Look who's back! Nottingham smacks 2 HRs

MILWAUKEE -- If the Brewers ever get through this unprecedented period of roster manipulation, with 17 players on the injured list as of Sunday morning -- including 13 placed there in the past 23 days alone -- perhaps it will be Jacob Nottingham who stands out as the poster boy of their scramble.

It’s not every day that you see a team trade for a player that it just designated for assignment 11 days earlier.

And it’s even rarer to see that player announce his return with a two-home run game.

But that’s what happened Sunday, when the Brewers sent cash to the Seattle Mariners to get Nottingham back in an effort to address their catching crisis. Nottingham arrived in Milwaukee at 1 a.m., found himself in the starting lineup at American Family Field, and he hit a solo homer in the third inning and a two-run homer in the eighth to provide the only highlights of a 16-4 loss to the defending World Series champion Dodgers.

“He took a great BP in Seattle,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell joked before the game.

A sense of humor has helped the Brewers get through a trying time. Their injured list includes both of the catchers from their Opening Day roster -- Omar Narváez (left hamstring) and Manny Pi?a (fractured toe). On Saturday, the backup catcher was 22-year-old prospect Mario Feliciano, who walked and scored the winning run in the 11th inning in his Major League debut -- only his fourth game this side of A-ball.

“It’s a little bit different of a transactional world we’re living in,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “You can’t sign someone who is out of the [COVID-19] testing cohort and immediately have them active, so after it became clear Omar was an IL [addition] the other night, we began to see what -- if any -- availability there might be with catchers who are either at the Major League level or an alternate site.

“When we talked with Seattle, it sounded like there was the potential they could run into a roster crunch. So we kept in touch with them and fortunately, we were able to swing a deal for ‘Notty’ and get him on a plane [Saturday] night.”

A free agent, on the other hand, would have been required to quarantine for a number of days before the Brewers could activate him.

They wanted a catcher with some experience more quickly than that.

“Somebody with familiarity works out great,” Counsell said.

Nottingham has extensive familiarity. He had been in the Brewers' organization since 2016 and played in the Majors in parts of the past three seasons, but missed this year’s Spring Training because of a slow recovery from offseason thumb surgery. Nottingham began the season as one of the Brewers’ many players on the IL, and when they needed his 40-man roster spot April 22, the team designated him for assignment. The Mariners won a waiver claim for him Wednesday and Nottingham actually made it out to Seattle before he was designated for assignment again Saturday.

“Just go with it,” Nottingham said. “At the end of the day, we’re here to play and compete. So just do my thing and whatever happens, happens. Control the controllables and just play hard.”

With his return to handle catching duties alongside Luke Maile, the Brewers optioned Feliciano back to the alternate training site. And to clear a 40-man roster spot for Nottingham, the Brewers recalled injured right-hander Dylan File from the Double-A roster and immediately placed him on the 60-day IL. File had surgery in February for a stress fracture in his elbow and is out until June or July.

Pi?a is eligible to come off the IL as soon as Friday. Nottingham is out of Minor League options, but Maile does have an option remaining, so the Brewers will face another decision then.

With Minor League seasons beginning this week, the Brewers also signed a free-agent catcher this weekend in former Pirates farmhand Christian Kelley, who inked a Minor League deal, according to a report from FanSided’s Robert Murray. Kelley presumably will help with depth in the Minors.

Yelich, Cain close

Christian Yelich was out running the bases Sunday morning and is very close to returning to active duty from an extended bout of back stiffness.

Asked about the imminent return of Yelich and Lorenzo Cain (left quad), Counsell said, “It's going to be in the Philadelphia series [from Monday-Thursday]. I mean, I understand there's great interest. When I have information, I'll give it to you; we just haven't made a decision yet.”

Yelich hasn’t played since April 11 and Cain hasn’t played since April 13.

“That would be a really big deal if we got both of them back this next series in Philly,” said Adrian Houser, who is scheduled to start Monday night in the opener of a weeklong road trip to Philadelphia and Miami. “Even just getting one of them back is a big deal. I think just getting Kolten [Wong] back -- what was it, a week or two ago? -- I think that was just a big boost to the offense and a big boost to the team, so I can only imagine when we get LoCain and Yeli back in there, what it will do for us.”

Last call

? Counsell shed light on reliever Eric Yardley’s surprise trip to the IL on Saturday, saying that the right-hander had trouble getting his shoulder loose before his last outing against the Marlins on this homestand and was sore after that game. Yardley took two days off from throwing, then resumed Saturday afternoon and reported continued discomfort, so the team made a roster move. The hope is that Yardley will be ready to pitch when his 10-day IL stint is up.

? The Brewers are working through their plans for pitchers Brett Anderson (right leg) and Josh Lindblom (right knee) as they ramp up activity. Anderson threw a side session Saturday and the Brewers were waiting to see how he recovered before deciding a next step. Lindblom threw a short simulated game last week and may go on a rehab assignment when the Minor League seasons begin, Stearns said.

? Utility infielder Daniel Robertson (concussion) is eligible to come off the seven-day concussion IL on Monday, but the Brewers will take more time.

“We need to be careful,” Stearns said. “He's doing a great job being honest with us about what he's feeling.”