The Brewers have signed right-hander Robert Stock to a minor league contract, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. He’ll be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.
Stock appeared at the MLB level each season from 2018-21. He first cracked the majors during his age-28 season with the Padres. The hard-throwing Stock broke in with a flourish, posting a 2.50 ERA in 39 2/3 relief innings as a rookie. He didn’t replicate that success the following season, struggling in 10 appearances and missing an extended stretch of action with a biceps strain. The next offseason, he bounced from San Diego to Philadelphia to Boston on waivers.
After struggling in 10 outings of relief for Boston, Stock landed with the Cubs on waivers. He made just one appearance for Chicago — his first MLB start — and then headed to the Mets. Stock started twice for New York and was outrighted off the roster at the end of the season. He signed with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization for the 2022 campaign.
The USC product worked out of the Bears’ rotation last year. He started 29 games and worked 165 innings, posting a solid 3.60 ERA. That came with a fairly modest 19.1% strikeout percentage and an elevated 11.5% walk rate. Stock will try to iron those numbers out in his return to affiliated ball.
He’ll be in MLB camp and offer some depth in both the starting staff or bullpen. Milwaukee’s rotation is already deep, with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Wade Miley, Aaron Ashby, Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser offering seven options on the 40-man roster. The clearer path to MLB time for Stock would likely come in relief, though he seems likely to open the year at Triple-A Nashville given Milwaukee’s overall pitching depth.
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