Brewers take a chance on a pair of relievers
The Brewers have signed pitchers Enoli Paredes and Jared Koenig to minor league contracts, relays Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Both will be in MLB camp as non-roster invitees.
Paredes elected free agency a few weeks ago after being waived by the Astros. The right-hander had previously spent his entire career in the Houston organization. Paredes pitched out of Dusty Baker’s bullpen at times from 2020-22, tallying 32 1/3 innings over 37 cumulative appearances. He worked to a 3.90 ERA but walked almost a fifth of opposing hitters.
Now 28, Paredes spent the entire 2023 season on optional assignment to Houston’s Triple-A club. He allowed 4.80 earned runs per nine over 54 1/3 innings in the Pacific Coast League. While Paredes’ 27.3% strikeout rate there was solid, his 18.6% walk percentage was similarly untenable as the mark he’s managed in his MLB career. He has a mid-90s heater but will need to dramatically improve his strike-throwing to carve out a spot in the middle innings for Milwaukee.
Koenig, 30 in January, also spent all of 2023 in Triple-A. He was in the Padres system on a minor league pact. Koenig allowed an even 5.00 ERA over 45 frames with their top affiliate in El Paso. He kept the ball on the ground at a 51.1% clip with slightly worse than average strikeout and walk marks.
His only major league work came in 2022. Koenig pitched 39 1/3 innings over 10 appearances (five starts) with Oakland. The soft-tossing lefty posted a 5.72 ERA while striking out 12.4% of opponents in green and gold. He could provide the Brew Crew with long relief depth in Triple-A if he doesn’t break camp.
