Brewers' starting-pitching depth has already taken a hit as Aaron Ashby and Jason Alexander will be sidelined for an extended period with injuries
PHOENIX — It's a good thing the Milwaukee Brewers focused so much on building their starting-pitching depth in the offseason.
Because only a couple days into camp, it's already being chipped away at.
The team entered camp with the knowledge that left-hander Aaron Ashby would be behind due to what's been diagnosed as shoulder inflammation — a blow considering he at the very least would have been a terrific bullpen weapon if he failed to earn the No. 5 starter's role in camp.
Now, the timeline for Ashby's potential return has been pushed out even further than the early April estimate the team had provided in the week leading into spring training, with manager Craig Counsell saying it could be two months into the season before he's able to return.
"It's shoulder inflammation," Counsell said when asked for a more exact description of the injury. "He has inflammation and that causes pain to throw, and so we've got to basically not throw for a good stretch of time to let it calm down.
"And then go slow so we don't recreate the symptoms."
Counsell was asked if the injury could potentially be season-ending.
"No. Well, not right now," he said. Ashby signed a five-year, $20.5 million contract extension last July with team options for 2028 and 2029.
"But I think anytime you're going to miss significant time, then setbacks can put your season in danger."
Right-hander Jason Alexander — who started 11 games last season when injuries hit Milwaukee's rotation hard — is also dealing with a similar malady, although an earlier diagnosis and start of treatment leaves him ahead of Ashby.
"We're going to miss a minimum of the first month of the season," Counsell said. "It's probably along the lines of Ashby, just probably diagnosed a little bit sooner. So he's a little ahead of Ashby's progression. As he started throwing in January, December, (it cropped up) and he got shut down early January.
"We're looking at saying he's going to miss significant time."
Looking at the depth chart, Ashby likely would have been battling with right-hander Adrian Houser and left-hander Wade Miley for the No. 5 starter's spot, with Alexander most likely ticketed to open the season in Class AAA Nashville's rotation.
"We know that five starters is not going to happen," Counsell said. "If you can help it, you don't want guys to make that many starts but you have to have that depth and you have to have guys prepared for it, and Jason got called on a bunch to do it last year.
"So, it's a piece of depth that's not going to be there early in the season."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' Aaron Ashby, Jason Alexander sidelined for extended period
