The stove is warming up as the Rockies make their first move
The Colorado Rockies have entered the 2024 Trade Deadline arena as they announced they have sent reliever Nick Mears to the Milwaukee Brewers for right-handed pitching prospects Bradley Blalock and Yujanjer Herrera. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to report the deal.
The Milwaukee Brewers are acquiring right-handed reliever Nick Mears from the Colorado Rockies, sources tell ESPN. Right-handed pitching prospects Bradley Blalock and Yujanjer Herrera are headed to the Rockies.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2024
Mears, 27, has been a staple in the Rockies bullpen this season after being claimed off waivers from the Texas Rangers in 2023.
He has made 41 appearances this season, posting a 5.56 ERA over 45 1⁄3 innings of work. However, the right-hander’s ERA is a bit misleading, as he has a 2.59 FIP and has managed a team-best 11.3 K/9 this season. Mears’s ability to get strikeouts has been his calling card thanks to the career-best 28.1% strikeout rate, and while he can be a little wild at times, he still has a career-low 10.3% walk rate.
As Passan points out, Mears has a lot of red on his Baseball Savant page, showing an arm capable of great things, even if he is still a bit unrefined at the moment. He represents a solid project for the Brewers as he is under team control through 2027.
For those who don’t know Nick Mears, he had an awfully bloody Baseball Savant page. And the Brewers have a pretty established history of taking underperforming bullpen arms and turning them into dudes. Mears’ stuff — especially his fastball — is very good, and he could be next. pic.twitter.com/Fya5uZU8Xj
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2024
Blalock, 23, was the No. 17 prospect in the Brewers’ system per MLB Pipeline and will help build the Rockies’ starting depth.
Originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2019 in the 32nd round, he eventually missed the 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery. He impressed when he returned and was then sent to Milwaukee in a 2023 trade for Luis Urías.
He made his big league debut this season tossing a scoreless inning of relief, but his history has been as a starter.
Working with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers this season, Blalock’s made 16 starts, going 5-2 with a 4.08 ERA in 75 innings while recording 64 strikeouts against 27 walks. He features a fastball that can reach 96 mph while employing a 78-82 mph power curveball and mid-80s slider. He also added an upper-80s splitter last season, a pitch that has worked at Coors Field.
Herrera, 20, signed with the Brewers out of Venezuela in 2019. He started playing in 2021 at the age of 17 and has pitched up to High-A this season.
He has generally worked as a starter but has seen work out of the bullpen. This season he has made 16 appearances, including nine starts, across Low-A and High-A. Over 68 innings pitched, he owns a 2.91 ERA with 77 strikeouts against 23 walks and a 1.21 WHIP with a 10.2 K/9 rate and only one home run allowed.
He was ranked as the Brewers’ No. 28 prospect by Baseball America.
In addition to the trade, the Rockies announced ahead of their scheduled doubleheader on Saturday that they have recalled Jake Bird from Triple-A Albuquerque while designating Ty Blach for assignment and selecting the contract of John Curtiss. Tanner Gordon was also added as the 27th man for the doubleheader and will start Game Two.
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