Notes: Brewers option reliever Brent Suter to minor-league camp

PHOENIX - The Milwaukee Brewers moved a step closer to determining their 25-man roster on Sunday by optioning reliever Brent Suter to minor-league camp.

Suter was 1-0 with a 4.00 earned run average and eight strikeouts in eight appearances (nine innings, two starts) this spring. He'd pitched just once since March 18, however, with the starters pitching deeper into games and more established relievers eating up the remaining innings with the season opener nearing.

"I think Brent had a good camp," manager Craig Counsell said. "We’re trying to just pare it down here and the innings are going away. He’s been a backup the last couple days and just not gotten in the game. But the way I see it, leaving camp he’s a guy that’s gotten big-league hitters out. He’s performed in camp.

"We’re getting down to the end. We’ve got 15 pitchers here right now, so it’s not necessarily performance. We’ve just got to make decisions."

Suter, 27, ducked into the Brewers' Maryvale clubhouse one last time after learning of the news to exchange handshakes and hugs with teammates and team personnel. He was a feel-good story for Milwaukee in 2016, a 31st-round pick out of Harvard University in 2012 who pitched in 14 games after coming up from Class AAA Colorado Springs late in the season.

On Aug. 19, Suter became the first left-hander to start a game for the Brewers in almost three full years — a span of 474 games — and finished 2-2 with a 3.32 ERA despite throwing a fastball that averaged just 84.8 mph.

"Basically, it was a numbers game," Suter said. "I asked them what I could do, to get better at, and they said lefty breaking balls. Lefties are picking up my breaking ball pretty well. If I can just work on that I can be a lefty specialist, the guy who comes in when a lot of lefties are coming up.

"So I’ve got to go back, get better, work on that and hopefully be back up here in a little bit."

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Suter went 6-6 with a 3.50 ERA at Colorado Springs in 110 2/3 innings in 2016. He made 26 appearances overall and 15 starts, and the Brewers are planning on him filling a similar role for the Sky Sox to start 2017.

"Part of what makes him valuable is that he’s been able to bounce back and forth without any adverse effects to his performance, which is very valuable for us," Counsell said. "And I told that to him — ‘Not many guys can do that.’ "

Whereas former Brewers reliever Tyler Thornburg had trouble at times adapting to dual roles, Suter embraces the challenge.

"I took to it," he said. "I just like getting the ball, so either way. Relieving or starting, I like getting the ball."

Milwaukee's dearth of left-handed pitching has been well-documented, and, with Suter exiting, the Brewers now have just one southpaw left in camp — Tommy Milone, who has been auditioning for a role in the starting rotation. Milone could end up in the bullpen after the Brewers announce their rotation, but that decision hasn't been announced yet.

"That’s not how I look at Tommy," Counsell said. "It’s an independent decision, for sure. We didn’t use Suter as a left-handed guy last year. We went the final two months last year without how we’d used a traditional left-hander in the bullpen."

Counsell said he didn't feel hamstrung by not having more lefty options in the bullpen but admitted in a perfect world he'd like to have one. Suter could be that guy again sometime down the road.

"I think being left-handed is why I’m still around in baseball," Suter said. "I don’t think I’d be here if I was right-handed because I just don’t throw that hard and I don’t have that nasty stuff."

Back to normal: Spring training is a time for pitchers to work on various things but when the results aren’t there, it can be a little disconcerting. That was the case for reliever Jacob Barnes, who was hit hard in four consecutive outings before getting back on track Saturday.

“We were working on some things with sequences and stuff, and I was kind of focusing on those things instead of just pitching,” Barnes said. “I was trying to make it happen during games instead of bullpen sessions and was probably thinking too much about it.

“After my last outing, we talked about it and said, ‘Let’s get back to the main approach of being aggressive and attacking the (strike) zone and not worry about the other stuff.' "

Barnes’ woes began in a March 15 game against Colorado at Salt River Fields. He entered the game in the bottom of the ninth with a 4-3 lead and allowed a single to the first hitter, then a game-winning home run to Cristhian Adames.

The 26-year-old right-hander went on to surrender at least two runs in four consecutive outings. Over that span, he covered only 2 2/3 innings, allowing 10 hits and nine runs (eight earned), ballooning his spring earned run average to 12.71.

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For a pitcher trying to win a spot in the bullpen, it was more than a bit disconcerting. But Barnes pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts vs. the Royals on Saturday.

“D.J. (pitching coach Derek Johnson) and I will still work on those other things, but we wanted to get back to being more aggressive, and it ended up working,” he said. “We could tell the difference.

“I’m not going to throw away what we were working on but I needed to stop worrying about it out there on the mound. It took me away from competing and getting outs and being aggressive. The foundation is still there and when the situation comes up, we can do those other things.”

Barnes began last season at Colorado Springs, a venue noted for being tough on pitchers. But the fastball/slider specialist excelled there, posting a 1.21 ERA in 17 outings, with 23 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.

That showing earned Barnes his first promotion to the majors in early June, and he continued to pitch well, posting a 2.70 ERA in 27 outings with 26 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings. The only hiccup came in late July when right elbow inflammation sent him to the disabled list for just over a month.

Now, Barnes awaits news to see if he’ll make an opening day roster for the first time.