The Brewers have signed left-hander Fernando Abad to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Nashville.
Abad, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in the offseason and was selected to their big league roster twice, though both instances saw him get designated for assignment after a short period of time. He appeared in six games for the Rox with a 4.26 ERA. His 30 1/3 innings in Triple-A this year have resulted in a 3.86 ERA, with Abad striking out 27.8% of hitters while walking just 2.6%. But he allowed nine earned runs over his last five appearances and got released last week.
This is Abad’s 11th season seeing some time in the majors, having previously suited up for the Astros, Nationals, Athletics, Twins, Red Sox, Giants and Orioles prior to joining the Rockies this year. He has a 3.78 ERA over 406 appearances in that time, with a 19.3% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 41.7% ground ball rate.
The Brewers have operated for parts of this season with Hoby Milner as their only left-handed reliever, with various attempts to deploy a second lefty having gone poorly thus far. The club acquired Andrew Chafin prior to the deadline and has also given brief showings to Ethan Small, Clayton Andrews and Bennett Sousa. Amazingly, none of those four have an ERA south of 11.81 for the Brewers this year. Each case is a small sample of 5 1/3 innings or less, but it’s still a part of the roster that’s a bit shaky at the moment.
By bringing Abad aboard, the Brewers will add some veteran non-roster depth for their lefty relief mix. By joining the organization prior to September 1, he will be eligible to pitch for the Brewers in the postseason, if they were to qualify and he were to earn his way into a role. Rosters expand from 26 to 28 in September, which could perhaps open a spot for him, though he would need to be added to the 40-man roster.
