Brewers Select Garrett Stallings

The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Garrett Stallings. Left-hander Robert Gasser has been optioned to the Arizona Complex League as a corresponding active roster move. The 40-man roster has had a vacancy since Luis Rengifo was designated for assignment earlier this month. Stallings now fills that final spot.

Milwaukee reinstated Brandon Woodruff from the injured list last week, giving them a six-man rotation consisting of Woodruff, Gasser, Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, Brandon Sproat and Shane Drohan. Due to the 13-pitcher roster limit, that has left them with a seven-man bullpen.

This move gets them back to a more standard five-man rotation, at least for now. Manager Pat Murphy said yesterday that Logan Henderson would be back from the injured list before the All-Star Break, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Henderson tossed three innings in a rehab outing on Sunday and will make at least one more rehab appearance. Before the All-Star Break arrives on July 13th, the Brewers play a doubleheader against the Cardinals on July 7th, so that’s something that could factor into their rotation plans.

With Gasser going to the Complex League, perhaps the Brewers have some adjustments they want him to make, despite his generally solid results this year. He has thrown 35 2/3 innings with a 4.54 earned run average, 23.4% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. With Henderson’s imminent return, perhaps Gasser and the Brewers will have some time where he won’t be needed in the big leagues.

Stallings, 28, gives them a fresh arm for now. A fifth-round pick of the Angels in 2019, he went to the Orioles in the 2020 trade sending Jose Iglesias to Anaheim. The Brewers acquired him in the 2024 deal sending Thyago Vieira to Baltimore.

Though Stallings featured on some prospect lists many years ago when he was climbing the ladder, he has been a Triple-A depth arm for many years now, getting to that level back in 2023. He has been putting up decent numbers this year. He has made 16 appearances, 12 of those officially being starts, logging 62 2/3 innings. He has a 3.45 ERA, 22% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 40.2% ground ball rate. His four-seamer and sinker average around 92 miles per hour. He also throws a cutter, slider, curveball and changeup.

Stallings last pitched on Wednesday, going 4 1/3 innings, so he should be available for bulk relief. The Brewers likely have Trevor Megill and Aaron Ashby unavailable tonight, as those guys both pitched in each of the last two games. Since this is the first time Stallings has been called up to a big league roster, he has a full slate of options and could be easily sent back down to Triple-A the next time the Brewers need a fresh arm in the mix.