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Some things to read while raiding the archives.
We are 86 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, but at this point, it’s unclear if one of the Brewers’ one-time top pitching prospects will be there. On Tuesday, the team outrighted right-hander Ariel Pena to Triple-A Colorado Springs, removing him from the 40-man roster.
Pena joined the Brewers along with Jean Segura and Johnny Hellweg in the 2012 Zack Greinke deal, but high walk rates have prevented him from making much progress in the organization. He was initially assigned to Double-A Huntsville and repeated that level again in 2013 before advancing to Nashville in 2014, where he posted a 4.56 ERA over 128 1/3 innings. In each of those three seasons, he walked more than five batters per nine innings. He was initially slated to pitch in the Arizona Fall League this year but was a late scratch with an elbow injury.
The fact that he’s being outrighted means Pena cleared waivers without any of baseball’s 29 other teams opting to put a claim in on him. It’s possible he could still be in major league camp as a nonroster invitee, but this transaction makes him an even longer shot to make the Opening Day roster.
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