Reigning Division Champion Suffers Massive Loss as All-Star Closer Will Miss Significant Time
The Milwaukee Brewers got terrible news on Wednesday regarding All-Star closer Devin Williams, who has been dealing with back discomfort.
Per Jeff Passan of ESPN on social media:
Milwaukee Brewers star closer Devin Williams has two stress fractures in his back and is expected to miss around three months, sources tell ESPN. Williams pitched through back soreness in September, but it returned earlier this spring. He'll rehab and should return by midseason
Devin Williams visited back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins today, and he diagnosed pars fractures on both sides of Williams’ T12 vertebra. Williams will be shut down for six weeks and rehab for another six, and Watkins expressed confidence that Williams would make a full recovery.
With Passan saying that Williams will return around midseason, that means the Brewers won't see him until him July. It's a detrimental blow for a Milwaukee team that was already dealing with a new manager and massive turnover in its starting rotation. Williams was supposed to be a stabilizing force in the bullpen.
The 29-year-old is headed into the sixth year of his major league career, all with the Brewers. He's made the All-Star team in each of the last two seasons, finishing at 8-3 with a microscopic 1.53 ERA a season ago. He's pitched in 58 games or more in each of the last three seasons and saved 36 games last year.
The Brewers won the National League Central a season ago but given all the upheaval on the roster, it seems hard to imagine them repeating as of right now.
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