Seth McClung has not pitched well for the Brewers this season. He has worked in 38 games (2 starts) for the Brewers this year and he is 3-3 with a 5.03 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. McClung’s two biggest problems are walks (36) and homers (11) in 59 innings this season for the Brewers. It’s getting to the point where the Brewers can’t afford to pitch McClung in a close game.

The Brewers have signed 31-year old righty reliever Jesus Colome to a minor league deal. Colome pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Nationals this season and he was 1-1 with a 8.40 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP. Colome has now pitched in 324 games (0 starts) in his major league career in which he is 19-26 with 6 saves, a 4.65 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Colome has always had good stuff so this was a good low risk/high reward signing for the Brewers.

The Brewers have acquired 29-year old switch hitting 2B Felipe Lopez from the D-Backs for 25-year old righty swinging OF Cole Gillespie and 22-year old righty reliever Roque Mercedes. Lopez will move right into the Brewers’ starting lineup moving Casey McGehee and Craig Counsell over to 3B to share time with Bill Hall. Lopez played in 85 games this season for the D-Backs in which he was 104 for 345 (.301 avg, .776 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 6 homers, 25 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He has now played in 958 games in his major league career in which he is 942 for 3,546 (.266 avg, .730 OPS) with 492 runs scored, 77 homers, 359 RBIs and 115 stolen bases. This was a good move for the Brewers as Lopez should help them at the top of the lineup. Cole Gillespie was the #9 ranked prospect in the Brewers’ minor league system heading into this year according to Baseball America but he hasn’t played like it this season. Gillespie played in 87 games in A+AAA ball this season and he was 72 for 279 (.258 avg, .800 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 8 homers, 36 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Roque Mercedes has pitched in 29 games (0 starts) in A-ball so far this season and he is 1-1 with 6 saves, a 1.08 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. He has allowed only 26 hits in 41 2/3 innings this season while whiffing 45 batters which shows that he has pretty good stuff.

The Milwaukee Brewers are trying to add a starting pitcher to the rotation by the end of July. They have talked to the D-Backs about bringing veteran lefty Doug Davis back to Milwaukee. The Orioles match up well with the needs of the Brewers as Ty Wigginton or Melvin Mora along with Jeremy Guthrie would be interesting. The Brewers would likely have to give up players like Taylor Green (3B), Lorenzo Cain (OF) and Carlos Villanueva to get a trade done with the O’s. Kevin Kouzmanoff, Mark Teahan and Garrett Atkins would likely appeal to the Brewers to fill the 3B slot in the starting lineup and they wouldn’t likely cost an arm and a leg. If the Brewers want to get in on either the Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee sweepstakes it would likely cost them at least SS Acides Escobar and 3B Mat Gamel plus much more and I don’t think they want to pay that kind of price. So they could sniff around the bargain bin for pitchers like Jon Garland, Scott Olsen or Carl Pavano. Look for the Brewers to be active in the next couple of weeks in the trade market.

The Brewers have designated 27-year old lefty reliever Chris Narveson for assignment. He pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Brewers this season and he was 0-0 with a 8.44 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP. Narveson has pitched in 14 games (1 start) in his major league career and he is 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. The Brewers shouldn’t miss Narveson too much.