Brewers left-hander Aaron Ashby will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder this week, manager Craig Counsell told reporters after this afternoon’s win over the Mets (relayed by Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Ashby will be out for “significant time,” in the words of the skipper, and might not return at all in 2023.
It’s a brutal development for one of the sport’s more promising young starters. Ashby, a fairly recent top prospect, threw 139 innings between 2021-22. The former fourth-rounder has only managed a 4.47 ERA but posted more intriguing underlying numbers. He’s punched out an above-average 27.1% of batters faced while keeping the ball on the ground on a huge 57.8% of batted balls. That rare combination of strikeouts and grounders led Milwaukee’s front office to invest in Ashby last summer.
The Brewers guaranteed him $20.5MM through 2027 on a deal that contained club options through ’29. While it’s still possible for that relatively modest deal to pan out, Ashby hasn’t been able to contribute because of shoulder issues. He made just three starts after the extension before landing on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. That ended his 2022 campaign early. The problems unfortunately cropped back up this spring, as he was diagnosed with a small labral tear in mid-February.
Ashby and the club initially downplayed the long-term severity of the injury. He was expected to miss the first six weeks of the season but his timeline now gets pushed back by another setback. The team hasn’t indicated whether Ashby suffered a more severe injury or if the initial issue simply hasn’t progressed as expected.
The Brewers will be able to transfer Ashby from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list whenever they have a need for a 40-man roster spot. Milwaukee still has a strong front five of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Wade Miley. Depth options Ashby, Jason Alexander and Adrian Houser are all on the IL, though, leaving Milwaukee fairly thin behind their top group.
It’s an obviously suboptimal development early in the season and at least raises some question about Ashby’s ability to cement himself in the rotation over the longer term. Miley is only guaranteed to be around this year, while Burnes and Woodruff are on track for free agency after the 2024 season. There’s surely still hope Ashby can join Peralta as longer-term impact starters but he’s now in danger of missing his entire age-25 campaign.
Wow great investment for a team that already has no money
All of the MLB teams are watching their main planes crash, If this is it for the Brewers, than it’s a tricycle crash.
He’ll be back & he has a lot to learn.for the future.
It’s not like he’s making a ton of money for the next three years.
Easy Tiger, it’s not Tommy John surgery and he is only making $1.2 million and $1.4 million next year.
Shoulder surgery is typically worse than TJ.
This surgery is tough to recover from. He will get healthy but may never be the same.
@Baseballlife
Didn’t know that.
@Baseballislife
Being that this is an arthroscopic procedure which is minor he shouldn’t have a problem with recovery.
This is true. Arthroscopic surgery makes small, targeted incisions.
Heal up and chin up, Ash! I hope to see ya back in 2024!
Damn! He could be really nasty. That’s why team friendly extensions can be a win win.
Not the end of contract, if he never recovers. Need good disability insurance on long contracts!
Wow. Not now.
Good that the brewers are locked up until 2027! Maybe 2029!
Wade Miley’s looking like a fantastic value at $4.5 million with all the early pitching injuries.
It’s a surprise Adrian Houser is on the IL with his older brother Doogie being a doctor.
Not TOO Bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lots of Money on end of contract. Hope he can recover! I was opposed to his contract, even before his injuries. I thought he had not shown enough to get the long extension. He is a pitcher, not a position player. They get hurt easier than position players.
Not really. 7.7M for a potential starting pitcher is hardly ”lots of money”
With the Brewers deep pitching in the minors and even grabbing a rule 5 guy for the roster. They have great arms in the minors according to Rock on the TV broadcast the other day how can anyone see potential problems with his crew.
Take this guy out of the toaster over he’s cooked.
Who saw all these injuries in baseball coming??? Geez I swear it’s shocking.