Brewers send pitcher to Mets to finish Walker deal

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers sent Minor League right-hander Eric Hanhold to the Mets on Tuesday to complete the Aug. 12 trade that brought veteran infielder Neil Walker to Milwaukee for a player to be named and cash.
Hanhold, 6-foot-5 and 23 years old, was the Brewers' sixth-round Draft pick out of the University of Florida in 2015, and he was converted to relief this season, his second at the Class A Advanced level. He was 8-3 with a 3.94 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 64 innings for the Carolina Mudcats, setting career highs for strikeouts per nine innings and WHIP.
Walker, a free agent to be, made a splash in his first week with Milwaukee, but he has significantly cooled at the plate since then. He entered Tuesday with seven hits in 43 at-bats (.163) in his past 15 games.
Piecing together pitching
The Brewers answered one question Tuesday by saying Chase Anderson would start Wednesday's series finale against the Pirates on three days' rest, but opted not to answer any of the questions beyond that. The team is listing "TBD" for all three games of its scheduled series in Miami, an indication that a mid-September callup from the Minors may still be in store to help replace injured ace Jimmy Nelson.
Friday is Zach Davies' regular day to pitch, but manager Craig Counsell said the team was considering pushing that back, in part to give Davies a bit of extra rest. Doing so would not impact his number of remaining starts; Anderson and Davies each will pitch four more times.
"We're trying to figure out the best way to get through these games," Counsell said. "Somebody that's not on the team could figure into another start, for sure. That's something that we're having to be open to as we keep going here. Nothing is off the table. We feel like that's how we have to operate right now."
If the Brewers promote a starter from the Minors, the candidates include Taylor Jungmann, who is already on the 40-man roster and had a solid season at Triple-A Colorado Springs, and Aaron Wilkerson, who is not currently on the 40-man roster but pitched seven hitless innings in Game 2 of Colorado Springs' playoff series after spending the rest of the year at Double-A Biloxi.
Wilkerson was scheduled to throw off a mound at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix on Wednesday as he stays sharp in the event of a callup.
Last call
• Nelson departed Tuesday for Los Angeles, where he was scheduled to get a second opinion Wednesday on the course of action for his season-ending right shoulder injury. The Brewers haven't said whether their physician, William Raasch, recommended surgery, but that is one option on the table.
• Counsell posted another starting lineup on Tuesday afternoon without Opening Day second baseman Jonathan Villar, who had been limited to one pinch-hit appearance since a disastrous showing in center field on Sept. 5 in Cincinnati. Counsell said it was just circumstances that had kept Villar out.
"We've been choosing to go with defense [in center field]. At second base, we've got other options," Counsell said. "That's how it's played out. Like most of our lineups and position players, it can change."