A few weeks ago, the Milwaukee Brewers placed a slumping Luke Voit on the injured list with a neck strain. He has since been on a minor league rehab assignment and hitting the ball well while there.
However, before being activated, the Brewers elected to designate him for assignment.
Voit joined the Brewers on a minor league contract in the spring. After performing well and pushing back his opt-out date, Milwaukee elected to sign him to a major league contract. Unfortunately, things have not worked out over the first two months of the season.
In 22 games and 74 plate appearances, Voit had just a .221/.284/.265 slash line, zero home runs, a 54 wRC+, and a career-worst 36.5% K rate. He’s managed to belt 20+ home runs in three out of the past four seasons and led the league in that category during the shortened 2020 season, so this slow start with no long balls is a bit surprising.
When Voit was placed on the IL, Milwaukee signed Darin Ruf to a major league contract. He has since been serving in Voit’s platoon role. This is good news for Ruf, but the leash he has is likely not long.
Other options exist and are becoming available by the day, including former Brewers All-Star Jesus Aguilar. He was DFA’d by the Oakland Athletics on the same day Luke Voit was let go by Milwaukee.
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