MILWAUKEE — It had been a long road back to the major leagues for Brewers reliever Vinnie Chulk, having toiled in the minors for more than two years since being a regular bullpen contributor in Toronto and San Francisco.
Chulk was called up and given another chance at the major-league level on April 28, as the Brewers needed arms to reinforce their bullpen. But after struggling this season with a 10.00 ERA in seven games, Chulk was designated for assignment on Saturday. In his place, the Brewers called up left-handed reliever Juan Perez, giving him a spot on the team's 40-man roster.
"We felt like we needed the help in the bullpen," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said on Saturday. "Vinnie had pitched three days in a row — he wasn't going to be able to pitch today. … This gives us a guy more specific to maybe what we need. We've come across a lot of left-handed lineups, and we're getting stuck in that middle relief part, where we're having to put in some right-handers against some lefties that we'd rather not do."
Perez has been particularly impressive for Triple-A Nashville this season with a 0.84 ERA in 10 2/3 innings worth of action. In that time, Perez averaged nearly 1.5 strikeouts per inning and was particularly effective with getting out left-handers with what Roenicke referred to as his "funkiness". Last year, in five innings for the Phillies, Perez struck out eight batters and registered a 3.60 ERA in limited work.
The left-hander had experienced some trouble with his command with a high walk rate in the past, but Roenicke said that he's improved significantly on that front.
"He's got good stuff along with the funkiness," Roenicke said. "When I say he's a left-handed guy, he's been getting out right-handers too. But if we come into an inning, we've got two out of three guys are left-handed, we feel good about him getting out of the inning. But I liked what I saw in spring training. … He's got some walks in him, but when he's throwing strikes, he's a tough guy to hit."
Still, designating a guy like Chulk, who had fought so hard to get back to the major league level, was a tough decision for Roenicke and the Brewers' brass.
"It wasn't a tough conversation, but it was tough when we were thinking about doing it," Roenicke said. "We all know what he had went through, and it's been a long time since he had been back. Again, some of the ideal situations to put in a reliever haven't been there. We're just not going deep enough to get to that part where we get more specific with what we do with our guys."
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