The Milwaukee Brewers made a rare trade with a division rival on Monday in order to shore up its shaky starting rotation.
The Brewers traded minor league reliever Cody Ponce in order to acquire Jordan Lyles. This isn’t the righty starter’s first stint with the Brew Crew, as Lyles also spent the 2018 season pitching for Milwaukee.
The Brewers’ rotation is currently struggling with several injuries, as starters Brandon Woodruff, Jhoulys Chacín, and Jimmy Nelson are sidelined. Woodruff and Chacín’s statuses for the rest of the season are in question as they attempt to recover from oblique strains, while Nelson has a right elbow fluid accumulation issue that the Brewers haven’t established a timetable for.
The Pirates, currently in the midst of a nine-game skid that has left them without any chance of making this year’s playoffs, decided to sell Lyles in order to acquire a potential piece for their bullpen of the future.
Lyles hasn’t been good for the Pirates this season, allowing a 5.36 ERA and a boatload of home runs. It’s possible that the Brewers think that they can help him to make some adjustments to get him back to his 2018 form, when he posted an ERA just over 4 and helped the Brewers to an NL Central crown.
Lyles is expected to jump immediately into the team’s rotation.
