It was already known that Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson would miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury, representing a big loss. What wasn’t clear, though, was whether he’d require surgery. Now, it’s clear that Nelson will indeed go under the knife, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports (Twitter links).
It won’t be known just how serious the injury is — and what kind of repair work is needed — until the surgeons access the joint. That said, it seems Nelson has received at least some cause for optimism; the right-hander suggested he has been told that his labrum may not be in need of significant work.
Clearly, we don’t yet know what to expect coming out of the surgery and won’t until it’s already over. In all likelihood, though, the less that’s done to the labrum, the less recovery time Nelson will need — and the less cause for concern there’ll be for his long-term outlook.
Needless to say, both Nelson and the team will be hoping for the best when he heads in for the procedure next Tuesday. The 28-year-old had elevated his game quite a bit in 2017, emerging along with Chase Anderson to form a solid top-of-the-rotation duo. Through 175 1/3 innings before his injury, Nelson posted a 3.49 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 along with a 50.3% groundball rate.
Fortunately for Nelson, he was able to put up those numbers before the unfortunate injury, which occurred on the basepaths. With that excellent recent work and over 600 total MLB innings on his ledger, Nelson should be handsomely rewarded in his first trip through the arbitration process.
