Brewers Lose Starting Pitcher Brent Suter to UCL Tear

Bad news for the Brewers today, but the timing could be good or bad (for them), depending on your perspective.

First, the news:

#Brewers’ Suter has torn UCL, sources tell The Athletic. Likely Tommy John.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 23, 2018

LHP Brent Suter has been placed on the 10-day disabled list with a torn UCL in his left elbow. RHP Jorge López has been recalled from Triple-A @skysox. pic.twitter.com/BXvLzT5xTb

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 23, 2018

Suter, 28, had been far from dominant this season with his 4.80 ERA, but his peripherals were much better, and he’d actually had an excellent run of starts until the last few when, perhaps, he was not feeling so well because he’d just come back from a forearm issue:

#Brewers announce Brent Suter left game with left forearm tightness, which probably explains his poor fastball command. Also a significant red flag because he already went on DL once with that issue and was thought to be clear of it.

— Tom (@Haudricourt) July 22, 2018

For an organization that was already looking at pitching options, this is a blow.

But that’s where the potentially “good” news lies for the Brewers – knowing now that Suter is lost, as opposed to knowing on August 1, could make a huge difference. It could be the push the Brewers need to really go out and acquire a quality starting pitcher. That would not only muddy up the market for the Cubs, who are looking at starting pitching, but could also wind up a net win for the Brewers in 2018 performance (even if the cost would be prospects).

At least when the Brewers go out to acquire pitching now, they’ll have sellers turning the screws a bit on the price tag.

Although they are now 3.5 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central, the Brewers are not altogether out of that race if something crazy were to happen to the Cubs. Moreover, the Brewers still hold one of the NL Wild Card spots.