Wade Miley leaves early with an apparent injury

street. Lewis — The Brewers have been wary of veteran Wade Miley from day one of Spring training given his injury history, hoping to avoid the scene that unfolded completely in the second half on Tuesday at Busch Stadium: Miley leaving a start alongside a sports coach.

The 36-year-old’s initial diagnosis was a left strain, and though he’ll require an MRI scan again in Milwaukee on Wednesday for an accurate diagnosis, the Brewers already knew Tuesday night that Miley would land on the injured list for 15 days. That was tough news for Miley after he missed nearly four months of last season with the Cubs due to arm injuries.

“I made a lot of changes this season and during spring training; I kind of took a step forward in taking care of myself a little bit,” Miley said. “The coaching staff has been great at keeping me healthy. My shoulder hasn’t been a problem since spring training. My elbow is the thing that bothers me more than anything else.”

“For this to show, it’s baseball. We get injuries. I just have to get through it and hope it’s not too long and I’m back out there.”

Miley went straight to the clubhouse for evaluation while reliever Elvis Peguero took over in a tie game that the Brewers won, 3-2, over the Cardinals. The Brewers built their offseason around an elite rotation, with Miley signed to a one-year free agent deal to fill out a group already led by All-Stars Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta as well as Eric Lauer and Aaron Ashby along with Adrian Houser for depth.

With a quarter of the regular season in the books, things didn’t quite go as planned.

Woodruff suffered a right shoulder injury in the second week of April and was out until late June at the earliest. Ashby did not throw a single pitch due to a left shoulder injury, and when manager Craig Counsell was asked about his recovery in the last home he simply replied that “no update”. Houser missed the first five weeks with a hip injury before returning for the final road trip. Lauer squabbled so much that he was skipped in the rotation last week. Colin Rea, who had been starting in position for Woodruff, was just picked up at Triple-A Nashville this week with a 5.52 ERA.

Miley has been a bright spot, carrying a 1.86 ERA in the month of May before experiencing some recent trouble. Starting with the seventh inning of his May 4 start against the Rockies in Denver, and going on to hit seven innings against the Dodgers at home last week, he has been charged with 11 earned runs in his last 6 2/3 innings.

Tuesday’s exit was particularly surprising. After Miley worked the first inning 1-2-3 on nine pitches, Nolan Arenado led off the bottom of the second inning with a tying home run—Arenado’s fifth straight game with a homer. Miley was teetering with two outs and a runner on board when catcher William Contreras visited the mound. As he crouched behind home plate, Contreras pointed to the Brewers dugout.

Despite this, Miley seemed determined to keep going. But before he could throw his first pitch to Cardinals left fielder Brendan Donovan, Consell called time off the bench and went on the mound with athletics coach Scott Barringer. Miley left the game.

“I’ve dealt with some weird things before and thought I’d keep working,” Miley said. “It may not have been the best idea, but I managed to get through a few putts, and it gradually got worse with every pitch I threw. The slider was the only pitch I didn’t feel anything on, so I would throw all the sliders to the next left and not tell anyone until I got there.” to the bunker.

“But they clearly saw something they didn’t like and Scott got out of there. Maybe it’s for the best, hopefully.”

His injury record includes nine stints on the injured list from 2017-22, including missing four months from last season with the Cubs due to elbow and shoulder injuries. His shoulder problem was a subscapularis strain, the same injury that sidelined Woodruff this year.

But when he’s healthy, Miley is tough. Since the beginning of 2011, his 102 wins is ninth among left-handed pitchers. He was an All-Star D pitcher in 2012 and threw a no-hitter with the Reds in 2021.