Prior to yesterday’s 3-2 win over the Mets, the Brewers placed right-hander Logan Henderson on the 15-day injured list with what was initially termed as elbow inflammation. Manager Pat Murphy revealed to reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) postgame that an MRI indicated Henderson is dealing with a right flexor strain. A rehab timeline isn’t yet known, but it is at least a good sign that the rookie pitcher has avoided structural damage.
Henderson had been scheduled to start today’s game, but Tobias Myers will now take the ball for his first start since May 17. Milwaukee called Myers up from Triple-A Nashville in the corresponding move for Henderson’s IL placement. Reliever Shelby Miller (acquired from the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline) was also activated from the 15-day IL, with right-hander Easton McGee optioned to Triple-A on Thursday to open up roster space in advance of Miller’s reinstatement.
It was just a week ago that Henderson was himself recalled from Triple-A as an injury replacement, taking over Jacob Misiorowski’s rotation spot after Misiorowski was sidelined by a left tibia contusion. Since that injury wasn’t considered to be too serious, it is possible Misiorowski could be activated from the 15-day IL when first eligible on August 15. Since the Brew Crew have an off-day on Thursday, Myers might just be needed for one turn in the rotation if all goes well with Misiorowski’s recovery.
Milwaukee’s rotation was crushed by injuries in the first few weeks of the season, which opened the door for Henderson to make his Major League debut on April 20. He was optioned back to Nashville after that outing, called back for three more starts in May, then sent down again until his return to the big leagues last week.
It is a testament to the Brewers’ pitching depth that Henderson has been a spare part, even though he has a 1.78 ERA, 33.3% strikeout rate, and an 8.1% walk rate over his first 25 1/3 innings in the Show. His 3.12 SIERA is only slightly less impressive, and Henderson has benefited from the big outlier of a 96.2% strand rate, and a favorable .255 BABIP. This batted-ball luck is noteworthy since Henderson has only a 22.8% grounder rate, but opposing batters are only making hard contact 33.2% of the time against the righty’s offerings.
Between these numbers in the majors and a 3.59 ERA over 77 2/3 Triple-A frames, there has been a lot to like about Henderson’s 2025 season. A fourth-round pick for the Brewers in the 2021 draft, Henderson has lined himself up nicely to be a big part of the club’s rotation plans going forward, probably as soon as 2026. Brandon Woodruff and Jose Quintana are both expected to become free agents this winter once their mutual options are declined, leaving a couple of holes to be filled on the pitching staff.
This assumes, of course, that Henderson is able to recover properly from this flexor strain. Even a relatively minor strain will certainly result in more than 15 days on the IL, just out of natural precaution about arm-related injuries. It is probably safe to rule Henderson out for the remainder of August, and his availability for the rest of the regular season (and the playoffs) could potentially be in jeopardy. As noted by McCalvy, Henderson’s injury history includes a surgery to fix a fractured elbow, which limited him to 13 2/3 innings during the 2022 minor league season.
The Brewers could pluck a random drunk guy out of the bleachers to pitch for them and it wouldn’t matter right now, they’d win regardless.
Especially against the Mets.
So true!! Not sure about now but In 1980 they grabbed me out of LF bleachers at old County stadium and I beat Yankees and Ron Guidry 2-1
Doesn’t sound great, let’s hope for the best for Logan! Ugly baserunning mistake last night by Durbin. You expect that from a young team, but they’ve been incredibly disciplined as of late. I wonder if Murph handles that or lets the team take care of that kinda thing at this point?
Murphy makes errant young players scrub his personal office turlet.
Joey Ortiz scrubbed a LOT of turlets this summer.
I highly doubt a single base-running mistake warrants a “talking-to” or kangaroo court. Damn dude.
This is the Major League. That play was bush league. You don’t run on a ball hit at you when first base is open. That’s 101 stuff.
“This batted-ball luck is noteworthy since Henderson has only a 22.8% grounder rate”.
That seems like a strange thing to link to his BABIP luck. He has a high 54.4% fly ball rate and since BABIPs on fly balls are typically around .100, it would make sense that he has a low BABIP. He’s doing better than average on all his batted types but that’s probably also earned because of the excellent hard hit rate. The high strand rate is more likely the reason for his overperformance of the peripherals but when you get strikeouts and limit hard contact, it’s also not surprising that he leaves baserunners where they are at a good rate though not the sky high rate he has.
Too bad about the injury but not crying for a team that has other capable guys waiting for a turn.
Don’t you cryyyyyeeyyy.
Axl Rose
Brewers are simply playing safe trying to give these guys a chance to stretch out their work load for the year so they are ready for the playoffs. Quintana will be on a short leash. Myers, Henderson and Patrick will be auditioning for the playoffs rotation. I suspect that Myers may end up switching to multiple innings bullpen. Yesterday Murph didn’t come close to saying he was done for the year. Not to mention that Gasser is close to coming back too. He was pretty lights out too before injury. Still its crazy that you will have Woodruff, Miz, Henderson, Gasser, Patrick, Myers, Hall, Ashby, Preister, Peralta and Crowe available in spring training as starters.
Myers and Patrick have no chance of making a postseason rotation. They’ll get Gasser back next week and he’s way better then those 2 when healthy
Simple strain, no damage to UCL. This is their load management for their young guys and gaming their roster and using their depth.
Gasser very close to being back from TJ…..
I kinda wonder if Gasser will come back through the bullpen. It might be a good situation where you may see Koenig hit the IL to rest a couple weeks before playoffs. Dude been used a lot this year. Miller can give him a break now too. Like the fact that Miller has spent time with us before for over a year so everything seems familiar to him. What I really like is these guys are up while on IL and get to learn from Woodruff on how to handle things. Last year these young pitchers learned a lot from Miley and Woodruff while they stuck around while out the whole year. Always said that Woodruff was the one they should have kept over anybody such as Burnes, Hader, Adames and others he wanted to be here others wanted money first then they would stay
Are we actually assuming that Woody is elsewhere next season?
No i hope not because I think that he is more important then any other player that has left via free agency or trade in the last couple of years. The knowledge that he can bring to these young players and pitching is immeasurable. Not to mention all the stuff that numerous players and FO people that were pulling behind the scenes he stayed loyal and frankly stayed out of the drama. Another thing I would love to see them do is get Wade Miley back in some compacity as a coach .
Totally. I also think this could be a rare case where the mutual option is exercised. If not, there’s at least a good chance he signs a new deal in MKE.
Woody and the Brewers have a good relationship. I love to watch him pitch.
Chad Patrick was on track for a 6 WAR season and does not even get a call up from AAA.
The Brewers are deep.
Matt Arnold and Pat Murphy are ahead of the curve.
2 — 11-game winning streaks, George Webb better get the grill warmed up overnight.