Aaron Ashby underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder back in April, which threatened to keep the Brewers southpaw out of action for the entirety of the 2023 season. However, Ashby is set to hit an important checkpoint in his recovery, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy writes that Ashby will throw a live bullpen session this week, and possibly be in line to start a minor league rehab assignment next weekend. The rehab assignment is likely to be pretty lengthy given Ashby’s long layoff, though since he’ll almost certainly be brought back as a reliever, he won’t need quite as much work in rebuilding his arm strength.
Moving to a bullpen role will help Ashby’s chances of pitching before the season is over, and it potentially gives Milwaukee an intriguing relief weapon down the stretch. Ashby has worked as both a starter and reliever over his first two MLB seasons, posting a 4.47 ERA, 57.8% grounder rate, 27.1% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate over 139 innings in the big leagues. The Brewers were impressed enough to lock Ashby up to a five-year contract extension last year, and while the lefty is a big part of Milwaukee’s future, the Brew Crew also hope he can contribute to their present push for the division title and some October success.
Other items from around the NL Central…
- The Reds explored trading Nick Senzel prior to the deadline but couldn’t find a deal, and thus Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer thinks Senzel might not be tendered a contract this winter. Senzel is arbitration-eligible for a second time and wouldn’t be hugely expensive to retain (he has a $1.95MM salary in 2023), but the larger issue is that the Reds seem to have moved on from the former top prospect in favor of their new crop of standout youngsters. Injuries have plagued Senzel throughout his career, and he has hit only .236/.301/.364 over 1307 career MLB plate appearances since debuting during the 2019 season. The Reds even demoted Senzel to the minors two weeks ago before recalling him again when Joey Votto went on the IL. In regards to his future in Cincinnati, Senzel said he is just focused on trying to help the team win, and that “I’m not going to be pessimistic about any situation. I’m optimistic wherever the game takes me.”
- The Cubs placed Michael Fulmer on the 15-day IL yesterday due to a forearm strain, a particularly concerning injury for a pitcher with a lengthy history of arm problems. Manager David Ross and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy spoke with reporters (including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times) about Fulmer’s injury, saying that he had been trying to pitch through discomfort, with the team trying to accommodate the issue with some extra rest in between bullpen outings. “It wasn’t something we were like, ’Oh my gosh, if we pitch him, we’re in trouble.’ It was stuff we were monitoring,” Hottovy said. “It’s no different than what we do with a lot of guys. But he’s been grinding for a few weeks.” Fulmer will undergo tests on his forearm, but the hope is that some extended rest in the form of an IL stint can get him back onto the mound soon.
- Speaking of forearm injuries, the Cardinals placed right-hander Guillermo Zuniga on the 15-day IL due to a right forearm strain of his own. The placement is retroactive to August 25, and right-hander James Naile was called up from Triple-A Memphis to take Zuniga’s roster spot. Zuniga has been up and down from Memphis a few times this season, and he also spent time on the minor league IL in June. The hard-throwing righty has thrown two innings over two appearances for St. Louis, which marks the first Major League experience of Zuniga’s career.
Senzel being non-tendered should not shock anyone.
For me, it was obvious a couple years ago that Senzel was not a player.
Hopefully Senzel is non-tendered. He’s another Willie Calhoun – a former top prospect who thinks they are better than they are and deserve regular playing time despite their numbers barely warranting a bench utility role, if that.
The Reds should have taken whatever lottery ticket they could have gotten for Senzel rather than the nothing they will get when they cut him this winter
They probably viewed it as not worth it since they were loosely trying to contend. He was probably a contingency plan if there were a lot of injuries (there were) and at least they have someone with experience. A lottery ticket would have made sense if they were the Rockies (or had no chance for postseason).
Haha, they’ve been the Rockies, dude.
Not this year. This year the Cardinals are the Rockies.
Can still move him before Non Tender Deadline.
Pretty great two games for the Cubs. Wicks did everything they could’ve hoped for last night and Assad had a great start today with Thompson getting 5 Ks in 2 innings.
If some of their pitching develops they really could be seriously competitive. We saw it for a few weeks earlier this season. I don’t think they’re all that far if the arms hold up.
MLBTR is clearly going with the “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” approach as it pertains to the Pirates. Now you ruined it!
Tell me, are you mad bruh? Tell me where we hurt you by pointing at the doll.
Could it be that MLBTR’s egregious neglect of the Pirates comes from …
no transactions nor viable rumors regarding the roster?
Doubt it will make you feel any better, but they completely ignored Brandon Woodruff returning from the IL for my Brewers and that was like 3 weeks ago.
And I do see the irony in mentioning a Brewer when this very article talks about a different one. Just pointing out yours isn’t the only team that sometimes seems to get ignored for some reason.
What necessarily would you like them to write about? Not like there’s been any extension rumors regarding Keller or anyone else. No trade rumors or rumors surrounding players who other teams tried to pursue around the deadline. Only real thing of note is Paul Skenes’ debuts at different levels. Guess they could’ve mentioned Luis Ortiz back up, but they don’t report on every single small optioning/recalling. If they did that, there would be about a dozen articles a day about “x player got sent down. X player got promoted”.
MLB TR doesn’t report on every single little transaction. I can’t find any article on the Dodgers optioning Bryan Hudson, or them recalling Gavin Stone. Also didn’t see one about Brett Kennedy getting optioned and Daniel Duarte getting recalled. Alex Young getting put on the 15-day seems like something noteworthy. Two minor league signees by the Mets and Yankees went unreported. Nothing on Chris Murphy getting recalled by the Bo-Sox.
That was from this weekend alone. It’s not a point of “they don’t care about the Pirates.” They just don’t report on every single little transaction. If they are throwing up their hands and saying “Why bother?” then they’re doing it with all 30 clubs.
The Pitching Staff has a lot more going for it in 2024 than you may think. Jared Jones, Anthony Solometo, Paul Skenes coming up. Mike Burrows comes back in the second half, as does JT Brubaker. Maybe Quinn Priester, Contreras, or Ortiz steps up. Other should be much more depth. Keep in mind, by mid-May, Brubaker, Burrows, and Velasquez were all projected to play regular roles in the rotation this year, and they lost all three. Just because guys come up and don’t hit the ground running doesn’t mean they’re busts. What the Reds are doing this year, that’s not the complete norm when you bring up a lot of prospects at one.
I just don’t see how Senzel could make the Reds 2024 roster. Defensively, he’s best at 3rd- but behind Marte, India, Steer, EDLC, and Newman if you include offense. At 2nd Senzel probably behind India, Mclain, Steer, and Newman. At cf Senzel is clearly behind Friedl, with Hurtubise and J. Dunn catching up. Nick needs a change of scenery.