The Brewers have lost 28-year old lefty starter/reliever Manny Parra for the rest of the season due to elbow surgery that he underwent yesterday. Parra pitched in 8 games (1 start) in AAA-ball for the Brewers this year and he was 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Parra has pitched in 110 games (74 starts) in his first four years with the Brewers and he is 24-30 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. The Brewers probably could have used Parra out of the bullpen in September, but they will have to wait until next year to use him.

36-year old lefty reliever Randy Flores has opted out of his minor league deal with the Brewers and he has become a free agent. Flores pitched in 10 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Brewers and he was 1-1 with 2 saves, a 3.27 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He has now pitched in 58 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Padres, Yankees and Brewers this year in which he is 3-6 with 6 saves, a 3.05 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Flores was informed that the Brewers weren’t going to call him up when rosters expand tomorrow, which led to his opting out of his contract. The Brewers shouldn’t miss him too much, but I do expect some team to sign him for September.

22-year old righty reliever Santo Manzanillo is finally putting it all together for the Brewers this year in the minors. He has pitched in 41 games (0 starts) in A+AA-ball and he is 1-1 with 12 saves, a 1.81 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Manzanillo has only given up 40 hits in his first 54 2/3 innings this year while whiffing 54 batters. He has now pitched in 108 games (6 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 6-7 with 14 saves, a 5.59 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. The awful past seasons will be forgiven quickly by the Brewers as long as he keeps pitching like he is right now.

The Brewers have placed 28-year old righty swinging 2B Rickie Weeks on the 15-day disabled list due to a severely sprained left ankle. Weeks has played in 104 games for the Brewers so far this year and he is 113 of 416 (.272 avg, .825 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 19 homers, 43 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. 40-year old lefty swinging Craig Counsell could see a bump in P.T. before the trade deadline as the Brewers will be on the hunt for a 2B now. Counsell is 0 for his last 38! He has played in 72 games so far this year for the Brewers and he is 17 for 110 (.155 avg, .439 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 0 homers, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Brewers have called up 25-year old righty swinging 2B Eric Farris to replace Weeks on the roster. He came into this season as the Brewers’ #9 prospect according to Baseball America. Farris has played in 98 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 101 for 394 (.256 avg, .665 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 6 homers, 36 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Farris has now played in 458 games in his first 5 years in the minors and he is 524 for 1,822 (.288 avg, .709 OPS) with 255 runs scored, 20 homers, 197 RBIs and 152 stolen bases. I have to think that the Brewers are going to get really agressive in trying to deal for a 2B before the trade deadline coming up this Sunday.

The Brewers have released 28-year old lefty starter/reliever Chase Wright. Wright pitched in 20 games (10 starts) in AA+AAA-ball this year and he was 5-5 with 1 save, a 5.83 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. His lone major league experience came back in 2007 with the Yankees. Wright pitched in 3 games (2 starts) for the Yanks in 2007 and he was 2-0 with a 7.20 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. This is no loss for the Brewers.