'The state of the union is strong': Brewers' pitching staff has withstood a glut of injuries during 2022 season

Pitching was unquestionably the strength of the Milwaukee Brewers coming into the season.

The depth has taken a hit with three starters — first Freddy Peralta, then Brandon Woodruff and most recently Aaron Ashby — landing on the injured list in the last month.

But the team has withstood the bad breaks so far and entered Tuesday a game ahead of its opponent, the St. Louis Cardinals, and alone in first place in the Central Division standings.

And Woodruff and Ashby should be back relatively soon.

"The state of the union is strong," is how president of baseball operations David Stearns described the situation, a smile on his face.

"We’ve lost a number of pitchers to injury off our major-league staff. Fortunately, none of them appears to be season-ending. We expect all of these guys to be back at some point; some of them sooner than others.

"Every time you lose another arm, you go another layer deeper on depth. And so that’s what we’ve done. But our guys have performed. They’ve insulated us, and we’re getting through it OK."

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Woodruff, who was initially sidelined with an ankle issue but is now dealing with Raynaud's Syndrome, is scheduled to make his second minor-league rehab start Thursday at Class A Wisconsin.

Slated to throw about 70 pitches, Woodruff might be ready to return to Milwaukee's rotation after that assuming he experiences no setbacks.

"Woody’s progressing at a very good (pace)," Stearns said. "We'll see how it goes. It's possible (he returns after Thursday)."

Ashby, meanwhile, is dealing with inflammation in his left forearm and isn't expected to be out for longer than a minimum 15-day IL stint.

Peralta is a different case entirely.

Shut down with a teres major strain in his right shoulder following his last start on May 22, Peralta has since been moved to the 60-day IL.

That means the earliest he could be reinstated would be July 22, and at this point that doesn't appear to be a possibility.

"He’s playing catch, so we’ve gotten to that point of the programming," Stearns said. "All-star break is when we’ll be able to get a real sense of what this looks like."

Assuming the Brewers continue to contend for a fifth consecutive postseason berth, will Peralta be able to lay a decent foundation heading down the home stretch?

"At this point, that's a reasonable expectation," Stearns said.

Their eight-game losing streak aside, the remainder of the rotation — Corbin Burnes, Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser — has helped keep Milwaukee afloat with help from the likes of Jason Alexander, Ethan Small (one game) and, on Tuesday, Chi Chi González.

Considering all the moving parts, the Brewers entered Tuesday with a collective 3.63 earned run average, good for ninth in the major leagues and fourth in the NL.

Center in just on starters, and the collective ERA of 3.73 ranks 11th in the majors and sixth in the NL.

With 397 strikeouts, Milwaukee's starters lead the majors and their collective 1.26 WHIP ranks 16th.

"Corbin’s been great," Stearns said. "Jason Alexander has done a tremendous job in his opportunities. Lauer and Houser have done a nice job of understanding that even when they don’t have their best stuff, they need to grind to get through length, and they’ve both done that."

Injury updates on Kolten Wong and others

Second baseman Kolten Wong has been set back in his recovery from a right calf injury to the point that he's been backed off doing any on-field work.

That certainly isn't what the Brewers were hoping for with regard to their second baseman, whose placement on the IL on June 11 and backdated to June 8 was expected to be short term.

"It's a setback," manager Craig Counsell said. "So, we're kind of starting the process over, basically.

"We're not going to be on the field this series."

Right-hander Trevor Gott and utility man Mike Brosseau both began minor-league rehab stints at Wisconsin on Tuesday.

Gott's return from a right groin strain is a little nebulous. But in Brosseau's case, he should be ready to return to the Brewers for the start of their three-game interleague series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

First things first for Pedro Severino

Catcher Pedro Severino, still serving his 80-game suspension for a positive PED test, is in the midst of a minor-league rehab stint at Class AA Biloxi.

It's part of the normal ramp-up for him to return to the Brewers — July 3 is the first day that can happen — and through three games he's played once behind the plate and served as designated hitter in another.

That third game? He started and played nine innings at first base, a position he hadn't  played professionally at any level since beginning his career in 2011.

The thinking makes sense; with Omar Narváez and Victor Caratini forming a solid 1-2 punch at catcher already, the Brewers will need to be creative to get two of the three into the lineup on a regular basis.

Severino, a right-handed hitter, has decent pop and should prove valuable against left-handed pitching, one of Milwaukee's weaknesses so far this season.

"We’re exploring it, and we’ll see what the roster construction looks like at the point that Sevy is back," Stearns said. "As we’ve seen, roster constructions change quickly — sometimes by our choice, sometimes not by our choice. Added positional versatility helps.

"He’s never done it in the big leagues, so this is a good opportunity to see what it looks like."

And what have the reports been from Biloxi?

"He caught the balls that were thrown at him," Stearns said. "So, so far, so good."

Caratini, a switch-hitter, has started 23 games at first as well and is capable of playing there as well.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' pitching staff has withstood many injuries in 2022 season