Brewers starter Brandon Sproat pulled mid at-bat after wildness Monday

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has been slowed considerably in 2026 by hip and back injuries, but he’s been on the mend, and he looked as spry as a cat jumping out of the dugout Aug. 3 to take the ball from starter Brandon Sproat.

In a highly rare move within a Major League Baseball game, Murphy made a pitching change in the middle of an at-bat, ending Sproat’s night in the middle of the fourth inning with a 2-1 count on the inning’s second batter, Pittsburgh’s Jacob Gonzalez.

Sproat had just thrown back-to-back balls to the backstop, allowing leadoff baserunner Endy Rodríguez to move to second base and then third with nobody out. The Pirates already had a 3-0 lead after a bases-clearing double in the third, all after Sproat had retired the first two men he faced in the inning.

Sproat finished with four strikeouts and three wild pitches in three-plus innings. The latest illustration of his erratic season might be the one that costs him a spot in the rotation; the Brewers traded for Cardinals starter Dustin May earlier in the day, Kyle Harrison is expected back from the injured list imminently, and Sproat’s hold on a rotation spot already appeared tenuous.

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Sproat came into the night with a 5.05 ERA in 20 games (18 starts) and 1.392 WHIP. After struggling early in his last start against the Giants, he managed to stay on the hill through six innings and allowed three runs, but it was only his fourth outing of the year lasting a full six innings.

Sproat’s velocity has also occasionally dipped by his 50th or 60th pitch, as was the case again Monday.

The 25-year-old Sproat, acquired before the season in the deal for Freddy Peralta, nearly had a 1-2-3 third inning, but a close play at first base preceded a single, walk and bases-clearing double by Spencer Horwitz that gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead. Reliever Garrett Stallings was already warming in the bullpen in the third.

Stallings battled back to strike out Gonzalez after arriving in the middle of the at-bat but allowed a bunt single to Henry Davis that scored the Pirates’ fourth run of the night.

Sproat closed his start June 30 with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings. Since then, he has thrown pitches in 22 innings without a single 1-2-3 frame.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers starter Brandon Sproat pulled mid at-bat after wildness Monday