The Brewers have placed left-hander Aaron Ashby on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to August 20, with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Righty Jason Alexander was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take the vacated active roster spot.
It’s the second time this season that Ashby is headed to the IL due to an arm problem. He was diagnosed with forearm inflammation in mid-June but only missed a couple starts, making it back to action when first eligible in early July. Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets the club is confident his shoulder issue will also prove to be minor, although it’s not clear precisely when he’s expected to make his return. At the very least, he’ll be out until the first week of September.
A former top prospect, Ashby has logged his most extensive big league action to date in 2022. He debuted with 13 appearances (four starts) last season, and he’s gotten the start for 17 of his 23 outings this year. His results have been up-and-down, as he owns a 4.58 ERA across 96 1/3 innings. The hard-throwing southpaw has shown plenty of promise, though, racking up an enviable pairing of strikeouts and ground-ball numbers. He’s fanned 27.1% of opponents while inducing grounders on over 55% of batted balls, the only starter (minimum 50 innings) with that combination. The Brewers were intrigued enough by Ashby’s nearly unique skillset to look past his spotty control and sign him to an extension last month that guarantees him $20.5MM and could keep him in Milwaukee through 2029.
Obviously, the 24-year-old is a key piece of the organization’s long-term future. The more immediate concern is that the Brew Crew will have to go without a rotation member for at least the next couple weeks. Milwaukee has slumped to a 7-11 record in August, dropping five games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central entering play Monday. They’re a game and a half back of the Phillies for the final Wild Card spot in the National League with around six weeks remaining in the regular season.
