The Brewers put reliever Jared Koenig on the IL with a left elbow sprain, the team announced. Manager Pat Murphy told reporters, including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that the plan is to try to rehab the injury. The estimated return timeline is two to four weeks. Murphy called it a “big concern,” per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The skipper also specified it’s a UCL sprain.
Left-hander Shane Drohan was recalled in a corresponding move. The 27-year-old came to the organization in the Caleb Durbin trade. If he appears in a game, it’ll be his big-league debut.
Koenig hits the injured list after a disastrous outing in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Royals. The veteran relieved starter Brandon Sproat with two outs and runners on first and second. Koenig allowed consecutive hits to plate both inherited runners. A Jake Bauers error, followed by a wild pitch, scored two more unearned runs.
Koenig’s velocity was down for the second straight game. After sitting at 96 mph with his sinker in his first outing of the year, the pitch averaged under 94 mph in two subsequent appearances. Koenig’s changeup was down more than a tick on Saturday, compared to its average velocity in 2025.
Milwaukee opened the year with a lefty-heavy bullpen that included Angel Zerpa, Aaron Ashby, and DL Hall, in addition to Koenig. The club will opt for another southpaw to replace him. Drohan made one appearance at Triple-A before getting the call. He allowed two earned runs over 3 1/3 innings with Nashville. Drohan racked up six strikeouts in the outing, continuing a theme from his time in the Red Sox organization.
The promotion of Drohan puts all three players acquired in the Durbin deal on the big-league roster. Left-hander Kyle Harrison and infielder David Hamilton both broke camp with the team. Drohan posted a 4.26 ERA across 12 2/3 innings during MLB Spring Training. He struck out opponents at a solid 28.8% clip.
Drohan missed a significant chunk of the 2025 season with forearm inflammation. The lefty was effective when available, delivering a 3.00 ERA with a 34.5% strikeout rate across 54 innings. Drohan scuffled in a few outings at High-A when he first returned from the forearm issue, skewing his final line. He closed the year on a high note, recording 29 strikeouts in 21 innings at Triple-A.
Photo courtesy of William Purnell, Imagn Images
Next man up for the Crew. Hopefully just 4 weeks max for the big lefty but maybe not. Kind of ironic Drohan gets the call up as the Boston series gets underway. Let’s go Crew!
95% of the time the choice is between TJS now or TJS later.
Koenig was awful in spring training too. Makes you wonder if this has been affecting him for awhile.
Don’t Mess With The Drohan