Gorzelanny stays in Arizona to continue rehab

PHOENIX -- While the rest of the Brewers boarded a charter flight Thursday afternoon bound for Milwaukee, left-hander Tom Gorzelanny stayed behind to continue his rehabilitation from offseason shoulder surgery.

Gorzelanny will begin the season on the 15-day disabled list. He has been throwing off a mound but still must clear a series of hurdles, including a Minor League rehabilitation assignment, before pitching in a Major League game and said the tentative schedule gets him to Milwaukee before the end of April. That plan will remain fluid based on how his arm feels.

He had surgery in December to "clean up" fraying of his rotator cuff and labrum and to remove a bone spur.

"I just have to wait a little bit longer to get there," said Gorzelanny, who is entering the second season of a two-year contract. "I'm not trying to hurry back before I'm ready. I want to get back as soon as I can, and Opening Day would have been great, but it's just not [possible]."

Even with Gorzelanny sidelined, the Brewers will begin the season with three left-handers in a seven-man bullpen.