34-year old righty starting pitcher Braden Looper has had a ton of run support this season from the offense and he has needed every bit of it to succeed. Looper has started 27 games this season for the Brewers and he is 11-6 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Looper doesn’t have many quality pitches as he’s better suited for a relief role. You can see that when you look at his stat line and see that he has allowed 32 homers in only 155 innings this season. Looper will likely only continue to win games if the Brewers keep putting up impressive run totals when he pitches.

The Brewers have designated 25-year old switch hitting catcher Carlos Corporan for assignment. Corporan played in 63 games in A+AAA ball this season and he was 37 for 192 (.193 avg, .507 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer and 23 RBIs. He also played in 1 game for the Brewers this season and he was 1 for 1 (1.000 avg) with 1 run scored. Corporan doesn’t have much of a upside so the Brewers shouldn’t miss him much.

The Brewers have called up 22-year old righty swinging shortstop Alcides Escobar. Escobar played in 109 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 128 for 430 (.298 avg, .762 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 4 homers, 34 RBIs and 42 stolen bases. Escobar will be the starting shortstop for the Brewers likely for the rest of the season. He has played in 9 games in his major league career going 2 for 4 (.500 avg) with 2 runs scored.

The Brewers have sent 26-year old righty swinging shortstop J.J. Hardy to AAA. Hardy has played in 102 games for the Brewers this season and he was 85 for 371 (.229 avg, .667 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 11 homers and 45 RBIs. Sending Hardy to AAA was a “What have you done lately” move for the Brewers. That is because in 2007+2008, Hardy played in 297 games in which he was 325 for 1,161 (.280 avg) with 167 runs scored, 50 homers and 154 RBIs. The Brewers have called up hot shot prospect Alcides Escobar to replace Hardy as the starting shortstop going forward.

The Brewers have designated IF/OF Bill Hall for assignment. The 29-year old righty swinging Hall played in 76 games this season for the Brewers and he was 43 for 214 (.201 avg, .606 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 6 homers and 24 RBIs. He also whiffed a absolutely stunning 72 times this season. Hall played 8 years for the Brewers covering 831 games in which he was 677 for 2,676 (.253 avg, .758 OPS) with 370 runs scored, 102 homers, 367 RBIs and 49 stolen bases. Hall has proved that his 2006 breakout season where he scored 101 runs, whacked 35 homers and drove in 85 runs was a fluke. This move is a good one for both the Brewers and Hall as it will give him a fresh start.

UPDATE: The Brewers have traded Bill Hall to the Mariners for 25-year old righty reliever Ruben Flores. Flores has pitched in 44 games (0 starts) in A-ball this season and he is 3-2 with 18 saves, a 4.39 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Flores has whiffed 61 batters in 53 1/3 innings this season so he does have a live arm.