The Brewers have selected the contract of outfielder Brewer Hicklen, though he has been optioned and will stay at Triple-A Nashville. Infielder Oliver Dunn was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. The moves were relayed on X by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
Hicklen, 28, signed with Milwaukee in the offseason in a textbook case of nominative determinism. Since signing that deal, he has been having a great year in Triple-A. In 72 games for the Sounds, he has been struck out at a high rate of 26.5% but has also drawn walks 13.1% of the time and hit 19 home runs. That’s led to a .270/.383/.571 slash line and 139 wRC+, indicating he’s been 39% better than the league average hitter. He’s also stolen 26 bases in 30 tries while lining up at all three outfield spots.
When a player is selected to a 40-man roster but then immediately optioned, it’s usually a sign that his contract contains some kind of opt-out provision. Per McCalvy on X, Hicklen did indeed have a such a clause in his deal. The Brewers aren’t going to bring him up to the majors but have given him a roster spot because they didn’t want him to get away after that strong performance in the first few months of the 2024 season.
It will be difficult for him to crack the outfield at the big league level, as Milwaukee has a fairly crowded group of guys competing for playing time on the grass. As of right now, Christian Yelich is serving as the designated hitter fairly regularly but also with some outfield time mixed in there. Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Jackson Chourio and Blake Perkins are splitting the rest of the time out there. With those five guys on the active roster, Joey Wiemer has been on optional assignment for much of the year. The club toyed with using Frelick at third base earlier this year but Joey Ortiz has firmly taken over that spot.
Hicklen has a full slate of options and can be kept around as depth for quite a while, if the Brewers keep him on the 40-man. Speculatively speaking, it’s also possible that the club’s relative strength in the outfield could be used to address their need for pitching, which could perhaps change the outfield picture in the coming weeks.
Whenever Hicklen is back up in the majors, he can add to a track record that currently consists of just six games with the Royals in 2022. He only got four plate appearances in that time and is still looking for his first major league hit, as he struck out in all four of those trips to the plate. He’s generally hit well in the minors, with a slash of .244/.348/.469 and 113 wRC+ from 2021 to 2023 and has been in even better form this year.
As for Dunn, he was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 19 due to a back strain. He’s now ineligible to return until 60 days from that date, which would be in the middle of August. On June 29, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relayed on X that Dunn was expected to miss more than a month due to a disc issue in his back.
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