The Brewers announced that outfielder Drew Avans has been claimed off waivers from the Athletics and assigned to Triple-A. The A’s designated Avans earlier this week.
A 33rd-round pick for the Dodgers in 2018, Avans had spent his entire career in the L.A. organization before he signed with the Athletics this past offseason. The move paved the way for Avans’ Major League debut, as he appeared in seven games for the A’s after his contract was selected to the active roster in late May. Avans had only two hits in his 15 trips to the plate, but filled in as a spare outfielder when Tyler Soderstrom was moved from left field to first base to fill in for the injured Nick Kurtz.
Avans has a .275/.374/.408 slash line over 2226 PA at the Triple-A level. All of Avans’ Triple-A experience has come in the Pacific Coast League, so those seemingly solid numbers are perhaps a little below average given the PCL’s hitter-friendly nature. It will be interesting to see how his bat translates to a more normalized hitting environment with Triple-A Nashville of the International League, but perhaps more importantly, Avans will also give the Brewers some depth at all three outfield positions. The Crew have been a little thin in the outfield with Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell on the IL, and Christian Yelich primarily being used as the everyday DH.