Fruit brewer Loi Miley left the game last night in the second half after throwing just 22 throws. It was later announced that he had strained his left lats and would be placed on the 15-day injury list, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (MLB.com)Twitter link).
At this point, it’s unknown who will replace Miley’s spot on the roster or how long he will be inactive, with nampaw sure to be tested further in the coming days. But even a mild lat muscle strain usually requires about two to three weeks of recovery time, meaning Miley will likely consider more than a minimal amount of time on the injury list.
Miley has had a solid start to the year, proceeding in his less conspicuous ways, succeeding by creating gentle touch. Across eight starts, he has a 3.67 ERA despite a modest 14% hit rate. But his 5.3% walk rate is very good and Statcast ranks his average exit speed in the 73rd percentile among qualified pitchers and his strong hit rate as 76.
Losing Miley for a few weeks will be a challenge for the Milwaukee club, which is already facing a number of other injuries in its rotation. Brandon Woodruff has a muscle strain under his shoulder and is not expected to return until the end of June, Jason Alexander had shoulder fatigue and was on 60-day IL treatment, while Aaron Ashby had shoulder surgery and may not be able to play this year.
That would leave Brewers with Burns Corbin, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer And Adrian Houser in four rotation positions and a question mark for the last position. Maybe they remember Colin Rea, who was with the club in recent weeks until Houser’s return from a groin strain. Rea has a 5.52 ERA in 31 plays this year from six starts and one relief appearance. He was selected only a few days ago but would qualify for a quicker return than the standard 15-day minimum if he were the respective replacement for Miley on the injury list. Garbage Janson is also on the 40 list and has a 3.86 ERA in this year’s Triple-A. He was called in to start right in April but let that happen four runs of seven hits and two walks in four 2/3 innings.
Options not on the list will include Robert Gasserone of the club’s top pitching prospects and is at Triple-A level, but he has a 5.17 ERA there this year. Thomas Pannone was with the club on a minor league contract, which began a year in the Triple-A bullpen but was recently extended. He has an ERA of 2.04 to 17 2/3 innings there. Either of these or any other unlisted option will require a corresponding move to get them on the 40 list.
