Brewers Summer Camp Quick Hits: Lindblom, Anderson, Braun, Black

The Brewers Summer Camp is coming to a close as regular season baseball starts at the end of this week! Here are the latest news and notes from camp.

It’s been an eventful past week or so as the Brewers Blue-Gold Series has been underway with the Gold team taking a commanding 4-1 series lead, one that would clinch any normal series.

Instead, there are a few more intrasquad scrimmages to go and then an exhibition game against the White Sox before the start of the season.

With the season just a few days away, Craig Counsell had some news regarding a couple of players

Josh Lindblom To Appleton?

According to Adam McCalvy, Josh Lindblom’s next start will be in Appleton on Wednesday. Counting out another five days, that means Lindblom will not start in the initial series against the Cubs.

As for why Lindblom is getting pushed back and having his start in Appleton, that wasn’t explained. He hasn’t appeared to be injured and there’s no mention of a possible IL stint. However, he’s still looking on track to pitch in the Pittsburgh series.

Brett Anderson’s Blister

The good news with Brett Anderson is that his blister is healing. The bad news is that they aren’t quite yet sure if he’ll be ready to go against the Cubs.

Anderson is slated to pitch in Game 6 of the Blue-Gold series and how that performance goes and how his blister feels will determine whether or not he’s ready to go when the season starts.

He’s dealt with injuries in the past and had been looking good during camp, but keeping Anderson healthy has been the issue in recent years. Should his outing go well, he’ll be slated to pitch in the Cubs series, and if the blister causes more issues, he may be looking at an initial IL stint to start the year.

They’ll make a decision on it today and we’ll update you when that information is available.

Ryan Braun’s Ailments

Ryan Braun has yet to play in the five previous games of the Blue-Gold Series and Craig Counsell had been telling us all along that he wasn’t concerned, that Braun is fine, and there’s nothing to worry about.

Now, apparently there’s something to worry about.

After Counsell had been telling us for a few days that this was nothing out of the ordinary where Braun takes as few spring training/exhibition ABs as possible out of personal choice, now it’s revealed that Braun is dealing with a few injuries.

The back issue has been a repeat offender for Braun over the years and will likely continue to be for the rest of his career. The oblique and neck issues are new, which also makes them troubling. Both are extremely important parts of the body to have healthy if a player is going to be productive at the plate.

Normally, Braun’s injuries are in one of three areas: Back, calf, or thumb. The new injuries are starting to concern Counsell and there’s a chance that Braun misses Opening Day.

He likely won’t need an IL stint, but he might miss a few days, and the lack of at-bats so far in camp could mean a slow offensive start for Braun when he does come back.

Ray Black Injures Shoulder

In the Game 5 scrimmage, Ray Black was out on the mound and the fireballer who usually throws about 97-99 MPH with his fastball was around 90 MPH on Sunday and that was enough for Counsell and the athletic trainer to go out there and check on him.

Black was pulled from the game and now it’s been revealed that a “shoulder tightness” injury was the culprit.

According to Counsell, Opening Day is in jeopardy for Ray Black.

Black was one of the few bullpen candidates entering this season that was out of minor league options, meaning he had a high likelihood of making the roster since the Brewers don’t want to put him on waivers and possibly lose him.

However, during camp, Black has struggled to command his fastball and has walked a ton of hitters, which is an issue that has plagued him throughout his whole career. The Brewers bet on themselves figuring out how to harness some command for Black when they traded Mauricio Dubon for him and Drew Pomeranz last July.

Other relievers have been performing better to this point in camp and are more deserving of bullpen spots. Don’t be surprised if he ends up on the IL to start the season.

The Brewers are dealing with a few injuries, but nothing major and most should be ready to go soon.