Rotation takes hit as Brewers place another player on IL
An already muddled starting-pitching situation became even more cloudy for the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday as right-hander Jakob Junis was placed on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder impingement.
Left-hander Aaron Ashby, already with the team as a member of the taxi squad, was recalled from Class AAA Nashville and is expected to start in place of Junis against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.
“His imaging all came back good,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We just want to get him back healthy, and this is the prudent thing. I think it’ll be a short stint but it’ll depend on how he feels – they’re going to start him throwing tomorrow.”
Junis started the home opener against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday and threw 47 pitches over four innings in a no-decision.
“It started bothering me after my second inning a little bit,” Junis said. “I didn’t feel anything, really, until the third or fourth inning and after the third my pitch count was still super-low. I went out there for the fourth and it just kind of progressively got a little bit more pinchy, a little more intense.
“I guess that was just the little telltale sign sign to say something since we took two weeks off and skipped the last one of spring just to try to make this work.”
The 31-year-old signed a one-year, $7 million deal with the Brewers in the offseason after spending the previous two seasons with the San Francisco Giants.
“I had it a few years ago, got through it,” he said. “It’s just a matter of getting that inflammation down and getting that soreness down. There’s no structural damage or anything, nothing wrong with my MRI -- it compares to the one I got before I signed over here and nothing has changed.
“If anything, they said that my shoulder looks stronger.”
Ashby, who missed all of 2023 after undergoing shoulder surgery, made one start at Nashville on Tuesday and in five innings allowed four hits, three runs and two walks with five strikeouts.
He’s coming off a rough spring training in which he logged an ERA of 9.72 and a WHIP of 2.28 in 8 1⁄ innings over
3 three appearances.
Wade Miley, meanwhile, made a rehab start for Nashville on Friday as he continues ramping up from a left shoulder impingement.
He went three innings and allowed two hits, a run and two walks with three strikeouts and it’s appearing as though he’ll rejoin the rotation on this next road trip to Cincinnati and Baltimore.
“Pretty good report,” said Murphy. “It’s abbreviated spring training for him, but I think he’s in a position to be able to come off (the IL ) soon. Hopefully this next week.”