Saturday night.
Churning through this many pitchers requires a lot of roster turnover, but the Brewers have surprisingly little reason for regret in this area. Of the pitchers the Brewers have let go during the season over the last two years, only three (including Ureña) have gone on to pitch in the majors somewhere else. Here are the other two:
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Phil Bickford
The Brewers waited a long time for this one-time top prospect: A first round pick in the 2013 and 2015 MLB drafts, Milwaukee acquired him in the 2016 trade that sent reliever Will Smith to the Giants. The former Futures Game participant, however, had never pitched above High A when the Brewers called him up to make one appearance during the 2020 season, and they turned to him again for just one game in 2021. He allowed six runs in just two innings across those two outings and the Brewers designated him for assignment after the second one.
The Dodgers, however, must have seen something: They claimed him off waivers and used him in the majors 56 times in 2021, where he posted a 2.50 ERA and struck out more than ten batters per nine innings for one of the best teams in baseball. Bickford is back with the Dodgers again in 2022, but has been the victim of a couple of disastrous outings en route to an ERA near 6.
Ryan Weber
The Brewers bought low on a 30-year-old righty reliever in June of 2021, claiming Weber off waivers just a few days after he had given up eleven runs in a single outing for the Red Sox. His stay in Milwaukee was also brief, however: He made just one major league appearance for the Brewers before being exposed to waivers again and claimed by the Mariners. All told Weber pitched for three MLB teams in 2021 but logged a total of just four games.
Weber resurfaced in the majors in 2022 with the Yankees and made three appearances, but he’s likely to be on the move again soon: He was designated for assignment on Thursday and may be moving to his fifth team in a span of about 14 months.
