Brandon Sproat (hamstring) to make next start

Proat was called up on Monday to serve as a reliever. However, he walked four batters in the ninth inning on Wednesday night, and Brewers manager Pat Murphy did not mince words when discussing the performance: “It’s unacceptable. You’ve got to throw the ball over the plate, or you can’t be a major league pitcher...You can’t let it snowball like that.” Sproat will continue to work on his command and approach in the minors, but there’s a good chance that we don’t see him up with the Brewers again this season.

It’s the fourth time in six starts that Gasser has been lifted before completing five innings, but he has his chances today. After keeping the Cubs scoreless for 4 2/3 innings, he gave up a homer to Pedro Ramírez to tie the game at 1-1. He then plunked Pete Crow-Armstrong and walked Seiya Suzuki before being replaced by Chad Patrick, who got Alex Bregman to pop up to end the inning. With the early exits, Gasser is just 1-1 in seven outings since the beginning of August. Barring a change, he’s in line to face the Reds on Sunday.

Sproat will return in a relief role, but with Brewers manager Pat Murphy also considering moving Kyle Harrison into the bullpen, there’s a chance Sproat and Harrison could form some sort of tandem. In Triple-A, it seems like the Brewers have significantly dialed back Sproat’s cutter usage, leaning into the four-seamer as his primary fastball and upping the usage of all his secondaries. We’ll see if the results improve at the big league level.

If Gasser had played better defense, he might have pitched five scoreless innings and gotten a win tonight. As is, he missed out on two potential outs in a three-run fourth and left with the Brewers down 3-1. He’ll still be a decent play in another start against the Cubs, this one at home, next week.

Gasser was thrust into action after Dustin May was struck by a line drive on the first pitch of the game and forced to exit. From there, he was stellar while pitching with a big lead from the second inning onward. The Mets briefly challenged in the fourth, but Gasser got a huge strikeout from A.J. Ewing before Francisco Lindor could come up with a chance to claw them back into this game. He found a tick more velocity on his fastball and that helped it to force seven of his 10 total swings-and-misses. We didn’t have a clear indication that he was out of the Brewers’ rotation, but more so that he and Shane Drohan were somewhat competing for the final spot as they shifted back to a five-man staff while also having fluid roles in the short term. A strong showing here may have earned Gasser another turn or two as a starter. Or, Milwaukee may have no choice depending on May’s health status.

Ouch. May was struck in the upper back near his right shoulder by a 106-mph line drive from Mets rookie A.J. Ewing on his very first pitch of the game. He was immediately replaced by lefty Robert Gasser. He’ll undergo further evaluation and likely imaging to determine whether he suffered a serious injury. There should be an update on his status after the game.

McCalvy does suggest this could simply be to line things up for the next series in Wrigley Field against the Cubs and might not be a long-term strategy. However, it does mean that Logan Henderson, Shane Drohan, and Robert Gasser will start, in that order, against the Rangers this weekend.

Murphy added that Gasser and Shane Drohan are expected to start against the Rangers this weekend. There are a bunch of variables to consider when it comes to Milwaukee’s rotation heading into the final month of the season, but it sounds like both Gasser and Drohan will get at least one more turn through before any changes are made.

Gasser was working with a 6-2 lead when the first two guys reached to start the fourth. Gasser battled back to retire the next two batters, but a passed ball allowed one run to score in the process, and Gasser was lifted with Randy Arozarena up. Chad Patrick came in and allowed the one inherited runner to score before finishing the fourth. Gasser remained 3-5, even as the Brewers improved to 9-6 in his starts. He’ll likely face the Mets next week.

Gasser gave up a pair of homers, but he struck out seven and walked just one while working into the seventh for the second time this season. He has another fairly tough matchup next week against the Braves, so though he’s pitching well of late, he’s a mediocre option in mixed leagues then.