MILWAUKEE -- Already ¡°decimated¡± by pitching injuries during Spring Training, the Brewers absorbed another loss Monday when they placed right-hander Aaron Civale on the 15-day injured list with a strained left hamstring.
The team called up righty reliever Grant Anderson from Triple-A Nashville and saw him knocked around in an 11-1 loss to the Royals in Milwaukee¡¯s home opener. A reliever, Elvin Rodriguez, started the game and fell into a 3-0 hole in the top of the first inning. Another unproven arm, Chad Patrick, who was not initially expected to make the Opening Day roster, not only did so but is now scheduled to start the fifth game of the regular season on Tuesday night.
The Brewers are 0-4 with a 12.27 ERA and just tied the 1954 Cardinals for the most runs allowed through four games in the modern era (since 1900). And that¡¯s with a position player, Jake Bauers, contributing two scoreless innings.
¡°We're in a real decimated spot," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said on Monday morning, "and we've another great team, a playoff team, coming in."
In baseball, it could always be worse. Allowing 47 runs in four games isn¡¯t close to the all-time Major League record. MLB.com¡¯s Sarah Langs noted that one club, the 1890 Cleveland Infants of the short-lived Players' League, allowed 75 runs in their first four games of that season.
That bit of trivia probably would not make Murphy and the Brewers feel much better.
¡°We haven¡¯t been competitive in [the last] three games. We haven¡¯t been close from the start,¡± Murphy said. ¡°But it¡¯s not for a lack of effort. These guys care as much as anybody.¡±
¡°I¡¯m a player who likes to win,¡± catcher William Contreras said, ¡°so this is about as tough a start as you can get kicked off to.¡±
The Brewers don¡¯t believe Civale¡¯s injury is a multi-month absence, but the results of an MRI scan were still pending as the team prepared for Monday¡¯s opener at American Family Field. Milwaukee¡¯s injured list, meanwhile, would make a pretty solid starting rotation. Right-hander Tobias Myers (oblique) and left-handers Aaron Ashby (oblique) and DL Hall (lat) all went down during Spring Training, on top of Brandon Woodruff (shoulder) and Robert Gasser (elbow) continuing their rehab from major surgeries.
The Brewers signed veteran left-hander Jose Quintana in March, but he needed more time than expected to build up for the regular season and isn¡¯t scheduled to join the Major League team until April 11.
Myers is next in line, scheduled to face hitters on Thursday before departing for a Minor League rehab assignment. He¡¯s expected back in the big league rotation before the end of April, as is Civale. The Brewers also plan to have reliever Nick Mears back in the big leagues during the month of April after he was set back by an illness.
Murphy mentioned Woodruff, Hall and Ashby in that order as being ¡°significantly further out¡± in being Major League-ready. Gasser¡¯s best-case scenario for returning to the Majors is August or September.
¡°From the bullpen, we are trying to cover for the starters that we are missing. We¡¯re trying to do our best to help the team,¡± Rodriguez said. ¡°It is sad to say it, but that is how the opportunity comes. We don¡¯t want anybody to get hurt, but if someone gets hurt, there is a lot of opportunity for young guys just like me.¡±
The Brewers would simply prefer if those opportunities were not so plentiful all at once.
¡°You know what¡¯s interesting?¡± Murphy said. ¡°At the Winter Meetings in Dallas, MLB showed us the amount of pitching injuries in Spring Training, and it was my biggest takeaway from the Meetings. There¡¯s 90 percent more likelihood that a guy gets injured in the offseason or Spring Training than during the regular season. I couldn¡¯t believe that. And sure enough, it happened to us.
¡°You can¡¯t control some of the things that have happened. You just roll with it and learn something. Now we have an opportunity to learn. We haven¡¯t been smashed in the face like this in a long, long time.¡±
The lesson? Murphy always knew depth was important to navigating a 162-game regular season, but in today¡¯s game it¡¯s even more important than he thought.
¡°I think one of the chief projects going on right now is how do we stop this?¡± Murphy said. ¡°How do we keep this from happening in spring and in the offseason programs? How do we monitor the offseason training better? Was it better in the old days when they didn¡¯t pick up a ball until January, or what we¡¯re doing now, where they take a couple of weeks off and then they start to go and build up? We thought we had it down in a pretty successful way.¡±