Lefthander Loi Miley has been diagnosed with a posterior serration strain and will likely be absent for the next six to eight weeks, manager Craig Counsellor told reporters, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Southpaw was placed on the 15-day injured list earlier this week with what was initially described as stressful.
The posterior serrated muscle is located posteriorly, almost at the bottom of the ribcage. As forwarded by Adam McCalvy of MLB.comIt’s very rare for a baseball player to get this strain, which means the Brewers are making some guesswork about this recovery timeline.
Regardless of the exact length of Miley’s last absence, it looks like it will be somewhat significant, which is unfortunate for the Brewers. They signed a one-year contract with the left-hander this winter with a $4.5 million guarantee and incentive. He got off to a good start, holding the ball eight times with a 3.67 ERA on those occasions. He only attacks 14% of the hitters faced but he has never been a big offensive player. His 5.3% walk rate shows excellent control, and he’s in the 76th percentile of pitchers who qualify in limited impact.
The Brewers know they will continue without Miley for a while but now seem to have to expand the plan without him around. The club also has no starters Brandon Woodruff, Aaron Ashby And Jason Alexander, none of them seem particularly close to returning. That leaves them Burns Corbin, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer And Adrian Houser in four pivot points, with one to fill. Colin Rea And Garbage Janson are all on the 40-man shortlist and are likely to be the first choices made, as each has played for a major league club before this season.
