MILWAUKEE (AP) — Slumping rookie outfielder Joey Wiemer was optioned to Triple-A Nashville by the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday to make room for outfielder Blake Perkins, who was activated from the injured list.
The 24-year-old Wiemer was the Brewers’ starting center fielder for much of the season. He played quality defense and helped the Brewers withstand the loss of fellow rookie Garrett Mitchell, who opened the year as the primary center fielder but has been out with a shoulder injury since mid-April. Mitchell began a rehabilitation assignment with Nashville on Friday.
Wiemer has struggled over the last month, and his playing time dipped after the NL Central-leading Brewers promoted rookie Sal Frelick and acquired Mark Canha at the trade deadline. Wiemer is 2 for 28 with 12 strikeouts over his last 14 games.
“When Sal got here, Joey’s playing situation changed, and that’s been different for him,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said before the Brewers’ 9-5 Saturday night victory over the Washington Nationals. “He has not been in there every day, and that’s been harder for him, I think. That’s just part of it. That’s another adjustment that a young player has to make. You want those adjustments to happen overnight and very quickly, and they don’t always happen that way.”
Wiemer is batting .204 with a .283 on-base percentage, .362 slugging percentage, 13 homers, 42 RBIs and 11 steals in 132 games this season.
Perkins, 27, is hitting .212 with a .311 on-base percentage, two homers, 16 RBIs and five steals in 56 games. He had gone on the injured list Aug. 11 with an oblique issue.
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