The Milwaukee Brewers are "searching for answers" for Corey Knebel and have optioned him to Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Knebel's ERA this season is 5.08. His strikeout rate remains good at 33.1 percent, but his fastball velocity is down 0.5 mph.

"Corey is struggling right now, for sure," Craig Counsell said. "It's a difficult one, because the velocity has almost been better for a big chunk of this season, which makes it even more odd in trying to diagnose this.

"His curveball has come and gone a little bit. It's been more inconsistent. There have been some outings where we really liked it, and then the last two, it wasn't so good. It comes down to executing pitches right now."