Brewers Offseason Addition Suffers Setback in Recovery From Elbow Injury

Connor Thomas Suffers Setback

The Brewers placed Thomas on the IL back in April with elbow arthritis. He was transferred to the 60 Day IL a few weeks later, but remained on track for a June return. He began a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League in late May. However, in his first and only outing of that rehab assignment, Thomas' elbow flared up again.

Thomas has some loose bodies in his elbow, he's been shut down from throwing, and he told Athlon Sports that he's "back to square one".

Manager Pat Murphy confirmed that Thomas was getting a second opinion on his elbow and that there is the possibility of surgery to clean up the area.

At this moment, Thomas doesn't believe the injury to be season-ending, but if he returns it will be late in the season. 

Thomas has pitched in just two MLB games, totaling 5.1 IP with a 20.25 ERA. Since he was a Rule 5 pick and hasn't been on the active roster for 90 days, it's likely he'll face the same Rule 5 roster restrictions in 2026. 

It's an extremely tough break for Thomas, who had been given a great opportunity and earned a spot in the Brewers big league bullpen. It's also a tough break for the Brewers seeing their Rule 5 addition not be able to produce the way they had hoped and then the player they could've protected instead in Shane Smith go on to have a sub-3.00 ERA with the White Sox.