Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Matt Garza heads to the disabled list after colliding with Jesus Aguilar while making a fielding play, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. His time on the DL is retroactive to June 4.
Matt Garza is having a renaissance of a season. Following two rough years where he posted 5.63 and 4.51 ERAs in 2015 and 2016, respectively, Garza has a 3.83 ERA in 44.2 innings pitched this season. Despite the improvement this year, he is making his second trip to the disabled list.
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Garza started the season on the DL with a groin strain and did not make his first start until April 24. Three weeks ago, I wrote about Garza’s resurgence but also mentioned that his success will depend on his health. Though this trip to the disabled list was the result of a freak accident on the field, the amount of time he has spent on the DL has impacted the vesting option of his contract.
Matt Garza’s contract has a team option at $5 million. However, that drops to $1 million if he spends over 130 days on the disabled list over any 183 day period during the length of the contract. The option vests at $13 million if Garza pitches over 110 games during his time with the Brewers, is not on the disabled list by the end of 2017, and has pitched at least 115 innings by the end of the season.
How is that playing out for the 33-year-old? Matt Garza will have to pitch in 30 more games by the end of this season to reach the 110 game mark, which is highly unlikely considering he has not pitched in over 30 games since 2011. If the Brewers exercise their option, Garza will cost the club $5 million in 2018.
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The Brewers rotation as a whole has a 3.93 ERA. Chase Anderson and Jimmy Nelson have been pitching exceptionally well as both have posted a 2.94 and 3.36 ERA, respectively. The team holds a tenuous lead in the NL Central and are one game ahead of the Chicago Cubs.