On the last day of April Brewers reliever Jake Cousins pitched in the ninth inning against the Cubs. It took him 30 pitches to escape that inning in which he eventually struck out the side. He did leave a bases loaded jam as he got into that position by giving up a hit and walking two batters.
The day after this appearance, it was announced that Cousins was heading to the injured list with swelling in his right elbow.
To begin 2022, Cousins has struggled with command of his slider. This has resulted in four wild pitches, the most on the Brewers pitching staff. Over eight innings of work, his ERA is 4.50 and he has walked five batters. One positive is that he is still excelling at striking out batters. This is evident by his 14.6 strikeouts per nine ratio.
For Cousins, the timing of heading to the IL may benefit him temporarily in that it may delay a possible demotion to the minor leagues. On May 2 major league rosters decrease from 28 active players to 26. The month of April was not Cousins’ finest and the Brewers may have been thinking about letting him get back on track in the minors.
When firing on all cylinders, Cousins can be a great option out of the bullpen. If he can get healthy and dial in his command, he has the potential to be a great high leverage option for Craig Counsell. Hopefully some time away to get healthy will benefit him and allow him to come back stronger!
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