Milwaukee Brewers: Why is Jeremy Jeffress back on the IL?

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Jeremy Jeffress is back on the 10-day Injured List. What’s wrong with Jeffress, and will he return to the active roster soon?

Jeremy Jeffress is back on the IL, and reliever Ray Black was called up to replace him on early Sunday morning. Jeffress was diagnosed with an issues in his right shoulder that was called ‘shoulder weakness’ in Spring Training. After a few weeks in extended Spring Training, Jeffress was given a clean bill of health, and activated on April 16th. Have his shoulder issues returned or is this a new issue?

Why is Jeffress on the IL?

Jeffress hurt his hip last weekend, and the issue flared up again on Saturday. The Milwaukee Brewers medical staff is calling it a strained left hip.

How long will he stay out?

The move was retroactive to August 24th, so he has to spend the next nine days on the Injured List. He’s expected to return almost as soon as his minimum stay is over, but he may need an extra day or two. He should be back within two weeks as long as the hip strain doesn’t linger.

Will the Brewers miss Jeffress

If this were last year, the Milwaukee Brewers would have missed Jeffress badly. However, this is 2019, and Jeffress hasn’t been quite the same.

Jeffress owns a 5.02 ERA in 48 appearances this year. In 52 innings of work, Jeffress has allowed 17 walks and five homers while striking out 46. Jeffress has allowed runs in each of his last three outings, and carries a 6.75 ERA in the month of August. He’s also seen his average velocity drop about 2 MPH when comparing his 2019 results to his 2018 season.

His 2019 campaign is a far cry from the run in 2018 that saw Jeffress post a 1.29 ERA in 76 2/3 innings of work. He racked up 15 saves last year while striking out 89 batters and walking only 27.

The deep playoff run combined with the short off season didn’t allow Jeffress a full off season to prepare. He started the season on the wrong foot and has struggled to get on track. If 10 days off will allow Jeffress another chance to ‘reset’ himself, and provide better results for the Milwaukee Brewers down the stretch, the team can afford to patch their bullpen together for a few days.