Brewers Placing Freddy Peralta On 10 Day IL Isn’t A Big Concern

The Milwaukee Brewers have placed starter and Cy Young candidate Freddy Peralta on the 10 Day IL with right shoulder inflammation.

It’s hardly the news anyone wanted to see, but Peralta going on the IL isn’t all too shocking. When Peralta left Wednesday’s game against the Cardinals in the 3rd inning after striking out at the plate, things did not look good. The Brewers pulled out an incredible victory, which helped ease the pain of the loss of Peralta, but fans cautiously waited for an update on Peralta.

In the postgame interviews, Peralta spoke and said he’d been feeling a little off but felt fine enough to make his next scheduled start. Craig Counsell also said there was no concern about his shoulder issue being anything serious.

While Freddy Peralta said he felt fine, the Milwaukee Brewers did place him on the 10 Day IL and recalled Hoby Milner.

Here in the dog days of August, the Brewers are going to be operating with plenty of caution around their top starting pitchers, a group in which Peralta is a part of. They know the pitching staff is the main reason this team is so good and that group must be kept healthy.

While Peralta probably could’ve felt fine enough to make his next start, the Brewers saw no reason to push it and risk further injury if the shoulder inflammation wasn’t fully calmed down by then. It’s better to have Peralta on the 10 day IL in August and miss a start or two than to lose him in September or October with a larger issue that stemmed from this.

Peralta has already surpassed his most innings pitched in a season at the big league level and is closing in on the most innings he’s ever pitched in a year in his entire career. He’s still just 25 years old and there’s no reason to push an arm that young too quickly.

The Brewers have already been trying to give Peralta more rest and not push his innings too much, although they haven’t placed a hard cap on him at all. They’ve skipped a start or two for Peralta before and have put him in tandem situations in order to keep his arm fresh down the stretch. They know they need him for October.

By putting him on the IL, Peralta will miss his next scheduled start, but he can be back in time to make the next one, provided the inflammation goes away. The Brewers can get another arm in their bullpen in the meantime, as they’ve called up Hoby Milner to take Peralta’s roster spot.

Both the Brewers and Peralta downplayed this injury, and his IL placement appears to be out of caution, rather than concern.

It’s not a bad idea to continue to monitor his innings and skip a start or two while adding someone else to the roster who can pitch in the meantime.