Brewers cut ties with relief pitcher Neftali Feliz

ST. LOUIS – The Milwaukee Brewers finally addressed their struggling bullpen on Wednesday.

With Matt Garza needing to be reinstated from the disabled list in order to start against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, the Brewers designated Neftali Feliz for assignment.

Feliz's final appearance for the team came in Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader, when he allowed his third home run in five June appearances.

"I think we got to the point where we felt it was in everyone's best interests for a change of scenery," general manager David Stearns said. "Obviously, Neftali has struggled here for a little while.

"Our bullpen, as a whole, has had some rough patches over the last month or so. It's time to get a couple of new arms in there."

Signed to a one-year, $5.35 million contract on Jan. 20, the 29-year-old was expected to bring experience and an overpowering fastball as the team's closer.

He converted eight of his first nine save opportunities before command issues continued. Manager Craig Counsell handed the closer's duties to Corey Knebel and spotted Feliz in lower-leverage situations in an attempt to help him regain his confidence.

While Knebel has mostly flourished in his new role, Feliz showed no signs of adapting to his. He leaves Milwaukee with a 1-5 record and a 6.00 earned run average in 29 appearances.

Feliz allowed eight homers – tied with Wily Peralta for second most on the team – in just 27 innings of work. He hit 100 mph with his fastball at times early in the season, but with no real ability to harness that velocity effectively, Feliz quickly became a liability.

"There wasn’t much changed as far as some of the analytics from last year," Counsell said. "Certainly, the command was an issue, especially lately. And I think he lost a little bit of the feel for his off-speed pitches.

"To get ahead, to finish a hitter – he was struggling there, too. It was very difficult for him to get through hitters."

Moving on from a high-priced mistake is something the Brewers might not have done so quickly in recent years. But with the team unexpectedly in first place in the National League Central and needing marked improvement in the bullpen, priority is now being placed on performance.

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"We’re looking for a level of performance, no matter where we’re at," said Counsell. "We’ve got to get better there. That’s the bottom line."

Rookie Paolo Espino, who'd made two spot starts previously for the Brewers, was recalled from Class AAA Colorado Springs between games on Tuesday and will serve as the eighth bullpen arm for now.

Change in plans: Landing on the disabled list before making his major-league debut wasn’t exactly the way Brandon Woodruff drew it up.

But that’s the situation the right-hander now finds himself in after a strange series of events Tuesday that began with him expecting to make his major-league debut and ending with him being injured before he ever actually took the mound.

"It’s going to make for a good story down the road, that’s for sure," said Woodruff with a laugh. "I can always tell my kids or grandkids how I made my first appearance, and that was by going on the DL.

"It’s disappointing, but I’m looking forward to getting back."

Woodruff, 24, had his contract selected from Colorado Springs in the morning and was scheduled to start Game 1 of the Brewers' doubleheader against the Cardinals when things went off the rails for him.

"Obviously, it was a special day," Woodruff recounted. "Just getting out there and soaking it up. It was a lot of excitement. Felt good, went through my normal routine, went out and got about halfway through my stretch and something just didn’t feel right. I guess bad enough to where I couldn’t continue, so I spoke up."

Woodruff was scratched with what was termed as right hamstring tightness. With first pitch only 25 minutes away, the Brewers quickly moved to Plan B in Brent Suter, who had been added to the roster that morning as well as the 26th man.

Suter pitched well on the short notice but with no offense to speak of Milwaukee was shut out, 6-0.

Before the game, Counsell said Woodruff's status with the team would be re-evaluated depending on the day's events. But afterward, he was placed on the 10-day disabled list – a spot that will keep him in the majors with the Brewers while he rehabs.

"It’s not ideal," he said. "But I can learn from these guys and pick up a lot of things. Try to be a better ballplayer."

Woodruff was 6-4 with a 4.12 earned run average and WHIP of 1.25 in 12 starts for Colorado Springs. He is generally considered the Brewers' second-best pitching prospect behind another recent call-up, left-hander Josh Hader.

An 11th-round pick by the Brewers out of Mississippi State in 2014, Woodruff was named the organization's minor-league pitcher of the year in 2016 after going 14-9 with a 2.68 ERA in 28 starts between advanced Class A Brevard County and Class AA Biloxi.

His 173 strikeouts in 158 innings also paced all of minor-league baseball.  

Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.