Brewers spring training has not gotten off to an ideal start as more bad news has broken out of camp. Thursday, Corbin Burnes commented on his relationship with Milwaukee after he lost his arbitration hearing. The team also announced that Aaron Ashby would miss a couple of months. Friday, MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reported that a second pitcher will miss multiple months extending into the regular season: Jason Alexander.
Brewers pitchers Aaron Ashby and Jason Alexander will miss multiple months due to injury.
On the mound, Ashby and Alexander have the ability to perform similar roles. Both can start games as well as serve in a long relief role. The Brewers found out last year just how vital having pitchers who can serve in the “swingman” role is for their staff could not stay healthy. Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser and Ashby all took turns on the injured list.
Having learned from last year, the Brewers went out and signed Wade Miley this offseason. Miley, who formerly was a starting pitcher on the Crew’s 2018 team, was an interesting signing for it likely meant that Houser was being pushed into the bullpen or operating as the team’s sixth starter.
While the expected starting five (Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer and Miley) are all still healthy, Houser’s role will likely remain unchanged at this time. However, Bryse Wilson and Janson Junk are also expected to compete against him in spring training.
Seeing these types of injury announcements before a single Cactus League game has been played is disappointing, but hopefully it prevents Ashby and Alexender from missing time later on in the regular season.
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