When will the Brewers see Jimmy Nelson?

Mandatory Credit- Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

When it comes to pitching, the old adage is that a team can never have enough. Even in Milwaukee where the Brewers have had excellent pitching for the start of this year, another arm couldn’t hurt if push came to shove, right?

After all, Jimmy Nelson is more than ready to take a 25-man roster spot.

It’s hard to place Nelson in a pitching staff that has been pretty spot on this season, especially with the starting rotation. However, Nelson has been no slouch in Triple-A Nashville where he is posting an ERA of 2.00 and averaging around seven innings a start. He’s also sporting a K/9 of 8.8 and has only surrendered one home run in 45 innings. For being the number one pitching prospect in the Brewers’ organization, Nelson is certainly living up to those expectations.

After all, it would be hard to believe that Nelson won’t on the 25-man roster by the end of the season. In fact, in his brief stint last season with the Brewers he did well. Nelson only pitched in four games, one of those being a start, but he had an ERA of 0.90 in 10 innings of work.

One thing that Nelson will have to do is command his position once he earns it. Should anything happen in the rotation, I would think the Brewers might go to Nelson over Tyler Thornburg or Will Smith, due to the fact that those two are doing so well in the bullpen. Of course, there’s a big difference between Triple-A hitters and Major League hitters, but Nelson has clearly shown the stuff to be on the team. Now, it’s just a matter of time until he’s back in Milwaukee.

For now, I’d estimate the earliest we could see Nelson is July, but maybe earlier if there’s a serious injury in the rotation. The Brewers have a good thing going with the pitching, so there’s no need to stir that up unless things start to fall apart. Even then, you can’t place the square responsibility of the pitching staff on Nelson, that’s just ridiculous.

If there’s any change in the rotation, Nelson will get it over anyone else. The Brewers have that type of faith in him and deservingly so considering how well he’s pitched in the minors. I guarantee you though that we will see Nelson up in Brewer Blue this season, mark my words.