TODAY: The DL placement is now official, with the team calling the injury a strain. Knebel will miss at least six weeks, manager Craig Counsell tells MLB Network Radio (Twitter link). The Brewers plan to share closing opportunities among a variety of players rather than declaring one single replacement.
Young righty Adrian Houser is heading up to the active roster. Originally acquired in the 2015 deal that sent Carlos Gomez to Houston, Houser had fallen off the radar a bit owing to Tommy John surgery. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs and how much of an opportunity he’ll receive.
YESTERDAY: 10:20pm: MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets that Knebel will be placed on the disabled list and will undergo an MRI to evaluate the extent of the damage tomorrow morning.
10:16pm: Brewers closer Corey Knebel exited Thursday night’s game with what looked to be a hamstring injury. Upon making a pitch to Cubs infielder Tommy La Stella with two outs in the ninth inning, Knebel dropped to the ground and immediately clutched his left hamstring — the same hamstring which, as noted by the Milwaukee broadcast, prompted Knebel to exit a Cactus League game early in Spring Training.
Knebel, who was getting some work in after going a week between appearances, made his way to the clubhouse with a pair of athletic trainers and was unable to put weight on his leg as he was helped off the field.
The 26-year-old Knebel broke out as one of the best relievers in the National League last season when he saved 39 games and logged a 1.78 ERA with an otherworldly 14.9 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9 in 76 innings of work. The 2018 season represents what would be his first full season as a big league closer, though any serious injury would obviously throw a wrench into that plan.
The Brewers have several options who could step into the ninth-inning spotlight; veteran Matt Albers has pitched the eighth inning three times already this season. Josh Hader has been dominant in a bullpen role since moving into that spot last season, though limiting his role to save situations would leave the team with only one southpaw setup option. Veteran righty Jeremy Jeffress, of course, is no stranger to closing out games for the Brewers and could conceivably be a candidate to step into that role as well. Fellow right-hander Jacob Barnes has been pitching in a setup capacity since last season and has demonstrated an ability to miss plenty of bats in his own right.
ummmmm why on earth was he in this game?
Had been a week since his he pitched in a game and needed to get some work in. Meant to get that in the initial post but accidentally omitted it. Thanks.
It’s not really looking like we need a closer anyways……
Right, can’t close it if it was never opened. We need some openers! We haven’t even been in the lead during a game in April. The win vs stl was a walk-off where we were behind all game.
He was basically their entire bullpen. Well, the Brewers aren’t making the playoffs.
No he’s not. The ‘pen has been a strength so far. The rotation on the other hand…
They have enough solid depth in the pen to fill in for Knebel until he’s healthy again, they’ll be fine for now.
Hader is a dominant reliever, too. If he slides into the role, the Brewers will be just fine.
Wrong, Brewers bullpen is solid. Probably in the 8-13 range in a 30-team bullpen power ranking
Hader 3ip 7ks zero ER 2 holds .67 whip.
He is far from our entire Bullpen we have plenty a depth in that area Jacob Barnes will fit in just fine
That they are committing to a DL stint before the MRI is not good…
If you saw it, you’d know it’s at the best, a bit over a week.
I’d love to be that optimistic
A bit over a week? Don’t expect him to be doing any baseball related activities within the next month after going down that hard with a hamstring. Unless he was simply releasing his inner soccer player.
The guy couldn’t even put any weight on it. I don’t know how you figure it’s only a week-long injury.
They committed to the DL stint immediately because the bullpen is overtaxed due to poor performances by starters. They need his roster spot to get a fresh arm up from the minors ASAP
Watching it live my first thought was he’s done for the year. Did not look good at all, probably good it’s just hamstring, but that also could take some time to recover. I’d think he’s out at least a month.
I agree it did not appear to be a “tweak” by any means. He made the pitch and immediately collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. Brewers have enough in the pen to cover the back end until his return, but I’d leave Albers in a setup role which is his strength. Nats used him as a closer from time to time in the first half last year, and he was clearly out of his element.
charlie morton blew out his hamstring a couple seasons ago running to first- it was late April, and he was done for the year;
hope its not that, but based on his reaction at the time of injury, you wonder.
It hurts but in no way does it kill the brewers pen. Hader, Barnes and Jeffress can bring it in the 9th. I agree with the Albers statement.
I like the fact that we have Houser to come up because I think he will do just fine granted he isn’t a Knebel now we need to get Williams up to replace Drake then our bullpen I think is set along with Griep and Derby finding time by bouncing back and forth this year. I really hope Corbin , Peralta ( Freddy not Wily lol) and Kirby maybe to solidify our starting rotation by May maybe. Yes I know that is the best case scenario
I also hope we can be willing to bite the bullet on Thames contract and either trade him or dfa him because then you could possibly move Suter to swingman
Thames is good I don’t know why we would dfa him .. we really need to trade Santana for starting pitching or it’s gunna be a long season
In my opinion I just don’t think we have really seen enough besides the first two months of last year from him. I also think if by May we have a rotation of Anderson, Davies, Corbin, Woodruff and maybe Guerra until Nelson comes back we could be ok and really wouldn’t sleep on Kirby this year. Yes I know it is a lot of big if’s but very possible I’m just a very big belief in what we have in the minors and don’t want to see them traded to only wish we still had them unless we do find a Greinke or Sabbathia which I don’t feel is out there
We did see enough from Thames last year, and what we saw is that he’s a streaky hitter. Look at his production in 2017: started out on fire, was .230ish batting avg in May to a sub-.200 June, solid .286 July, sub-.200 August, then like .340 in September.
You haven’t watched Thames play baseball. One of the best in the game when he’s on, just like Villar. It’s an up and down world why would you expect anything else from its best game or its best players? There is a reason why Votto and Freeman are special.
If Miller Park was a pitching ballpark like Miami we really wouldn’t be a good team the only reason we even stay in games is because of our offense
Brewers were 5th in the NL in pitching last year and 10th in hitting.
Make hader the closer. He will hold on to the spot for the next 15 plus years.
You haven’t watched Thames play baseball. One of the best in the game when he’s on, just like Villar. It’s an up and down world why would you expect anything else from its best game or its best players? There is a reason why Votto and Freeman are special.