Brewers left-hander Aaron Ashby departed today’s Spring Training start in the second inning due to injury. After the game, manager Pat Murphy told Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the southpaw suffered an oblique strain. Murphy indicated that early tests suggest the injury will not necessitate a months-long absence. However, a firm timetable won’t be known until Ashby goes for further testing tomorrow.
It’s a setback in the 26-year-old’s efforts to secure a rotation spot. Ashby was probably ticketed for the bullpen following the team’s agreement with Jose Quintana on a $4.25MM free agent deal. Quintana can slot behind Freddy Peralta and alongside Nestor Cortes, Tobias Myers and Aaron Civale in the Opening Day rotation. Ashby may have been the top depth arm in the event that anyone else suffered a Spring Training injury. The Brewers don’t expect Brandon Woodruff to be ready for Opening Day after he lost the 2024 season to shoulder surgery. DL Hall suffered a lat strain last month and will be down for several weeks.
Any kind of significant oblique issue would ensure Ashby begins the season on the injured list as well. That’d leave swingman Tyler Alexander as the only healthy depth starter on the 40-man roster who has more than a few weeks of major league service. Inexperienced pitchers Carlos Rodriguez, Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson and Elvin Rodriguez are on the 40-man. Bruce Zimmermann and Thomas Pannone are in camp as non-roster invitees.
Even if he didn’t crack the rotation, a healthy Ashby would probably begin the season in the bullpen. He impressed in a multi-inning relief role last year. Ashby turned in a 2.86 earned run average across 28 1/3 innings. He fanned 27.7% of opponents while getting ground-balls at a massive 58.6% clip. His lone playoff appearance was a disaster — he allowed all five baserunners to reach in his outing in the Wild Card Series against the Mets — but his MLB regular season numbers were strong. Few pitchers have the ability to get both whiffs and grounders at the rates that he can.
That upside convinced the Brewers to sign the former fourth-round pick to a $20.5MM extension three years ago. While he continues to flash a significant ceiling, he has yet to find consistency. That’s mostly on account of injury. Ashby battled shoulder problems almost immediately after signing the extension in July 2022. He underwent an arthroscopic shoulder procedure the following April that cost him the entire ’23 season. He returned to health last season but could not find the strike zone with any kind of regularity while working as a starter in Triple-A.
Ashby was torched for more than eight earned runs per nine across 84 minor league frames, largely because of an untenable 17.4% walk rate. He started 14 of his 25 appearances. His strong finish at the MLB level came in 1-2 inning stints out of the bullpen. Ashby’s long-term future might well be in relief, but Murphy said at the start of the offseason that Milwaukee wasn’t willing to abandon hope of him sticking as a starter.
If I had a sixteen year old kid playing baseball I would have all these procedures done in a preliminary fashion over winter break: Tommy John ACL surgery; obliques removed, hamate bone removed. Get all these done EARLY and PRE-EMPTIVELY then you don’t have to worry about it down the road when you’re trying to make the big bucks & competing for a roster spot.
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Thanks Dr I.
Yeah because no one else has ever torn their UCL a second time. Plus the doctor would get sued. Otherwise brilliant!
That long term deal they made with him. Not turning out very good. Still on the hook for $15 million.
It’s a great deal cause with one good season his price in arb would/could skyrocket, for a young pitcher with his upside that deal couldn’t/can’t really ever turn out to be “bad”
Plus I’m fairly certain they have some options tacked onto the end giving them potential for extra years of team control and the opportunity to recoup extra value on the deal
There is still a lot of talent to redeem this deal, but he should never be spoken of as a starter again.
The Quintana signing looks even more impressive this morning after the AA news. I think if Hall and Ashby (and management) just accept that they should be high leverage bullpen arms, it would help them both out. Accept the fact that Ortiz might have been the prize in the Burnes deal and that you dished out an extension to Ashby and live with it. Quit trying to throw mud at the wall and hope it finally sticks
That Quintana signing was a steal, meanwhile Jed overpaid for Colin Rea, but that’s why I still consider the Brewers the favorites to win the NL Central.
Well The Truth is The Truth isn’t it!?
Agree with most of this. But suspect that Quintana signing was a reaction to the AA news not a coincidence. That said, yeah, Ashby and DL Hall are great bullpen options, not starters.
They signed Quintana hours before Ashby took the mound last night.
We gotta stop playing the sp pipe dream. Stuff plays and is real when on. Just turn him into a closer already. Save that arm.