Devin Williams Out 3 months with stress fractures in back

[titletownking]

Stress fractures in back, looks like he will be out three months. Brutal injury. 

[markedman5]

Yuck……

 

[wiguy94]

That's brutal. What looked like our biggest strength going into the season now has a some question marks.

[torts]

We can't have nice things

[Playing Catch]

I don't like this news. With that said, this isn't an arm injury, or a chronic back problem (unless I'm missing something).

For that reason, he's getting a few months off so he can be fresh for September. I think there's enough depth for the Brewers to be okay. It may even open up the opportunity for others to strut their stuff.

It also gives the team a sense of what the 'pen could look like when Devin is traded in the offseason.

[Sixtolezcano]

3 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I don't like this news. With that said, this isn't an arm injury, or a chronic back problem (unless I'm missing something).

For that reason, he's getting a few months off so he can be fresh for September. I think there's enough depth for the Brewers to be okay. It may even open up the opportunity for others to strut their stuff.

It also gives the team a sense of what the 'pen could look like when Devin is traded in the offseason.

Hopefully, there will a reason for him to pitch in significant games in September

[pitchleague]

Bummer.  I was pretty much ready for an announcement such as this ever since spring training started, though.

Bring on Hoby Milner:  stud closer!🙃

[Joseph Zarr]

Well, that absolutely stinks. That's all there is to say about that. I'm going to go ahead and guess they are going to go with a committee approach early to see if anyone player can grab that role as the interim. Ouch also comes to mind. Ouch.

[homer]

[Axman59]

27 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I don't like this news. With that said, this isn't an arm injury, or a chronic back problem (unless I'm missing something).

 

Multiple stress fractures in the back sounds like a chronic issue. Unless someone recently body slammed him or he was in a car accident. But I'm no orthopedic doctor so I have no level certainty.

[ClearWaterWI]

I’m worried this will be a season-ending injury. If he started experiencing problems late last season and it didn’t improve in the off-season, I’m not sure 3 months is going to be enough. It’s time to see who will be the new closer for the Brewers. 

[eddiemathews]

Yikes. I wonder if he shared the back soreness thing last season, and if anything was done/checked on in the off season. I don't want to be too chicken littleish, but this could be really, really bad. I hope not...he deserves some good luck.

[brewmann04]

Closer by committee now. Worried especially with a question of a rotation 

[RobertCrawley]

Can Uribe handle the closing duties? Maybe he becomes a star at that position?

[Team Canada]

20 minutes ago, ClearWaterWI said:

I’m worried this will be a season-ending injury. If he started experiencing problems late last season and it didn’t improve in the off-season, I’m not sure 3 months is going to be enough. It’s time to see who will be the new closer for the Brewers. 

Welcome!

[duewizard]

Awful news and I hope Devin gets well soon.

As for the bullpen, I'm guessing a combo of Megill, Payamps, Uribe, Milner to close games.

This also frees a roster spot, and I am interested what they will do with it. Do you carry Wilson + another long relief guy to cover innings or do more normal middle relief guys like Viera or Clarke get a chance?

 

[brewcrewdue80]

How healthy did Williams ever show himself?  Does this maybe reflect the contract he signed? Modest at 2 years? 

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

My first choice would be for Uribe to handle the ninth, with everyone else pretty much staying in their same role. That assumes Uribe is ready to do that, which at this point is a coin flip. Megill would be an interesting candidate. Sort of a modern-day Knebel.

Miso? 😃.

 

[Outlander]

5 hours ago, brewcrewdue80 said:

How healthy did Williams ever show himself?  Does this maybe reflect the contract he signed? Modest at 2 years? 

 

I doubt the injury impacted his contract, just covers his final two arbitration years. It's not like the Brewers Doctors thought there was anything seriously wrong.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I'm not suggesting this was negligence or purposeful but it is pretty alarming the team staff thought this was no biggie and someone else discovers he can't play for 3 months.

[homer]

6 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I'm not suggesting this was negligence or purposeful but it is pretty alarming the team staff thought this was no biggie and someone else discovers he can't play for 3 months.

I don't find it that alarming. They didn't see anything on a scan so he went to a specialist. Happens all the time in medicine.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

9 minutes ago, homer said:

I don't find it that alarming. They didn't see anything on a scan so he went to a specialist. Happens all the time in medicine.

And even the specialist wasn't 100% sure what he was looking at, so he required Williams to come out to California to have additional imaging done. For all the advancement we've seen in medicine over the last few decades, the human body remains a very complex structure, and diagnosing can still sometimes mean a lot of trial and error.

[monty57]

Apparently, they went to the same doctor that did Brook Lopez's back surgery, so if the Bucks and Brewers are both turning to him, he's probably a pretty good doctor. If he says three months, I'll trust that opinion. I'll also assume that "he'll be back" means he'll be back on the MLB roster and not "he'll be back and ready for a stint in the minors."

It's mid-March, so that would put him back around mid-June. I'm still optimistic that the Brewers will be fighting for the division title this year, so a mid-June return will be a huge addition to help them for the second half of the season. If they aren't in the race, this will give him time to show other teams that he's his old self, and the Brewers will be able to trade him away at the deadline when closers generally get the best return.

[Ignitor 4ever]

In a weird way this injury may be a good thing for the long-term for the Brewers.  It forces them to see what they have (or don't have) in other guys.  If Uribe or Megill or somebody else shows that they can competently handle the closer's role, it makes trading Williams much more palatable.  

[titletownking]

3 minutes ago, Ignitor 4ever said:

In a weird way this injury may be a good thing for the long-term for the Brewers.  It forces them to see what they have (or don't have) in other guys.  If Uribe or Megill or somebody else shows that they can competently handle the closer's role, it makes trading Williams much more palatable.  

I get the positive spin and all amidst a sea of doomsayers, but there’s no possible way losing the best closer in baseball for half the season is a good thing. Especially considering the Brewers history of tight game wins the last few years.