For the second time this week, one of the Cubs’ main NL Central rivals will have to send a talented young starting pitcher back to the disabled list after only just briefly returning to the big leagues near the end of May:
RHP Zach Davies (right rotator cuff inflammation) placed on 10-day DL, retroactive to 5/30. 1B/OF Ji-Man Choi recalled from Triple-A @skysox. C Jett Bandy outrighted to Triple-A Colorado Springs. The 40-man roster remains at capacity. pic.twitter.com/9AFyYCI9JM
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 1, 2018
Okay, so Zach Davies is not exactly Alex Reyes, right rotator cuff inflammation isn’t Tommy John surgery, and missing most of May is a lot different than the entire 2017 season (and part of 2018). But Zach Davies is headed back to the disabled list nonetheless, and it’ll definitely hurt the Brewers.
Indeed, Davies hasn’t been great this season, but he’s still 25, has plenty of upside, and was both solid and dependable in 2017 (33 starts, 191.1 IP, 2.8 WAR). And of course, the Brewers are already playing without their best starter, Jimmy Nelson (60-day DL) and another starter in Wade Miley (60-day DL), so you know their rotation (which already ranks 20th in MLB) will continue to feel their absences.
As for when Davies will return, that’s impossible to know at this point, but it’s worth pointing out that it took Davies two weeks to make his first rehab start the last time he went down with right rotator cuff inflammation and three weeks before he was back on a big league mound (there was a bullpen session setback in there, too). If that happens again (which might even be optimistic, given the fact that this is a re-injury) the Brewers may be without him for most of June.
In the meantime, Chase Anderson (who was, himself, just on the disabled list), Jhoulys Chacin, Junior Guerra, Brent Suter, and … someone else (Brandon Woodruff? Freddy Peralta?) will have to hold down the fort.
Fortunately for them, the Brewers bullpen has been absolutely lights out this season, so they can afford to cover a few extra innings in the short-term. As to how this impacts them in the long-run, well, I’d expect the Brewers to be very active on the starting pitcher trade market as soon as the draft is over – that is, if they have the guts to put the pedal to the metal like they did on the positional side in the offseason.
We’ll update this post if/when more information on Davies’ timetable trickles out.