Suter goes on DL; Wilkerson recalled
The Milwaukee Brewers have been dealing with injuries all season and another popped up Friday when they announced that left-hander Brent Suter was placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Tuesday, with left forearm tightness.
Suter was scheduled to start Saturday against Atlanta but instead righthander Aaron Wilkerson was recalled from Class AAA Colorado Springs to take that assignment.
“It’s a minor injury,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I think you’re always cautious when a pitcher has a forearm injury. At this point it’s a minor injury, but it’s important we don’t let it become something big. So that’s why we put him on the DL.
“Minor injuries happen. You want to make sure it stays a minor injury. There’s no timetable to it. We’ve got to get him pain-free.”
Suter, 28, started Monday against Minnesota and went five innings, allowing nine hits and five runs, including a grand slam by Robbie Grossman. He received a no-decision when the Brewers rallied to win, 6-5, in 10 innings.
Suter said Friday afternoon he felt his forearm tighten in the first inning of that game but continued to pitch. He said the pain worsened in the ensuing days and reported it to the team’s medical staff but expressed confidence it
will be a minimum DL stint.
“First inning I felt it tighten up. We tried our best to get it out of there,” Suter said. “I saw the doc yesterday and he said there’s a strain so we’ve just got to be cautious with it.”
In 17 outings, including 15 starts, Suter is 8-5 with a 4.28 earned run average. He leads the club in victories and has pitched 881⁄3 innings, allowing 84 hits and 18 walks with 73 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .248 against him.
“I was trying my best not to miss a start all year,” Suter said. “That was my No. 1 goal coming into the season, so it’s disappointing that way. But I’ve got to listen to the docs. They know what they’re talking about.”
Wilkerson, 29, began the season on the disabled list at Colorado Springs after injuring his non-pitching shoulder swinging the bat. He has pitched in eight games (seven starts) for the Sky Sox, going 2-2 with a 2.08 ERA.
Wilkerson was called up last weekend to provide an arm in the bullpen and pitched three innings Sunday in Cincinnati after a 54-minute rain delay before being returned to the Sky Sox.
“He’s on line and he’s ready to go,” Counsell said. “I’ll tell you – as we’re kind of mapping out this next week, and especially with that doubleheader – there’s going to be a lot of guys involved. We’re going to need pitching help, for sure.
“More names than Wilkerson will be involved, and that’s part of the planning.”
Meanwhile, Zach Davies is dealing with more frustration in his attempts to return to action.
Already on the DL with a sore right shoulder, Davies now is dealing with a lower-back issue that forced him to cut his throwing session short on Thursday.
“The first part of his throwing went well, then he felt it at some point at the end of his session,” said Counsell. “We’re going to have to take a more conservative route with him and just get him back to being pain-free.
“It wasn’t something minor – spasms or something – it’s probably something more that we’re just going to have to get out of there and wait until it heals.”
A season after going 17-9 with a 3.90 ERA in 33 starts, Davies is 2-5 with a 5.23 ERA in eight starts.