Concerning (and familiar) Nestor Cortes injury forces Brewers roster shuffle

Even though Nestor Cortes managed to bounce back incredibly well in his second start as a Milwaukee Brewer, going six scoreless innings and giving up just one hit against the Reds on Thursday, his disastrous first appearance against his former team was always going to be hard for him to shake.

Opening Weekend against the Yankees was tough to watch, and Cortes' two-inning debacle — wherein he gave up five homers, three on three consecutive pitches — in a game where Milwaukee ultimately gave up 20 runs to New York wasn't exactly the tenor the Brew Crew wanted to kick their season off on.

The game immediately raised concerns about Cortes specifically. He previous suffered a flexor strain in his throwing arm last season, which left him on the sidelines for the very end of the regular season and most of the postseason. The Yankees brought him back to try to close Game 1 of the World Series against the Dodgers, and we all know how that went.

He's no stranger to elbow or general arm issues, having spent significant time on the IL dating back to 2020, and those issues are rearing their ugly head again. On Sunday morning, the Brewers moved Cortes to the 15-day IL with a flexor strain (again) and called up lefty Grant Wolfram from Triple-A to take his place on the roster.

Brewers place Nestor Cortes on the 15-day IL with familiar elbow strain issue

Cortes has been able to avoid surgery through his career, even when he only managed to pitch 63 innings for the Yankees in 2023, when he managed just 11 starts through the end of May, hit the 15-day IL and then the 60-day, came back for just one start in early August, then went back onto the IL again with a rotator cuff strain.

Fans have to wonder if Cortes will continue being able to evade surgery, especially because this flexor strain is clearly becoming a recurring issue.

Wolfram, who signed a minor league deal with the Brewers this offseason, has yet to receive his major league debut after being taken by the Rangers in the 18th round of the 2018 draft. He's made two appearances in Triple-A Nashville so far this season and gave up two runs in his first outing on one hit, a hit by pitch, and three walks, but he cleaned up his act in his second, going two scoreless with a walk.

He's far from an ideal replacement for Cortes, whose placement on the IL marks yet another blow to the Brewers' injury-plagued rotation.

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