Brewers Face "Big Concern" About Jared Koenig's Elbow, Will Turn to Shane Drohan in Bullpen

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © William Purnell-Imagn Images

For now, the Brewers and Jared Koenig will wait and see how his elbow responds to a prolonged rest. Koenig was shelved by a sprained elbow Monday afternoon, and yes, the damaged tissue is his ulnar collateral ligament. There's always a chance that a sprained UCL will lead to Tommy John surgery, or some variant thereof that still ends a player's season. It's good news that that's not the immediate plan, and perhaps the team and the player were proactive enough to catch a sprain early. 

According to Pat Murphy (as relayed by MLB.com Brewers beat reporter Adam McCalvy), there's even a chance Koenig will be back by early May, That seems a bit hopeful, but he wouldn't be the first hurler to come back on such a timeline, if the damage is minor.

It's important to understand a distinction here, though: this is a diagnosed sprain (which indicates some degree of tearing) in the UCL itself. Pitchers often get diagnosed, first, with strains in the forearm or the biceps muscles, or in the tendons that connect bones to those muscles. Those can be precursors to torn UCLs, but it's not uncommon for the ligament to survive if the muscle or tendon gives way first, especially because the tissues can heal simultaneously as a pitcher rests. This is different. Koenig has a tear in the ligament itself, and ligaments heal more slowly than muscles, because their blood supplies aren't as robust. 

If there were a major tear in that ligament, we'd already be hearing that Koenig was seeking a second opinion or being scheduled for surgery. Instead, the team will try to let him have time to heal. He could undergo a platelet-rich plasma injection. There are non-surgical interventions for minor ligament damage, and they can (if nothing else) slow down wear to reduce the risk of a full-blown tear.

However, Koenig's velocity was notably down this spring. He lost a bit of weight over the winter, and didn't look as strong in camp. There are many reasons to worry that Koenig will give the Brewers little for the balance of this season, even if he's spared from the scalpel for now.

Luckily, the Brewers have arguably the deepest pitching staff in baseball. They called up Shane Drohan to take the place of Koenig as the second lefty in the bullpen, which is as tidy an expression of their privilege as one could hope for. Koenig himself would be the best lefty in several bullpens throughout the league. With Aaron Ashby as the high-leverage, high-volume southpaw of the team's relief corps, though, that was never anywhere near being true of the 2026 Crew. Drohan is also a better pitcher than most teams would have to call upon in case of this type of loss, and he'll give them length in the pen for as long as needed.

It's a bad break for Koenig, who has earned Murphy's trust and teammates' respect and is an important part of the team. Hopefully, he'll avoid surgery and be back on the mound soon. In the interim, though, Drohan's nasty stuff and cerebral, thoughtful approach to his job make a fine replacement for him. The Brewers will weather the loss, even as they ardently hope for the best for their erstwhile setup man.

View full article

[bigb2084]

2nd lefty? Ashby might be 1a, but Zerpa is clearly 1b. At best, he's battling Hall for #3, which, like you mentioned, is a testament to the depth they have. 

[Matthew Trueblood]

5 hours ago, bigb2084 said:

2nd lefty? Ashby might be 1a, but Zerpa is clearly 1b. At best, he's battling Hall for #3, which, like you mentioned, is a testament to the depth they have. 

Good point. Unaccountably, I sort of bin Zerpa with the righties in the pen. He's not a reverse-splits guy; there's no reason to do so. I just do. Haha. Thanks for catching it.