The Brewers also set up a rehab project for the Quinn PriesterTodd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Priester struggled Monday in his Arizona Complex League start, walking five batters in 2 2/3 innings while giving up three earned runs. He also hit three wild pitches. Rosiak clarifies that Priester “had no physical complaints,” so the layoff is not the result of a new injury.
Still, it’s another sad note in Priester’s season, which he spent on the injured list with neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. Priester struggled during his first attempt at rehabbing in Triple-A and was released from that assignment earlier last month. He resumed hitting on May 16, but control continues to be a problem. Priester has walked 16 batters in 11 innings over his last five games. The last two were in the Complex League, where Priester was reassigned on May 30.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy reflected on Priester’s rehab after Monday’s outing. “It’s not good that we are ready to play in the big league,” said Murphy. “I think he’s a long way off, but I think it’s trending in the right direction because he felt really happy, he didn’t feel any pain at all.” Murphy added that the team is not considering surgery on Priester and will instead give him more time to regain feeling in his fingers.
At this point, the timeline for Priester’s return to the Majors is unclear. The Brewers will understandably proceed cautiously if they are given stops and starts in the Priester rehab area. He still needs to control his gait, let alone fully build himself up. Per Rosiak, Priester would throw five innings and 70-75 pitches in his next appearance after Monday. He went 3 1/3 innings on June 2 and has two hits in his next appearance. At this rate, Priester likely won’t be back until the second half of the season.
Milwaukee’s rotation has been pretty good despite Priester’s absence. The team’s 3.50 ERA is fifth in the majors, and their 27.2% strikeout rate is the best of all clubs (the Phillies’ starters are second at 24.3%). A lot of credit, especially for the strikes, goes to him Jacob Misiorowski again Kyle Harrison upon circulation. The back half of the rotation hasn’t fared well either. Brandon Sproat has a 5.70 ERA in 13 appearances (11 starts), season Robert Gasser he made a strong start on June 3 and had three mixed with bad in the other way. Shane Drohan allowed five earned runs in 10 1/3 innings in two starts since switching to the bullpen.
Brandon Woodruff again Logan Henderson both were solid before going on the injured list earlier in the season. Woodruff is expected to return this month and Henderson in early July, according to the team’s injury report on MLB.com. Priester had a 3.32 ERA in 157 1/3 innings last year and could stretch the rotation once he’s fully healthy. The Brewers rode their strong rotation record and above-average offense to a 41-25 record so far, four games ahead of the Cardinals in the NL Central.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
