At first glance, this is just a news item that’s easy to overlook. The Milwaukee Brewers signed Jacob Waguespack, a 37th-round draft pick who is now 32 years old. No fame. No roster guarantee. No hype.
But that very quietness makes the trade interesting.
Waguespack never followed a straight path. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2012, he declined the contract to attend the University of Mississippi, where he built a reputation as a reliable reliever. However, he wasn’t drafted in the MLB Draft after college, forcing him to sign a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies before the 2015 season—a humble start for a player who stands 1.98 meters tall.
It wasn’t until 2018 that Waguespack achieved Triple-A, and the turning point came when he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Aaron Loup. A year later, he made his MLB debut, shooting 16 games with an ERA of 4.38, mostly as a starter. It wasn’t a spectacular success story, but it was enough to show he could survive at the highest level.
Then things stalled.
The shortened 2020 season exposed his inconsistency with an ERA of 8.15. Waguespack was relegated to Triple-A for the entire 2021 season before leaving MLB for Japan. Two years at Nippon Professional Baseball yielded mixed results: 2022 was excellent, 2023 was the opposite. Upon returning to the US, he only secured a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays — though he still made it onto the 2024 Opening Day roster.
A rotator cuff injury cut short that season. But upon his return to Triple-A Durham in 2025, Waguespack was almost untouchable: only one earned run in nearly 20 innings. The problem was Tampa Bay had no room left. Another roster crunch, and he was dropped — this time despite shooting very well.
That was the moment the Brewers stepped in.
In terms of results, Waguespack was an unknown quantity. But in terms of his shooting profile, he brought exactly what Milwaukee was looking for. With a height of 6’6″ and over 2 meters of release extension, Waguespack is in the top 10% of MLB players for his reach toward the plate. This results in an 18.3-inch induced vertical break for the four-seamer — about 2.5 inches higher than the MLB average, making the ball appear to float in the upper zone.
Not just one fastball. Waguespack possesses three different shapes: four-seamer, cutter (almost slider), and sinker. This is precisely the type of flexibility Brewers favors, especially for bullpen that needs constant rotation over a long season. His 12–6 curveball has a drop of about 4.5 inches higher than the MLB average — at the cost of less lateral movement, similar to changeup.
More importantly, Triple-A 2025 data shows he limits hard contact very well. Hard-hit rate, barrel rate, and expected slugging are all in the top quartile — metrics difficult to achieve simply by hitting. Maybe.
Of course, no one thought Waguespack would disrupt the roster at the start of the 2026 season. His role, at least initially, was to add depth to the Triple-A. But the Brewers understand one thing very well: bullpen and pitching depth are never enough. Injuries, demanding schedules, and periods of decline are inevitable.
And when that moment comes, the least talked-about names are often the first to be called upon.
Jacob Waguespack isn’t the answer. But perhaps he’s an option the Brewers want to keep on hand—quietly, in their typical style.
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