Priester's rocky first rehab start lasts just 6 batters

DETROIT -- A couple of hours after Brewers manager Pat Murphy laid out a tentative plan for Quinn Priester's rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville that could get the right-hander back to Milwaukee’s rotation as soon as the second week of May, Priester’s debut outing did not go to plan.

Priester, who is on the injured list recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome, walked three batters, hit another and was charged with four earned runs after exiting the Sounds’ game in Charlotte with two outs in the first inning. He got both of his outs via strikeouts but threw just 12 of his 29 total pitches for strikes.

Obviously, that was not the plan going in. The Brewers had hoped to get three innings or 40-45 pitches from Priester in the first of at least three rehab starts as he works his way back to Milwaukee’s rotation.

“I think, still, it’s going to be a while,” Murphy said Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t think we can get our hopes up too high. The type of injury he had, not being able to face live hitters in a normal progression, I think it will be a minute.”

Rehab assignments can extend as long as 30 days, so the Brewers have plenty of flexibility. Going into Wednesday’s outing against the top White Sox affiliate, the tentative plan had Priester pitching for Nashville again on April 28 and May 3 before the Brewers reassessed his status. In that scenario, he could be an option to rejoin the Major League club beginning May 9, when the Brewers play the Yankees at American Family Field.

Wednesday’s shortened outing could change that plan. Priester walked the leadoff man before striking out the next two, including Wisconsin native and former big leaguer Jarred Kelenic for the second out. Then Priester hit former Brewers infielder Oliver Dunn with a pitch and walked the next two batters to force in a run. Priester's sinker topped out at 91.2 mph. His average cutter and sinker were each down about three mph from last year’s readings.

Reliever Peter Strzelecki took over and surrendered a grand slam to LaMonte Wade Jr. to close the books on Priester’s outing.

The Brewers acquired Priester from the Red Sox last April when he was pitching for Boston’s Triple-A club, and he became one of Milwaukee’s best success stories, going 13-3 with a 3.32 ERA in the Majors after the trade. He had some wrist discomfort late in the season but reported to camp expected to be a mainstay of a young starting rotation, only to experience more trouble with the wrist that eventually radiated up his right arm.

In March, a specialist helped diagnose Priester with neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome.

At the same time Priester was getting underway in Charlotte, left-hander DL Hall was becoming the 10th pitcher to start a game for the Brewers through 23 games this season in Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park. Even though that list includes a pair of openers -- Aaron Ashby and Hall -- it reflects the way the Brewers have pieced together the pitching in the interest of health.

Hall’s two scoreless innings began with a pair of walks, and “bulk” pitcher Chad Patrick took the loss after allowing four earned runs on six hits in four innings, with most of the damage off varieties of fastballs. It was the second time that Patrick followed an opener.

“I think it was eye-opening that I need to find a way to mix better pitches in there,” Patrick said. “It’s things like that running through my head.”

Bouncing between starting games and following an opener has its challenges, conceded Patrick, who has alternated between thinking of those outings as long relief and approaching them like a starter.

“It kind of just plays some games a little bit with you,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. You’ve still got to do it.”