Why the Brewers' odd roster move was actually genius 

MILWAUKEE – After parts of eight years and nearly 600 Minor League innings, the perfect combination of circumstances and scheduling delivered 28-year-old right-hander Garrett Stallings to the Brewers on Tuesday.

“It’s a dream come true and a long time coming,” Stallings said.

Stallings was selected from Triple-A Nashville alongside a surprising corresponding move: The Brewers optioned left-hander Robert Gasser to Rookie-level Arizona, which was a head-scratcher considering he was coming off a solid outing in Monday’s win over the Reds and presumably will be needed again soon, with the Brewers in the midst of 18 games over 17 consecutive game days leading to the All-Star break.

Why would the Brewers not only part with a pitcher amid those circumstances, but send him to the Arizona Complex League?

The schedule provides the answer.

The Brewers’ next stop is a three-game series at the D-backs, so Gasser can do his usual between-starts work with the Brewers in Arizona. And the stop after that is St. Louis, where the Brewers have a doubleheader against the Cardinals scheduled for July 7. That means the teams can agree to call up a 27th man, who wouldn’t be subject to the usual rule that requires an optioned player to spend at least 10 days in the Minors before he’s eligible for recall. Gasser presumably will start one of those games.

In the meantime, the Brewers get an extra bullpen arm in Stallings.

“We need pitching depth right now,” manager Pat Murphy said.

They hope to be moving in the right direction with pitching. Right-hander Coleman Crow (flexor strain) was scheduled for a live batting practice session at Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday and is nearing a rehab assignment. And another right-hander, Logan Henderson (low back strain) is scheduled for 65-70 pitches in a rehab assignment for Nashville on Friday, after which he could rejoin Milwaukee’s pitching mix.

Stallings was a fifth-round pick of the Angels in 2019 who was with the Orioles when the Brewers traded for him in 2024. Between the Orioles and Brewers organizations, he’d been pitching at the Triple-A level for parts of four seasons before getting the call to the Majors.

Including his 12 starts and four relief appearances for Triple-A Nashville this season (he’s 3-3 with a 3.45 ERA), Stallings is sitting on 594 Minor League innings.

“That’s kind of crazy for someone who hasn’t made it to The Show yet,” Stallings said. “The whole time I’ve just kept my head down and continued to go at it. The work has really, really paid off.”

Brewers fans probably know Stallings’ name if they followed along in Spring Training. Because of his durability and experience, he was commonly called over from Minor League camp to close out games, and actually tied for the team lead in Cactus League appearances in 2025.

Those weren’t just empty innings in exhibition games. Stallings said he used the experience to learn how to be a reliever.

“In order to get your name called, you can’t just tailor to one thing,” he said. “That’s really helped broaden my horizons in the game.”

Thanks to the schedule and some creative roster management by the Brewers, he heard his name called this week.