street. Lewis – The Brewers have been wary with veteran Wade Miley from day one of Spring training given his injury history, hoping to avoid a scene that unfolded completely in the second half Tuesday at Busch Stadium: Miley left a start alongside a athletic trainer with a left line slash .
The 36-year-old went straight to the clubhouse for evaluation while reliever Elvis Pejero took over in the tying game 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.
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.