The Milwaukee Brewers made a surprising move on Saturday, designating Opening Day starter Jhoulys Chacin for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for utility player Cory Spangenberg. Chacin, it should be noted, had been on the injured list since late July due to a strained lat and was not expected to return to the active roster until mid-September.

Chacin, 31, hadn't been as effective for the Brewers as he was in 2018. Rather, he yielded too many home runs over his 19 starts, resulting in a 5.79 ERA (78 ERA+). On a more granular level, his trademark slider was missing fewer bats than before while opponents had hit .378 against his sinker. Those two pitches accounted for more than 80 percent of his total offerings. 

Still, the Brewers are shedding potential rotation depth at an odd time given rosters expand on Sept. 1. Besides, the Brewers are already without Brandon Woodruff due to injury, putting more pressure on their current starting five -- Zach Davies, Chase Anderson, Gio Gonzalez, Adrian Houser, and Jordan Lyles -- to stay hearty and hale and productive.

To be fair, the Brewers do have other options to fill out their rotation if trouble arises. Jimmy Nelson and Brent Suter are both working their way back from elbow trouble; Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burnes have already made starts for Milwaukee this season; and Aaron Wilkerson, Trey Supak, and Jake Faria are on the 40-man roster. The Brewers could also turn to a non-roster pitcher, be it a prospect like Zack Brown or a vet like Shelby Miller, should they need. 

Not all of those options are great, especially for a contender, but then it's not as though Chacin was going to be available (or likely to turn things around) anytime soon, either. It's possible the Brewers intend to claim a starter off waivers, too.

The Brewers entered Saturday three games back in the wild card race and and 3 1/2 games behind in the National League Central. SportsLine gives them a 21.7 percent shot at reaching the playoffs.