Suter has to have Tommy John surgery
Brewers pitcher will be sidelined for 12-15 months
The worst fears of left-hander Brent Suter were realized Monday.
The Milwaukee Brewers starter will need Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, and he’s expected to be out of action for 12 to 15 months.
A surgery date has not been set.
“It’s tough news,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s tough news for Brent, first of all. We’re going to miss him. It’s a lengthy rehab. It’s an important rehab and anytime a player’s got that ahead of him, you feel for a guy like that.
“Unfortunately, it’s a tough injury for a pitcher. Now he’s going to have to go though it and get through it.”
Suter, 28, left his start Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers after three innings with what was called a forearm strain. It was just his second start since returning from the disabled list, a stint that was forced by forearm tightness.
“Yesterday it got progressively worse to the point where I was feeling pain with hitters in the box, which I’d never felt before in my life,” Suter said. “That was kind of a bad sign. I kind of had a weird feeling about it. I thought at the worst it would be a partial strain of the UCL. I thought it was just still muscle or maybe a little bit of (ligament) damage, but the doctor said it was a full tear and pretty straightforward.
“Hugely disappointing. It’s a setback, but I’ve got a new path to take here and I’ve just got to rehab and get back to being stronger than I was before.
“It’s a really tough day.”
For both Suter and the Brewers, losers of 9 of 11 coming into Monday’s game against the Washington Nationals. Their woes started before the all-star break and then got worse with the controversy surrounding Josh Hader and trade target Manny Machado landing with the Dodgers.
Suter finishes the year with an 8-7 record, an earned run average of 4.80 and a WHIP of 1.204. Suter appeared in 20 games – two off his career high – and started 18 while pitching a career-high 1011⁄3 innings.
“I’ve been able to contribute and help us win some games here, and that’s something to feel good about,” Suter said. “The team’s still in a good place, so that’s something to feel really good about. But at the same time we’re going through a tough time right now and unfortunately I added to it in the game yesterday.
“But we’ve got to pick each other up. Yeah, it’s hugely disappointing to end the season like this.”
Despite throwing a fastball that averaged just over 87 mph, Suter had become a valuable member of a Brewers rotation that has dealt with injuries to several of its members this season.
Milwaukee is back down to a fiveman rotation with Suter sidelined.
Right-hander Zach Davies, meanwhile, will begin what’s expected to be a three-start rehab stint in the minor leagues, and his potential return would provide a boost even though he’d not come close to matching his 17-win form from a season ago.
“He did his job,” Counsell said of Suter. “He’d cemented himself as a member of the rotation and was giving us a chance to win often. He was doing his job.
“We’ve got six guys. We started out the second half with six guys so we’re fortunate in that aspect but now we’re one guy down and when it’s a guy you were counting on, it’s never good news.”
Given Suter is one of the most popular and animated players on the Brewers, it came as no surprise his teammates have rallied around him since Sunday.
“It’s tough,” Davies said. “It hit him hard, but guys are huddled around him and trying to give him their support and make sure he knows that everybody is there for him and are going to try to help him along.”
Suter bucked the odds in even reaching the major leagues as a 31st-round pick out of Harvard by the Brewers in 2012. He made his major-league debut in 2016 and is 13-11 with an ERA of 4.09 in 56 career appearances (34 starts).
“I’m for sure up to the challenge,” said Suter, whose previous most serious injury was an 18-day stint on the disabled list forced by a rotator cuff strain last August.
“It’s a different path than I would have chosen but it’s definitely a path that I’m going to be committed to and working as hard as I can to up my nutrition, and with the rehab program to get it as strong as I can and as healthy as I can.
“I’m just going to try to get after it as much as I can and get back to helping the team win.”
After placing Suter on the DL, the Brewers recalled right-hander Jorge López from Class AAA Colorado Springs to take his spot on the 25-man roster.
It’s López’s sixth stint with the Brewers this season.