Brewers: Dylan File To Miss First Half Of Season After Surgery

The Milwaukee Brewers will not be getting any contributions from one of the newest members of their 40 man roster early this season.

In unfortunate news, the Brewers have announced that RHP prospect Dylan File will be out for the next 3-4 months after undergoing surgery.

When seeing that File was dealing with persistent elbow soreness, it’s easy for the mind to go to the worst case scenario, which is a UCL injury. The Brewers did not initially specify further as to the nature of the injury or the surgery, but this is not the worst case scenario.

If File had needed Tommy John surgery, he would’ve been declared out for the whole season, but the 3-4 month recovery timeline suggests a much more minor surgery. File was dealing with a stress fracture in his elbow, it was later revealed.

Dylan File’s injury is a tough blow for him and to the Brewers depth in the rotation.

After putting together some very strong seasons over the last couple years, File, originally a 21st round pick, had beaten the odds and made the 40 man roster, putting himself on a path to make his big league debut in 2021. Instead, File will miss the first half of the season, then will spend a while getting back up to speed in the minor leagues and he might not make his debut until the September roster expansion.

As for the Brewers rotation picture, it doesn’t change that much from a big league perspective right now. File wasn’t expected to be in the mix for a rotation spot at the beginning of the season but was going to be a strong depth option throughout the season in case a spot starter was needed or a different injury arose.

This is why the Brewers front office acquires a lot of depth, especially when it comes to pitching. Injuries can happen at any moment, especially with pitchers, and having quality depth to fill in is an important part of being successful over 162 games. File’s injury is a blow to the replacement depth in the minors.

File posted a 2.79 ERA in 14 games at Double-A Biloxi in 2019 and is ranked as the Crew’s No. 25 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Spring training games are finally getting underway, and we’ll have actual baseball games to watch very soon.