Fiers, Rodriguez report to Brewers' Class A affiliate

MILWAUKEE -- Privacy considerations prevented the Brewers from providing details, but a family matter was behind right-hander Mike Fiers' move from Triple-A Nashville to Class A Advanced Brevard County on Tuesday. Fiers' family lives only a few hours south along Florida's east coast from the Manatees' home.

"He has a personal issue that he needs to be around home, so we're trying to accommodate him," assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "He will pitch there [on Wednesday], and we're hoping it's just once, but we're not 100 percent. It serves the purpose for this week, but we're hopeful that he will make his next start back at Nashville. We'll see how circumstances play out, but I certainly wouldn't categorize it as a demotion."

To the contrary, Fiers has thrown the ball well since being sent down to the Minors after one Major League start. He allowed only three earned runs in his first 17 Triple-A innings for a 1.59 ERA, with 17 strikeouts and a .197 opponents' average.

Also headed to Brevard County was reliever Francisco Rodriguez, who threw a scoreless eighth inning there on Tuesday, with a walk and two strikeouts. The right-hander is scheduled to pitch again on Thursday and Saturday before the Brewers consider a promotion to Triple-A Nashville.

The Brewers, who signed Rodriguez to a Minor League deal on April 17, have until the middle of this month to decide whether he fits in the big league bullpen. If they do not promote him to the Majors within 30 days of his signing, Rodriguez can elect for free agency again.

Rodriguez had been throwing in extended spring training until now, because he just obtained a work visa last week. If the Brewers add him to the Major League roster, Rodriguez will earn a prorated portion of a salary just above $2 million.

"At this point, he's only thrown bullpens and batting practice, so we have no real measurements," Ash said. "But he looks fine."