Brewers left-hander Wade Miley is probably not prepared for Opening Day, supervisor Pat Murphy tells Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Murphy mentioned it’s a “50-50” shot that Miley is prepared for the opener however declined to offer any particulars. “We’ll let you recognize extra in about 10 days,” he mentioned.
It’s a vaguely ominous replace that comes out of nowhere, as there hasn’t been any earlier reporting to recommend that something was up with Miley. He hasn’t but appeared in a Spring Coaching contest, however that’s true of loads of pitchers at this comparatively early stage of the spring.
Significant conclusions can’t be drawn with out extra info however the rotation depth in Milwaukee is weaker than it has been in a very long time, so any sort of uncertainty will probably be regarding. Brewers followers have been capable of take pleasure in a employees fronted by co-aces Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff for the previous few years, however that gained’t be the case in 2024. Burnes has been traded to the Orioles whereas Woodruff will probably be out for a lot of the 12 months recovering from shoulder surgical procedure.
On paper, the rotation now tasks to be fronted by Freddy Peralta, adopted by some mixture of Miley, Jakob Junis, Colin Rea, DL Corridor, Joe Ross, Aaron Ashby and Janson Junk, with loads of uncertainty in that group. Junis has carried out some stable work of late however largely in a swing function, having not topped 112 innings since 2019. Rea had an honest season in Milwaukee final 12 months however that was his first significant huge league motion since 2016. Corridor will not be too far faraway from being a notable prospect however there are issues about his management and workload. Ross didn’t pitch within the huge leagues prior to now two years because of Tommy John surgical procedure, the second of his profession. Ashby missed all of final 12 months after present process arthroscopic surgical procedure on his throwing shoulder. Junk has simply 32 huge league innings and a 4.42 ERA in his Triple-A piece.
Amid all of that uncertainty, Miley was going to be one of many extra dependable choices, regardless of his personal historical past. Now 37 years outdated, he hasn’t topped 170 innings since 2015. Solely twice since 2017 has he thrown greater than final 12 months’s 120 1/3 innings. He missed time final 12 months because of a left lat pressure and left elbow discomfort however nonetheless made 23 begins, although elbow and shoulder points restricted him to only 37 frames the 12 months prior.
Whereas there’s no readability on what’s at present holding again Miley or how critical it’s, his private damage historical past and the shortage of established rotation choices is undoubtedly a state of affairs value monitoring for the Brewers. Regardless of the losses of Burnes and Woodruff, the membership nonetheless goals to contend this 12 months, having spent cash on gamers like Junis, Rhys Hoskins and Gary Sánchez to assist them defend their division title.
If the membership finally decides it wants additional additions, there are nonetheless choices obtainable in free company at this late stage of the winter. It could be a shock to see the low-spending Brewers pursue a marquee title like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery however a run at somebody like Michael Lorenzen, Jake Odorizzi or outdated buddy Eric Lauer isn’t out of the query. RosterResource lists this 12 months’s membership payroll at $109MM. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the membership had an Opening Day payroll of $119MM final 12 months and $132MM the 12 months prior.
There might maybe be some powder dry there for an additional transfer, although we’re now within the month of March. One other various may very well be for the membership to show to its prospect depth. Robert Gasser and Jacob Misiorowski are two of the membership’s most notable prospects, although neither is on the 40-man roster and Misiorowski has made simply 5 begins above Excessive-A.
