PHOENIX -- It’s game on for Jimmy Nelson.

The Brewers right-hander, who missed all of 2018 while recovering from right shoulder surgery, is slotted to pitch an inning of relief in Monday’s Cactus League game against the White Sox at American Family Fields of Phoenix. Manager Craig Counsell made that announcement Friday, 18 months to the date since Nelson last pitched a Major League game.

The assignment came a day after Nelson cleared the latest hurdle in his comeback by working two simulated innings on Thursday. He lamented some missed spots in the outing, which Counsell read as a good thing.

Now, Nelson will get to face hitters wearing a different uniform. He will work in relief of starter Jhoulys Chacín, who is scheduled for four innings.

“Everything is going well,” Counsell said of Nelson. “We changed the conversation [Thursday] to pitch execution. I think that is a real sign that we’re going in the right direction. Now it’s, ‘Pitch, learn from it, build up, be sore like you’re supposed to be sore,’ those kinds of things.”

If Monday goes as planned, Nelson would be lined up to pitch again March 16, when the Brewers have a split-squad game at home against the Rockies.

Sign of spring
Friday brought a sign of spring to frigid Milwaukee. The Miller Park grounds crew removed the tarps that have covered the field for months, exposing green grass.

Opening Day is March 28 against the Cardinals.

“We did have to turn on some heat in here a little bit,” director of grounds Michael Boettcher said. “As you guys all know, here in Milwaukee it’s been a cold spring. To start the week here we were below zero actually, but soil temps are definitely elevating to a point where we can traffic it and not damage the turf.”

Boettcher’s crew did extensive preparations last fall to ensure a full winter’s rest for the playing surface. It was a shorter than usual slumber, since the Brewers played to a Game 7 of the National League Championship Series on Oct. 20 before the stadium hosted an Ed Sheeran concert on Oct. 23.

“Definitely challenges, but I think the turf has responded well,” Boettcher said. “We’ve got a couple more tricks that we’ve got to try to implicate here before we can get going for the season, but I think overall, she came through well.”

On the tube
All of the Brewers’ 162 regular season games will be televised, including 158 games on FOX Sports Wisconsin and four national telecasts, the team announced Friday.

The national games begin with ESPN Sunday Night Baseball on May 12, when the Brewers and Cubs finish a series at Wrigley Field. There are also three FOX telecasts: May 18 at Atlanta, June 29 vs. Pittsburgh and July 13 vs. San Francisco.

Up next
Christian Yelich, Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas are scheduled to play behind starting pitcher Josh Tomlin against the Angels in Tempe, Ariz., on Saturday, while another Brewers split-squad, featuring Jesús Aguilar, Orlando Arcia and starter Brandon Woodruff, will play the A’s in Mesa. Both first pitches are scheduled for just after 2 p.m. CT, and fans back in Wisconsin can catch broadcasts of both games. Brewers-Angels will be televised on Fox Sports Wisconsin, and Brewers-A’s will air on the Brewers Radio Network.