
The Milwaukee Brewers' pitching staff is full of young and promising arms, but one of the most promising names of all has yet to make his debut this season.
Some might have been surprised that right-hander Logan Henderson was optioned to Triple-A to begin the season, given his excellent small-sample rookie debut last year. Manager Pat Murphy explained at the time that Henderson's slow build-up due to injury concerns was the real reason for the move, but there's no question now that the 24-year-old is ready to come back.
In fact, all one had to do was watch Henderson's appearance on Sunday or even look at a box score to see that the Triple-A level is far beneath his talent level.
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In five innings out of the bullpen against the Charlotte Knights, Henderson flexed his entire arsenal to great effect. He struck out nine batters in five dominant innings, allowing one earned run on five hits and a walk.
One great outing might not be all the evidence the Brewers need from a Triple-A pitcher that a promotion is necessary, but there are plenty of other data points with Henderson.
In five outings since his demotion to begin the year, Henderson has compiled a ridiculous 1.02 ERA against Triple-A competition. He's also punched out 26 batters in 17 2/3 innings, while only allowing 12 hits.
We also saw Henderson come up as a 23-year-old and fare very well against major league competition early last year, before elbow inflammation cut his season short in August. He sported a 1.78 ERA in his five outings (25 1/3 innings) with the big-league club.
Though Henderson already made one big-league appearance this season (a two-inning, two-run start against the Kansas City Royals on April 4), it's time to give him a shot at some extended run. A rotation spot will open up soon enough, because injuries are an unfortunate truth in Milwaukee, and when it does, Milwaukee has no reason to think twice about inserting Henderson.
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