Janson

Junk

Junk spent the last four days in the majors, but he didn’t get to pitch. He has a 9.00 ERA in five innings for the Brewers over the course of the season.

Junk provides Milwaukee’s bullpen with some extra long relief depth for the remainder of their weekend series against the White Sox. The 28-year-old righty has made three relief appearances this season for the Brewers.

Junk didn’t pitch in three days with the Brewers this time around. He gave up five runs over five innings in an earlier stint with the team.

With Joel Payamps landing on the bereavement list on Friday, Junk will rejoin the Brewers’ bullpen just four days after being optioned to Triple-A. He has posted a miserable 9.00 ERA, 2.80 WHIP and a 3/1 K/BB ratio across five innings with the Brewers in three appearances this season.

Junk will report back to Triple-A with the Brewers opting to go with Kevin Herget to replace him on the roster. Junk was awful in his appearances with the Brewers with 13 hits allowed and five runs given up over three relief appearances.

The right-hander will provide length out of the Brewers’ bullpen, or could wind up filling in the rotation spot vacated by the injured Wade Miley (elbow) depending on how the club chooses to utilize him. The 28-year-old hurler posted a 4.70 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and a 12/8 K/BB ratio over 15 1/3 innings through his first four appearances (three starts) at Triple-A Nashville.

Dunn spent most of his 2023 season at the Double-A level within the Phillies’ farm system in Reading and slashed .271/.396/.506 with 21 home runs and 78 RBI across 505 plate appearances. The 26-year-old infielder definitely made his precense known at Brewers spring camp with a .876 OPS and nine RBI, but it wasn’t enough to keep him up in the majors. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him called up at some point during the season if he shows consistency at the Triple-A level or if there is a need in the infield due to injury.

The 28-year-old right-hander struck out a pair of batters in the contest and didn’t issue a walk. All of the damage done against him came in the opening inning, as Chris Taylor had an RBI double and Austin Barnes plated a run with a ground out. His two strikeout victims in the game were Chris Owings and Kevin Padlo. Junk had been pursuing a contract to pitch in the Korea Baseball Organization back in January, but it doesn’t seem like that ever materialized for him. As it stands, he should open the season as extra rotation depth for the Brewers at Triple-A Nashville.

Junk is currently on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster and doesn’t appear to have an agreement in place yet to head to Korea. However, it seems likely that he’ll be able to find an opportunity in the coming days. The 28-year-old righty was acquired last offseason from the Angels in the Hunter Renfroe trade and made two appearances (one start) this past season for the Brewers.

Junk will take Eric Lauer’s spot on the active roster. The 27-year-old has spent most of the season in the minors and posted a 4.18 ERA and 1.35 WHIP across 140 innings with Triple-A Nashville. He should work out of the bullpen during Sunday’s season finale against the Cubs.