Milwaukee Brewers reliever Corey Knebel has been demoted to the minors, the latest turn in a difficult season for the former All-Star closer.
The Brewers had not announced a demotion as of Friday morning, but a list of transactions on the team's official website indicates that Knebel was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
The Brewers made the move Thursday, one day after manager Craig Counsell admitted that the team is "searching for answers" for Knebel's recent struggles.
"This isn't really a demotion. It's a break," general manager David Stearns added. "Allow him some time to really work on some things in bullpen sessions. It's really tough for active relief pitchers at the major league level to do that during the normal course of a season because they need to pitch in games every single night."
Knebel, 26, is 2-3 with a 5.08 ERA and 14 saves in 41 appearances this season. The right-hander was removed from the closer role earlier this month and has a 7.36 ERA over his past 19 games dating to July 4.
"He's going to work for a couple days and then he'll report to Colorado Springs to get a couple outings in," Counsell said. "We'll do some more here with him in a situation where he can do a little bit of mechanical work. It's not easy and we don't have a lot of time left to make adjustments, so it's difficult. But we thought the best chance for us to get Corey throwing the ball well again is to give him this break, give him some time to work and then see what we've got and go after it in September."
Knebel was an All-Star for the Brewers last season, when he posted a 1.78 ERA with 39 saves and 126 strikeouts in just 76 innings.
The Brewers activated reliever Joakim Soria from the 10-day disabled list to fill Knebel's roster spot. Soria had 16 saves earlier this season with the White Sox and could see save opportunities with the Brewers, who also have used Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress in save situations over the past two weeks.
Right-hander Zach Davies was also reinstated from the 10-day disabled list. He was optioned to Class A Wisconsin.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.