Davis, Peralta take big steps in comebacks
Brewers get good news on two key injured players
PHILADELPHIA -- There was progress Monday for the two most prominent members of Milwaukee's disabled list. While right-hander Wily Peralta was throwing off a mound for the first time since suffering a left oblique strain, the Brewers were finalizing plans for outfielder Khris Davis to test his surgically repaired left knee in a Minor League rehabilitation assignment.
"We got good news on both guys today, for sure," manager Craig Counsell said.
Davis will play for Class A Wisconsin beginning Wednesday, the Brewers announced. Counsell said the tentative plan calls for Davis to spend five days with the Timber Rattlers before rejoining the big league club as early as Monday, when the Brewers return home to host the Braves.
The games will be Davis' first since May 30, when he tore the meniscus in his right knee on a swinging strikeout at Miller Park.
"He passed all tests, straight through this thing," Counsell said. "It's good for him, too, that it's on the calendar. He knows what he's doing, he knows what's ahead of him."
The same could be said for Peralta, who expressed frustration as recently as Saturday with his slow recovery from a strained oblique. Monday afternoon's 25-pitch mound session was his first since he was hurt during a May 22 start in Atlanta.
Video: MIL@ATL: Peralta exits game with left side tightness
Over the weekend, Peralta said he expected only to play catch on Monday. Instead, he took a big step forward in his comeback, which will continue with a series of similar mound sessions before Peralta begins building up his pitch counts in games.
"The trainers were happy with how it went, so it was a big day for him, for sure," Counsell said. "He'll throw again on Thursday, and then we'll all kind of come up with a plan after that, a more formalized plan of how he's going to move forward."
Peralta was the Brewers' most valuable pitcher last season, when he was 17-11 with a 3.53 ERA in 32 starts and led the team in innings (198 2/3) and strikeouts (154).
The Brewers are eager to get Peralta back on the mound so the 26-year-old can continue his development.
"It's going to be a two-month [absence], it looks like, and that's a big chunk of the season," Counsell said. "I know his champing at the bit, but oblique injuries are tricky. Nobody wants to sit around for two months. That's a long time to have to sit out."