Elbow issue leaves Brewers’ Gasser on sideline to start
NEW YORK – Already dealing with a tenuous starting pitching situation, the Milwaukee Brewers will open the 2024 season having taken another ding to their depth.
During a post-workout media session Wednesday at Citi Field, manager Pat Murphy divulged that Robert Gasser has been sidelined for the immediate future with a bone spur in his left elbow.
"I think it's something they're dealing with and they have it under control," Murphy said of the 24-year-old who failed to make the opening-day roster but was expected to be called upon early in the season after being reassigned to minor-league camp March 19. "They don't go in and take bone spurs out anymore. I don't know any more particulars; I just know he's not available to us at this point.
"It puts us in a little bit of a bind." General manager Matt Arnold confirmed the team is "being cautious" and that there are no plans currently for Gasser – the Brewers' fifth-best prospect as ranked by the Journal Sentinel – to undergo surgery for the issue.
As for how long Gasser might be sidelined, Murphy provided a rough estimate.
"We're trying to assess it," Murphy said. "It's not months. It's weeks."
Gasser went 0-1 with a 6.08 ERA and WHIP of 1.65 in five Cactus League appearances (three starts), and struck out 14 in 13 1⁄ innings. As Class AAA
3 Nashville in 2023, he was named the International League's pitcher of the year after going 9-1 with a 3.79 ERA and WHIP of 1.28 in 26 appearances (25 starts) and his 166 strikeouts in 135 1⁄ innings led the Class AAA level.
3 Murphy also confirmed that lefthander DL Hall will start against the New York Mets on Saturday. The team had been listing their probable starter as TBA previously.