Notes: With injuries a major factor, Brewers already have used 22 different pitchers

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

DENVER – When Freddy Peralta started for the Brewers on Sunday, making his major-league debut, he became the 22nd pitcher used this season by the club, including an inning pitched by utility player Hernán Pérez.

If that sounds like a lot at this stage of the season, that’s because it is.

“We’ve had injuries all over the roster,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve tried to put ourselves in a position where we’re at our best, with the most able 25 every day. That has led to some roster movement.

“But the guys that have pitched for us were kind of the guys who were going to pitch for us during the course of the year. Somebody like Alec Asher (who pitched once Saturday and was sent back down) is probably out of that box. But Adrian Houser and Taylor Williams, Jorge Lopez, there are no big surprises there. Those are guys who were going to pitch for us.

“So, I don’t think I’m completely surprised by that. Look, we’ve got three of our five starters on the DL. We’ve had to adapt, and I think we’ve done a pretty decent job of that. The way we’ve kind of built the 40-man roster, where it’s at right now with major league-ready depth, it has proven to be really needed.”

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Counsell referred to Chase Anderson, who went on the disabled list Saturday with a stomach illness, necessitating the call-up of Peralta from Class AAA Colorado Springs; Zach Davies, currently sidelined with rotator cuff inflammation; and Wade Miley, who suffered an oblique strain in his second start off the DL (groin strain) and is expected to miss two months.

Jhoulys Chacín is the only starter to make every turn. Junior Guerra was summoned shortly into the season and Brandon Woodruff has been up and down three times. Lefty Brent Suter has been in and out of the rotation, and made a last-minute start Saturday when Anderson became ill.

Peralta became the eighth different pitcher to start a game for the Brewers, compared to 13 all of last season. That flux has prevented the rotation from finding a consistent level, resulting in a 4.35 ERA entering play Sunday, ranking 10th in the National League and 16th in the major leagues.

“Mostly, I’m just proud of the guys that have stepped up,” general manager David Stearns said. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs in our rotation from a personnel standpoint. We’ve had guys get injured.

“We’ve had short starts that we’ve had to recover from, and the next guy has picked them up. We’re getting through it. We’re going to need to continue. The goal is to stabilize it a little bit.”

The Brewers have only one starting pitcher, Anderson, with an ERA below 4.00 (3.97). Chacín got off to a slow start but has posted a 2.96 ERA over his last five outings.

“I don’t know that we’ve had a guy who necessarily feels like he’s firing on all cylinders,” Stearns said. “I do think we’ve had some really nice starts at points through the year, and that has helped. We’ve had different guys at different times through the rotation step up. That’s been sufficient for us so far.”

The saving grace has been the bullpen, which ranks second in the majors (2.55 ERA entering Sunday), trailing only Arizona (2.33). The relief corps has been heavily used, however, with its 155 innings pitched ranking fourth in the majors.

“I think we’re making sure that when guys are pitching multiple innings they’re getting multiple days of rest,” Stearns said. “Our model for our bullpen this year is a little different from the conventional model. We’re not going to have as many appearances as some other teams. We are asking our pitchers to go a little bit longer.

“But that’s based on the talent level of the pitcher and the fact that we think we have a lot of guys who can get both righties and lefties out. So far, these guys have been pretty strong and have rebounded very strong. We’re going to need to have different guys step up throughout the course of the year. We know that. And we will.”

PRETTY IN PINK: When MLB began specifically dedicating Mother’s Day to the battle against breast cancer in 2006 and affiliating with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, special equipment mostly consisted of pink bats. Remember Bill Hall’s game-winning, pink-bat homer that year?

The pink equipment has expanded greatly since then and this year included bats, caps, wrist bands, socks, cleats, batting gloves, catcher’s equipment, undersleeves and even sunglasses.

“We’re sort of all in,” said Brewers equipment manager Jason Shawger, who worked overtime in recent days to gather and distribute the pink-colored items. “I like the cause. The bats and other things will be auctioned to raise money for Susan G. Komen.

“It’s a little harder on the road because the stuff had to be shipped here, then I’m going to ship it back home. We’re not taking it to Arizona. I even got a pink batting weight for on deck.”

Shawger said it’s up to each player how far they go with pink gear, and how many at-bats they use the pink bats.

“Some guys use pink bats the whole game, some use them once and then go back to their regular bats,” he said. “It all depends how it feels to them. Each player only has so many bats.”