Milwaukee Brewers: Will they miss Zach Davies?

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Zach Davies is on the DL with inflammation in his rotator cuff. Will the Brewers miss Davies while he’s gone?

The good news is that Zach Davies isn’t expected to miss more than 10 days. The move was retroactive to April 30th, so he could actually return on May 10th. However, the Milwaukee Brewers aren’t going to miss Davies even if he needs more time to recover.

How’s Davies doing this year?

Davies is about the same as always.

He’s made six starts and worked 34 innings. Davies owns a 4.24 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 12 walks. His fastball is averaging just under 90 MPH, and he’s posting a 48.0% ground ball rate. That’s what he’s done for each of the past three seasons.

Why won’t the Brewers miss Davies?

The Milwaukee Brewers already have too many starting pitchers on their roster. They didn’t have room for Brent Suter and Brandon Woodruff. Now they have an opening in the rotation for a few days. They can choose to play match ups and use the left-handed Suter or right-handed Woodruff if they have an opponent they can exploit. They also have two off days to take advantage of and can move a starter up a day. Given their depth and schedule, a few days off for Davies isn’t a concern.

Next: How did Wade Miley do in his first start for the Brewers?

Also, Davies is a solid innings eater, but he’s not a real difference maker for the Milwaukee Brewers. After a month of baseball he has a 0.1 WAR. He doesn’t rack up strikeouts. He doesn’t work deep into games. Davies takes the ball every fifth day and keeps the team in the game. While Davies does his job well, he’s not irreplaceable. The Brewers could roll Woodruff or Suter out there every fifth day instead of Davies and there wouldn’t be much difference in the results.