Wade Miley, out two to four weeks with groin tear, reaches deal to remain with Brewers

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

PHOENIX – No one has to tell Wade Miley how cruel the game of baseball can be.

One day before he had the contractual right to request to be placed on the Milwaukee Brewers’ big-league roster, the veteran left-hander suffered a groin injury that is expected to sideline him for two to four weeks. An MRI performed Wednesday night confirmed a slight tear on the left side.

“It’s unbelievable,” Miley said Thursday morning. “I feel like I’ve thrown the ball well this spring and now this happens. That’s why it’s so frustrating.”

Reliever Boone Logan also was injured in that game against Oakland with what was being termed a triceps strain pending further examinations. Whatever the final diagnosis, Logan is expected to open the season on the disabled list.

Miley’s situation left Brewers general manager David Stearns and agent Tom O’Connell to figure out a solution for keeping the player in the organization. The two talked throughout the day Thursday before reaching an agreement for Miley to remain with the Brewers.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 1, Royals 0

Under the new agreement, Miley elected not to opt out of his contract as originally allowed Thursday. Instead, the sides will wait until he is healthy and ready to pitch again, extending the opt-out date to that juncture.

“This is unusual timing,” Stearns said. “We have a player who had an injury the day before decisions had to be made.

“I know Wade wants to continue with the organization; we want Wade to continue with the organization. We just need to iron it out. He’s not going to be on the opening day roster."

Before the resolution was reached late in the day, Stearns said, "I'm optimistic we will get it done."

Miley, who signed a minor-league deal just before camp opened and had all but guaranteed a spot in the starting rotation with a sterling spring, made it clear he wanted to stay in the organization and work through the injury.

“I love it here, so hopefully we can work something out,” he said before the deal was reached. “If I could stay here and rehab, maybe in the minor leagues. Maybe get a chance to help this club sometime this year.”

Manager Craig Counsell said Miley would not be able to throw for at least two weeks, making a one-month absence likely, at the least. The Brewers won’t know how long Logan might be out until further exams are completed.

“It’s two less guys; that’s what changes,” Counsell said of what the injuries do to the team’s pitching plans.

Asked whether Miley had secured a spot in the rotation before the injury, Counsell said, “He had put himself in a very good place. We’re not making decisions until we’re making decisions.

“It’s bad timing all the way around – mostly for the player, but for us as well. Now it’s just getting him healthy and if we can work out a way it makes sense for him to stay, we get him healthy and see where we’re at.”

Logan, 33, missed the second half of the 2017 season with Cleveland with a tear of the latissimus dorsi muscle behind his pitching shoulder. This is considered a different issue but Stearns admitted it is something to watch.

“Anytime you have something that’s in the localized area of a previous injury, it’s cause for concern,” Stearns said. “He had a very serious lat injury last year. We do know it’s not that. He does have some soreness in that area. We’ll see how serious it is.

“We hope this is just a blip, he has a little down time and he comes back.”

With Miley out, right-handers Brandon Woodruff and Junior Guerra and left-hander Brent Suter are the remaining candidates for the last two spots in the rotation behind right-handers Chase Anderson, Zach Davies and Jhoulys Chacin. With the bullpen now shy one lefty in Boone, Counsell and Stearns have to decide whether Suter best serves the team as a starter or reliever.

“We’re going to evaluate Brent and his place on the team, in isolation of this, in terms of where we think it works best,” Stearns said. “I think, frankly, we have confidence with him in both roles. It’s just how we want to line this up.

“As we said before, I think he’s probably going to make starts for us throughout the course of the year. I also think he’s going to probably pitch out of the pen at some point. Where exactly he starts (the season), we’ll have that figured out in next couple of days.”

Stearns, who opted not to sign any of the top free-agent starting pitchers over the off-season, said he will continue to look at outside options, which he would have done in any event. But he did not indicate the Miley injury would prompt him to make a deal for a starter.

“We’re always looking elsewhere but the most likely outcome is internal,” Stearns said. “We’ve had some guys who have performed, frankly including the two guys who just got injured. We’ll have guys step up. We had guys step up all last year; we’ll have guys step up this year.”

The injuries so late in camp have put the Brewers in a bit of scramble mode but Counsell said it would get sorted out before opening day Thursday in San Diego.

“We’ll keep open different ways to construct it, but when you take away one guy that was a lock on the team and one guy that was under strong consideration, it moves some other guys up,” Counsell said.

“It also makes us look at different ways to put it together. It’s probably forced us to do that as much as anything.”