How Brewers are analyzing pitchers' health in wake of increased injuries 

MILWAUKEE – “Sprained elbow ligament” is not the diagnosis you want to hear if you’re a pitcher, but for Jared Koenig, the workhorse left-hander who landed on the Brewers’ 15-day injured list on Monday, it could have been a lot worse.

Sometimes that diagnosis means a significant tear, and maybe Tommy John surgery. Koenig, though, has a chance to recover with rest.

“That’s the best-case scenario, I think,” Koenig said. “I wasn’t too concerned about it going in because the strength was still there, but like anything, you’re still nervous. You just never know. But I wasn’t losing strength, I wasn’t losing control. But the soreness wouldn’t dissipate.”

The Brewers spent a lot of time thinking about the health of their young starting pitchers and their hard-worked bullpen arms going into Spring Training. Besides the obvious reason for that -- pitchers across baseball are getting injured at an alarming rate -- the Brewers’ care stemmed from the fact they logged high-stress innings on the way to a third consecutive NL Central title last season, then played three more weeks of high-stress baseball in the NLDS against the Cubs and NLCS against the Dodgers.

So far, the results of that extra caution are mixed. Four pitchers on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster are currently on the IL: Koenig, right-handed starter Quinn Priester (right thoracic outlet syndrome), lefty reliever Rob Zastryzny (left shoulder strain, then a rib-cage strain while on rehab assignment) and righty reliever Craig Yoho (right calf strain).

Saturday brought more concern. Left-hander Kyle Harrison (left knee) and right-hander Brandon Sproat (right knee) were both scheduled for additional testing after getting banged up in the Brewers’ 3-1 loss to the Nationals at American Family Field.

The Brewers are also watching other indications. Through Friday’s frustrating ninth inning against the Nationals, All-Star closer Trevor Megill’s average fastball is down 1.8 mph from last season’s total and his hard-hit percentage is up 18 percent. Abner Uribe’s average fastball is down 1.6 mph.

Of course, it’s early and the sample is small. The Brewers are also coming off an early April road trip to Kansas City and Boston, conditions not exactly conducive to high velocity.

“We’ve talked long and hard about the effect [of last year’s extended season], and we think a lot about this concept of having enough pitching that it’s almost like a reset at mid-year over the All-Star break,” Murphy said. “If you watched the Dodgers, it’s like a reset of their pitching. It’s hard to do in a small market. That’s why you take every precaution with injuries.”

The Brewers believe they have taken every precaution imaginable, from logging every throw from every pitcher to using technology to monitor changes in biomechanics and pitch movement.

They track diet. They throttle early work up and down as needed. They talk. They try to account for everything.

“Everything is in an attempt to keep pitching healthy,” Murphy said, “and nobody has been able to do it. I mean, think about it. No one has been able to do it. Doctors have been quizzed for how long on this subject?

“We know you can fix guys. Tell us how [to keep them healthy] and where we’re going wrong.”

Sometimes, it’s impossible to know. Take Koenig, an unsung hero of the bullpen who came to the Brewers as a non-roster invitee for the 2024 season and has pitched 130 times with a 2.62 ERA in the past three regular seasons, plus seven more times in the postseason.

His offseason was cut short for two very good reasons: the Brewers’ playoff run, and a honeymoon with his wife, Samantha, after the two were married over the All-Star break. When he reported to camp he felt great.

Then the results didn’t come.

“We didn’t throw very well to start and then some panic kicked in from everybody else. Maybe I pushed myself too hard to get to that point [of pitching well] and that irritated it,” Koenig said. “Maybe trying to throw a sweeper irritated it. Who knows?

“There’s so many factors. I did my best to pitch through it for as long as I could. I got to a point where I couldn’t pitch the next day.”