The Brewers announced that left-hander Jose Quintana has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 15th, due to a left calf strain. Right-hander Nick Mears has been reinstated from the 15-day IL as the corresponding move.
Quintana started Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. He was pulled after throwing 67 pitches over four innings, having allowed three earned runs. After the game, manager Pat Murphy told members of the media that Quintana had been pulled due to a calf injury, adding that the lefty was in a walking boot and would require an MRI.
The Brewers took a few days to see how Quintana’s calf responded but have evidently decided that he’ll need to sit out a while longer. Even with the backdating, his regular season is over. He finishes the year with a 3.96 earned run average in 131 2/3 innings, though his underlying numbers are a bit less impressive than that ERA. His 9% walk rate and 43.3% ground ball rate are close to average but he only struck out 16% of batters faced. A low .259 batting average on balls in play seemed to help him, which is why his 4.83 FIP and 5.05 SIERA are both about a run higher than his ERA.
Even before the injury, Quintana wasn’t especially likely to be playing a meaningful role for Milwaukee in October. With the off-days in the postseason, teams are able to rely on just three or four starters instead of the usual five or six. Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester and Jacob Misiorowski are all having better seasons than Quintana.
In the short term, the Brewers are still in a good position. They have already clinched a playoff spot and seem highly likely to get a bye through the first round. They are currently 4.5 games up on the Cubs in the Central. The Brewers are eight games clear of the Dodgers, who lead the West division at the moment, in addition to being a game and a half clear of the East-leading Phillies.
To finish the job, they will need to replace Quintana in the rotation for the near term. They have Woodruff, Priester and Misiorowski taking the ball in the next three games. Peralta started yesterday and won’t be available on normal rest by Saturday. Milwaukee doesn’t have an off-day until the 25th, next Thursday.
Chad Patrick has had success as a starter this year but he is currently in the bullpen. His two most recent appearances have been of the single-inning variety but he did pitch 4 1/3 innings as recently as September 9th, so perhaps he could cover multiple innings. It’s a somewhat similar situation with guys like Erick Fedde and Tobias Myers, who have done some starting but have been in shorter stints more recently.
Another option to help out fairly soon is Robert Gasser, who is nearing a return from last summer’s Tommy John surgery. He was reinstated from the IL at the end of August but was optioned to the minors. Most of his recent minor league outings have been around three innings, at intervals of three days or so. He won’t be available for a traditional start but could cover a few frames in some capacity. “I think you’ll see him soon,” Murphy said today, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Turning back to Quintana, he will presumably be trying to get healthy for the postseason. Assuming the Brewers eventually do secure a bye through the Wild Card round, he’ll have over two weeks until the Division Series begins. As mentioned, the Brewers probably don’t need him in their postseason rotation, though an injury to one of the other arms could always change that. Even if he’s not needed to make a start, he could perhaps work out of the Milwaukee bullpen.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images