Nelson ‘unlikely’ to return to active duty this season

CHICAGO – With just over six weeks remaining in the season, the likelihood of Jimmy Nelson being able to pitch at all for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018 has all but disappeared.

General manager David Stearns said prior to Wednesday's game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field – the same venue in which the right-hander wrecked his throwing shoulder on a slide back into first base last Sept. 8 – that the time needed for Nelson to completely return to health just doesn't jibe with the schedule.

"I think it’s fair to say that we’re running short on time," Stearns said. "I think that’s realistic. We haven’t closed the doors to anything at this point, but it’s getting to the point where it’s probably a little tougher to see him making a significant impact during the month of September for us."

Manager Craig Counsell was even more definitive in his take.

"Jimmy pitching for us this year is unlikely," he said. "That's not due to a setback of any nature. That's just due to the pace of his rehab right now. So, we're not ruling it 100% out."

Nelson, 29, underwent what could be described as almost complete shoulder reconstruction last Sept. 19 in Los Angeles, with the game's pre-eminent shoulder surgeon, Neal ElAttrache, repairing his rotator cuff, anterior labrum and capsule.

Since recovering from the surgery, Nelson has been immersed in a rigorous rehabilitation program. He's advanced to the point where he's throwing off a mound, but still hasn't been cleared to begin pitching with 100% effort.

Throughout the process, both the Brewers and Nelson have been unable to provide a concrete timeline for a complete recovery, mostly because shoulder injuries as extensive as Nelson's are rarely seen.

"He’s doing about as well as I think anyone with Jimmy’s competitive nature can do," Stearns said. "He has been frustrated at times . ... But this was a major shoulder surgery.

"He got off to such a rapid start in his rehab and he felt so good that I think it maybe accelerated the timeline in all of our minds, and now we’re probably on a more realistic pace on what a shoulder surgery of this extent really means."

Nelson has visited ElAttrache for checkups at several points during the season, including most recently when the team was in Los Angeles earlier in the month. Nelson termed his most recent appointment as "a good check-in."

Nelson was also shut down for rest for a period of time in May at the behest of ElAttrache.

While Nelson had a breakthrough 2017 that saw him go 12-6 with a 3.49 earned run average and 199 strikeouts in 175 1/3 innings over 29 starts, there was a school of thought externally that perhaps Nelson would be recovered enough in September to be able to at least pitch out of the bullpen.

But that, too, appears to be a no-go. "I think at this point, pitching for us, the timetable to get there, just doesn't seem likely," Counsell said. "In no way would we ever push him to get him ready for something, starting or relieving. It just wouldn't make any sense. It's not a situation where you push him to get through it.

"He has to be 100% healthy. It's really more important to me that he feels good going into the winter. That's the most important thing."

Added Stearns: "The point here is to get a healthy Jimmy Nelson, for us and for his career, and we’re willing for that to take as long as it needs to take."

While the Brewers can now move forward knowing Nelson won't help them in 2018, Counsell conceded it's still tough to swallow.

"It takes pressure off him but it's also disappointing, a little bit," Counsell said. "You put that goal in your head. What happened here is he had a great start to this thing. We thought it was going to probably be this whole season but he had a great start to this thing that caused some optimism.

"It just kind of got back to what we thought originally, which was the bestcase scenario that he gets ready for the 2019 season. So, that's where we're at. He's going to be disappointed because he's a competitor. But I think there is a little bit of weight that goes off to get that part out of your head."

The focus now turns to the offseason for Nelson, who avoided arbitration by signing a one-year deal for $3.7 million on Jan. 12. Counsell said the "best goal" for Nelson now will be to get him to pitching competitively in some form before shutting it down in the winter.

"We can explore a number of different avenues," said Stearns. "The first would be instructional league, where he could go down to Arizona and pitch competitively against hitters. There are always various winter ball opportunities. There are simulated game opportunities.”