The Brewers have reinstated a right-hander JC Mejia from the restricted list and opened a spot on the roster by designating catcher Jackson Reetz for assignment, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
Reetz, 26, was signed by the Brewers to a minor league deal in the offseason. Despite having cracked the majors with the Nationals last year, he was sent to the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers to begin this season. He tore the cover off the ball there, hitting 22 homers in just 64 games, getting bumped up to Triple-A in July.
He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in early August but optioned to Triple-A. McCalvy relays that this was because Reetz had an opt-out date in his contract. Reetz has long been considered a glove-first catcher but had that tremendous outburst in Double-A this season, which was tempting enough for the Brewers to give him a roster spot for a time. However, he wasn’t able to sustain that after a bump to Triple-A, as he’s hit just .212/.254/.424 since joining Nashville, which amounts to a 73 wRC+.
Based on that diminished offensive output, Reetz has lost his roster spot to Mejia, who was acquired from the Guardians in March. He was hit with an 80-game suspension in May due to a positive PED test but now returns to the roster after serving his sentence. Prior to the suspension, he was shelled to the tune of six earned runs in 2 1/3 MLB innings, although fared much better in the minors. In 14 1/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A, he registered an ERA of just 0.63. He’s been optioned to Nashville and will serve as depth for the time being.
With Reetz off the roster, the club is in a precarious position behind the plate, at least for now. They now only have two healthy catchers on the 40-man roster Victor Caratini and Mario Feliciano. They also have Omar Narvaezwho is on the injured list, and Alex Jackson, who is on the minor league injured list. Narvaez began a rehab assignment on Tuesday and should be back in the mix shortly.
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