Milwaukee Brewers Make 3 Deadline Trades For Pitching

MILWAUKEE, WI — The Milwaukee Brewers concluded the 2019 MLB trade deadline by dealing for two more pitchers. That brings Milwaukee's final tally to four big-league pitchers acquired and four familiar faces headed to new places.

Late this afternoon, the Brewers dealt minor-league shortstop prospect Mauricio Dubon to the San Francisco Giants for left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz and fireballing righty Ray Black.

To sum up:

Acquired: Jordan Lyles, Drew Pomeranz, Ray Black, Jake Faria, cash considerations.

Traded: Jesus Aguilar, Mauricio Dubon, Cody Ponce, Marcos Diplan.

In surrendering Dubon to the Giants, San Francisco gets a 25-year-old shortstop who hit .297 with 16 home runs at AAA San Antonio. Milwaukee, in return, gets a partial season of Pomeranz and three years of Black.

Pomeranz, like Faria, worked out of the bullpen recently, and has found some measure of success. In Black, the Brewers get a closer-type relief pitcher. He throws his fastball near 100 miles per hour and mixes it up with an 85 mile per hour slider and an 80 mile per hour curveball. Though his strikeout rate is incredibly high, his control has yielded a high amount of walks as well.

Lost in the shuffle, perhaps, was Marcos Diplan, a 22-year-old pitcher who had been twirling at AA Biloxi before he was acquired by the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations.

Aguilar Dealt For Pitching

According to ESPN beat writer Jeff Passan, the Rays needed a right-handed power hitter, and Aguilar fills that role nicely for them. Aguilar, who was an All-Star with Milwaukee in 2018, had a rocky start to 2019, but has been nearly a .300 hitter in July.

In exchange, the Brewers acquire pitcher Jacob Faria from the Rays. Faria, 26, is a right-handed pitcher who has split time between the big-league club and AAA between 2017-19. In 40 big-league games, including 26 starts, Faria has notched 9 victories against 8 defeats. In 161-and-one-third innings, Faria has recorded 145 strikeouts against 141 hits and 77 walks.

According to Fangraphs, Faria throws his fastball 59.3 percent of the time and averages 94.1 miles per hour - a two-mile-per-hour jump when compared to 2017-18. That jump may correspond to his move to the bullpen in 2019. He also throws a slider and changeup. He has four years of team control before he hits the free agent market.

Lyles Comes Back

The Milwaukee Brewers started their runup to the 2019 MLB trade deadline by acquiring starting pitcher Jordan Lyles from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for minor-league starting pitcher Cody Ponce.

In Lyles, the Brewers get a familiar face. He was acquired in late 2018 and pitched 16 and one-third innings in the Brewer bullpen. He signed a one-year, $2.05 million deal with the Pirates as a free agent over the winter.

Lyles is currently 5-7 with a 5.36 earned run average in 17 starts with the Pirates. He currently sports a 5.36 earned run average and has recorded 90 strikeouts against 33 walks and 88 hits in 82 and one-third innings in 2019.

Lyles started strong in 2019, advancing to a 5-1 record with a 2.81 earned run average. After making three June starts - all against the Brewers - the wheels began to come off for the former Pittsburgh starter. In five July starts, Lyles is 0-3 with a 15.00 earned run average.

When questioned Monday evening, Milwaukee Brewers General Manager David Stearns said that all of the underlying factors that made Lyles a good pitcher earlier in the season were still present, and that he expects Lyles to perform well now that he's back in Milwaukee.

In Ponce, the Pirates get a 25-year-old who cuts an imposing figure on the pitcher's mound, standing 6-foot-6 and weighing about 240 pounds. Ponce was a second-round pick in the 2015 draft, and is currently 1-3 with one save and 44 strikeouts at Double-A Biloxi in 2019. He has a 3.29 earned run average in 27 appearances.

As of Monday, the Brewers were sitting in second place in the National League Central division, one game back of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.

At 56-51, the Brewers are also one game back in the NL Wild Card standings. They, and the Philadelphia Phillies, trail the Nationals and Cardinals for the two playoff spots. The top wild card finisher gets to play a playoff series, while the second wild card finisher has to play a single playoff game in order to advance.

The 2019 Milwaukee Brewers are eyeing a return trip to the post-season after a successful 2018 campaign in which they defeated the Chicago Cubs in a 163rd game to clinch the NL Central Division. The Brewers then rolled through the Colorado Rockies before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.