Brewers reliever won't pitch again in 2023

When the Brewers placed Justin Wilson on the 15-day injured list on July 29, it was expected that the southpaw was in for another lengthy absence. Manager Craig Counsell described Wilson’s left lat strain as “pretty significant” at the time, and Counsell updated reporters on Friday that Wilson will indeed miss the rest of the 2023 season, via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Wilson’s year will end without a single MLB appearance, as his time on the Brewers’ active roster was short-lived. Milwaukee only activated Wilson from the 60-day IL on July 28, as the left-hander was returning from Tommy John surgery rehab. Unfortunately, Wilson was warming up in the bullpen for his first appearance of the season when he suffered his lat strain, thus ending his Brewers debut before it officially happened. Between this injury and the TJ surgery, Wilson has pitched in only five games (for 3 2/3 innings) since the start of the 2022 season.

The Brew Crew signed Wilson to a one-year free-agent deal last offseason worth $1M in guaranteed money — $850K in salary for 2023, and a $150K buyout of a $2.5M club option for 2024. The contract was designed to give Milwaukee some flexibility if Wilson ended up missing most or all of the season due to Tommy John rehab, so in theory, the lat strain shouldn’t much change the original equation for the team. On the other hand, $2.5M is a decent amount of money for a medium-payroll team to spend on a veteran (Wilson turns 36 this month) reliever who hasn’t pitched in almost two full seasons. This isn’t a decision the Brewers will have to make until after the World Series is over, so there’s plenty of time for the club to monitor Wilson’s recovery from the lat injury.

In better injury news for the Brewers, Counsell said that Rowdy Tellez is slated to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Tuesday. Tellez hasn’t played since July 4, as a 10-day IL stint that started due to forearm inflammation was then extended when Tellez broke the fingertip on his left ring finger in a fluke accident while shagging fly balls before a game.