GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Among the players involved in the Brewers’ latest round of big league camp cuts Sunday was right-hander Adrian Houser, who was optioned to the Minors and will be stretched out as a starter for Triple-A San Antonio.

The Brewers also optioned catcher Jacob Nottingham to the Minor Leagues and re-assigned pitchers Burch Smith and Miguel Sanchez and infielder Jake Hager to the Minors.

“He will start in Triple-A,” Counsell said of Houser, who made seven Major League relief appearances last season in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery. “We’re going to stretch Burch Smith out, as well to start, or to tandem. We have to be a little more careful with Burch because he didn’t really start much last year either. We have to get his build-up right.”

The Brewers acquired Houser with left-hander Josh Hader and outfielders Brett Phillips and Domingo Santana in a 2015 trade with Houston, and he made it to the Majors that season. But his path to a permanent role in Milwaukee was blocked by an elbow injury in 2016, which required surgery and a year-long rehab.

Houser is now poised to play a prominent role. The Brewers are entering the season with six starting pitchers ready to contribute from the get-go, and Jimmy Nelson is not far behind coming off a promising three-inning outing on Saturday in which his fastball touched 95 mph.

“Look, I think Jimmy could be considered seven pretty close to [the start of] the season right now, with the way that yesterday -- with the trajectory that we’re on,” Counsell said. “But Adrian, he’s right in the middle of that. I think if you look at seasons like Brent Suter, like Brandon Woodruff, that’s likely to be what Adrian’s season is going to look like.”

Suter was up and down between the Minors and Majors in 2016, when he made two starts and 12 relief appearances. Woodruff made eight Major League starts in 2017 and bounced between the rotation (four starts) and bullpen (15 appearances) in the 2018 regular season before playing a big role for the Brewers in the postseason.

Houser will not be under any innings restrictions this season, Counsell said.

Nottingham also appeared in the Majors during a 2018 season in which he was limited to 50 games during his time at Triple-A by an oblique strain and a fractured wrist.

Is his task simply to stay healthy this year?

“It’s more than that,” Counsell said. “You’ve got to perform. You’re on the roster, and that gives you certain advantages, but you have to perform if you want to get called up. It’s not just ‘stay healthy.’ It’s more than that.”

Davies knocked around

It’s not every day that a player characterizes his Spring Training workday as “a waste,” but that was Zach Davies’ blunt assessment of a tough 2 2/3-inning outing against the Dodgers in which he surrendered six earned runs on seven hits, including a pair of first-inning home runs to Joc Pederson and Chris Taylor.

Davies, who had been pleased with the way he was throwing the ball this spring, said he implemented a mechanical change after his last outing against the Giants. It looked good in the bullpen, but worked against him in the game.

"My stuff wasn't nearly the same as it has been the whole camp," said Davies. "Everything was flat, everything was up. ... It's a mistake on my part, especially at this time of camp."

He added, “It’s one of those ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ kind of things. Trying to make things that much better, it’s greedy. If I’m getting guys out, then there’s no sense in trying it.”

Davies believes the tweak will be easy to undo. He has yet to hear his assignment for the start of the regular season.

Sanchez shines

Counsell delivered news of camp cuts to players on Sunday morning, including one particularly pleasant interaction with Sanchez. The 25-year-old didn’t begin his pro career until he was 22, when the Brewers signed him out of the Dominican Air Force. Sanchez pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings over five Cactus League games.

Sanchez is expected to travel with the Brewers for their exhibitions in Montreal next week.

“He made an impression,” Counsell said. “And look, he’s a player that’s a little bit of a late bloomer, but he’s performed, and he’s getting better. He had a very good camp. He was an under-the-radar player who had a good camp and made an impression.”

When it was suggested that Major League games didn’t look too ‘big’ for him, Counsell said, “No, and in fact, I told him, ‘You could pitch in the big leagues.’ And he gave me a look like, ‘Yeah, duh.’ It was great. It was pretty classic. I loved it. It was my favorite thing this morning.”

Last call

• Backup catcher Manny Piña was sidelined a couple of days last week after tweaking his knee, Counsell revealed on Sunday, but is back to full health now. He is scheduled to play the later innings of Tuesday’s game against the Rangers before starting Wednesday in Peoria, Ariz., against the Padres.

“Basically, he’s cleared to play,” Counsell said. “He could have played Friday, but we’re just being cautious. And it actually dovetails with that we’re trying to get Yasmani [Grandal] more at-bats. He was hoping for more at-bats and some consistent playing time.”

• Grandal was greeted with a smattering of boos when he stepped to the plate for the first time in Sunday’s game against his former team, the Dodgers. Grandal declined L.A.’s qualifying offer in order to test free agency. He signed a one-year, $18.25 million contract with Milwaukee in early January.

Up next

Chase Anderson is scheduled to start on Tuesday, and Lorenzo Cain and Ryan Braun will return to the lineup when the Brewers host the Rangers at American Family Fields of Phoenix. The Brewers Radio Network will air the 3:05 p.m. CT game.