Brewers to place righty Jandel Gustave on IL with hamstring injury

Right-handed pitcher Jandel Gustave injured his right hamstring during Saturday night’s game and will be placed on the injured list, Brewers manager Craig Counsell tells Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The corresponding move is not known at this time.

Acquired from the Pirates in June 2021, Gustave threw 18 1/3 innings out of the Milwaukee bullpen last year. He had a 3.44 ERA in that span, along with a 16.5% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 43.6% ground ball rate. This year, he’s been racking up more strikeouts but getting worse results overall. In 13 innings on the season, he’s getting Ks at a 25% clip but has seen his ERA jump up to 5.54.

The issue seems to be the long ball, as his HR/FB% has jumped up to 16.7% this year, compared to 11.8% last year. That’s particularly noteworthy given that the leaguewide trend is moving in the other direction. Last year’s HR/FB% was 10% across the entire MLB season, but it has dropped to just 7.8% this year, with some people blaming humidors or the changed structure of the ball itself or both.

The Brewers will likely add another arm to take Gustave’s place in the bullpen. He was just recalled on Friday as Brent Suter went on the paternity list to be with his family for the birth of his daughter. Players on the paternity list have to miss one game but no more than three. If Suter is able to return, he will be eligible, but he is also allowed to miss one more game. If he doesn’t come back for Sunday’s game, the club has Dylan File, Alec Bettinger, Angel Perdomo and Miguel Sanchez as arms who are on the 40-man roster but not the active roster.