Brewers lefty Connor Thomas has cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, the team announced.
Thomas, 27, was a Rule 5 pick out of the Cardinals organization last year. He had a strong spring showing, broke camp with Milwaukee, made his big league debut and pitched 5 1/3 innings across two appearances before hitting the injured list with an elbow injury. Thomas was tagged for an alarming 12 runs in his brief MLB look, though the elbow injury likely contributed to those troubles. He was shelved for nearly three months before undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow.
At the time the Brewers announced the surgery, they noted that a UCL repair was possible as well. A formal announcement never followed, but MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy now reports that Thomas indeed underwent Tommy John surgery. That’ll sideline him until late into the 2026 season, if not all the way until the 2027 season.
Though Thomas’ 2025 season was rough, he’s a former fifth-round pick who’s had some success in the upper minors. That includes a tidy 2.89 ERA in 90 1/3 Triple-A frames with the 2024 Cardinals. He posted a below-average 20.6% strikeout rate but also recorded a sharp 6.3% walk rate and an excellent 55.3% ground-ball rate.
Thomas’ injury and lack of big league record will limit him to a minor league deal in free agency, but he figures to latch on as a depth option somewhere — possibly even back with the Brewers. Milwaukee’s decision to outright him doesn’t necessarily indicate that they no longer have interest in the southpaw, but they’d have had to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to him all winter since there’s no 60-day IL in the offseason.