Brewers Corey Knebel missing entire 2019 season?
What will the fortunes of the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen be if fifth year reliever Corey Knebel shuts things down for the entire season?
The Milwaukee Brewers are set to have a ton of injury issues to work through with the pitching staff at the outset of the 2019 MLB regular season. Of the more significant injuries the Brewers will have to deal with comes from a former Texas Longhorns baseball program standout, Corey Knebel. As one of the few former Longhorns opening up the 2019 season on an MLB roster, Corey Knebel should have a ton of backing from baseball fans on the Forty Acres.
Since MLB Opening Day arrived on March 28, this was one of the most exciting times in recent memory this early in the year for baseball fans. There were so many storylines to follow in the MLB ahead of Opening Day, including a host of young superstars taking to the diamond for the first time with their new ball clubs.
Among those young superstars donning new uniforms in the MLB on Opening Day included Bryce Harper with the Philadelphia Phillies and Manny Machado with the San Diego Padres. But, that does look past some of the headlines that are currently flying under-the-radar like the health of the bullpen in Milwaukee.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, Brewers reliever Corey Knebel will decide if he will shut himself down for the entire 2019 season on March 29 due to a lingering UCL injury to his pitching elbow from Spring Training.
Per another report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, the injuries to Corey Knebel and fellow Brewers reliever Jeremy Jeffress could be lingering from the vast workload they got at the end of the 2018 season. Either way, missing out on Knebel and Jeffress will definitely hamper the Brewers success in the NL Central this season.
Plan for Corey Knebel is to spend the next week or more compiling multiple opinions on UCL injury, including Dr. Neal El Attrache. Counsell described it as “gray area,” and time needed to put together recommendations and make a decision on rehab vs surgery.
— Sophia Minnaert (@SophiaMinnaert) March 22, 2019
Yet, since departing the Texas baseball program after the 2013 campaign, Knebel had an up and down MLB career. He did peak thus far as an MLB All-Star selection during a very successful 2017 campaign he had where he posted a 1.78 earned run average and 39 saves.
This past season, Knebel posted a still respectable 3.58 ERA and 16 saves in 57 appearances. Over the course of the past two years, Knebel also registered a sparkling number of strikeouts per nine innings of at least 14 both seasons.
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The unfortunate part about this injury for Knebel is that he had a good run in slightly under six innings pitched during Spring Training for the Brewers. He registered six strikeouts and just two hits allowed in 5.2 innings pitched. We’ll keep a close watch on any updates to the status of Corey Knebel as we move closer to his intentions for this season on March 29.