Good, bad ...
Brewers beat Cubs, 15-2; Nelson is out for season
CHICAGO - The Milwaukee Brewers’ postseason chances took a huge hit on Saturday morning when the team learned Jimmy Nelson will miss the remainder of 2017 with a strained rotator cuff and partially torn labrum in his right shoulder.
Nelson suffered the injury Friday in the fifth inning of a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. After singling off the wall in left, Nelson made a wide turn around first base and then dived back into the bag head-first, jamming his shoulder in the process.
He pitched the bottom of the fifth inning before departing after 79 pitches, and after the game both he and manager Craig Counsell appeared hopeful the injury wasn’t serious.
But an MRI and examination by team physician William Raasch on Saturday morning in Chicago left both Nelson and the Brewers facing a worst-case scenario.
“It’s the second time in the last three years that something has ended my season prematurely that I didn’t really have any control of — the line drive back in 2015 off the head and now this,” Nelson said Saturday after the Brewers’ 15-2 victory over the Cubs.
“It’s tough. But just being in the clubhouse, in the dugout around these guys definitely helps.”
General manager David Stearns said it was too early to determine whether Nelson’s partially torn anterior labrum would require surgery.
Nelson expanded on the surgery possibility when asked if a procedure could possibly delay him in being ready for the 2018 season.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “The position where he said he saw the partial tear, the surgery procedure is a lot more successful than just a regular labrum procedure. He said that this certain procedure is 90-plus percent success rate. So that’s definitely good news, that part of it.”
Brent Suter will start Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Nelson’s turn in the rotation next comes up Wednesday. All internal options are being considered, according to Stearns.
“We know who those guys are, some of whom have pitched at the major-league level this year, some of whom, frankly, haven’t,” Stearns said.
Matt Garza and Junior Guerra are both options, although Garza, in particular, has struggled of late.
Looking into the minor leagues, right-hander Taylor Jungmann is on the 40-man roster and has had a solid season at Class AAA Colorado Springs. He went 9-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 games (15 starts).
One off-the-radar possibility could be righthander Aaron Wilkerson, who needs to be added to the 40-man roster this off-season if the Brewers intend to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
Nelson, 28, was enjoying his best season with a 12-6 record with a 3.49 ERA and WHIP of 1.25 to go along with a careerhigh 199 strikeouts in 175 innings. Nelson made 29 starts in all.
It was a huge bounceback for the 2010 secondround pick, who struggled through a forgettable 2016 that saw him finish 8-16 with a 4.62 ERA and WHIP of 1.52.
Nelson — one of the most intense players to play for the Brewers in recent seasons — vowed to return better than ever from his injury.
“A lot of people see this as baseball is just a game, a hobby, but this is our life and this is how we put food on the table for our families,” he said. “It’s definitely tough, but I know I’m going to do all I can physically and mentally to get back not just to where I was, but better.”
Nelson becomes the third Brewers starter to have been injured this season — but while not pitching.
Guerra strained his right calf on a bunt attempt early in his opening-day start and spent six weeks on the disabled list, and then Chase Anderson strained his left oblique on a swing in late June and spent seven weeks on the DL.
“We’re not the first club to experience this,” Stearns said. “The one I think we all remember the most is Adam Wainwright blowing out (his Achilles at Miller Park in 2015).
“It’s always particularly painful when something like this happens to a pitcher while he’s not pitching. But the result is the same, and we’ll have to move forward.”