The Brewers have designated left-hander Bruce Zimmermann for assignment, per a team announcement. Righty Carlos Rodriguez has been recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take his spot on the active roster. Milwaukee’s 40-man roster is now at 39 players.
Zimmermann pitched in just one game for Milwaukee, giving the club six innings in a spot start against the Padres yesterday. The former Orioles southpaw was tagged for five earned runs on seven hits and a pair of walks with only one punchout, but he gave the Milwaukee bullpen a breather after a day in which they’d burned through six relievers in an 11-inning game against San Diego. Despite the rocky results, Zimmermann drew praise from manager Pat Murphy for pitching relatively deep into the game on a day when the team’s relief corps was a bit depleted (via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).
It was always likely to be a one-off appearance for Zimmermann. The lefty is out of minor league options and wouldn’t be available to pitch until the season finale at the earliest. The Brewers will shuffle him off the roster and bring up Rodriguez to provide some extra length in the ’pen. It may sound cold or callous on the surface, but teams are generally upfront with this type of plan when bringing a journeyman pitcher like Zimmermann to the majors for a short period of time. He’ll get a few days of big league service time and salary for the effort. (Players receive MLB service time and pay even while they’re on outright waivers and/or in DFA limbo.)
This was Zimmermann’s first big league appearance since 2023. He’s pitched in parts of four other seasons, all with Baltimore from 2020-23. Zimmermann carries a career 5.64 ERA in 164 1/3 MLB frames, but he’s been far better in Triple-A — including this season. In 138 frames with the Brewers’ Nashville affiliate, the 30-year-old Zimmermann has pitched to a 4.11 ERA with an 18.8% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate.
Zimmermann will be available to all 29 other clubs on outright waivers. Assuming he clears, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment to the minor leagues in favor of free agency. Either way, he’ll be a minor league free agent at season’s end.