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Milwaukee Brewers: 4 major question marks for 2020

By Kenny Jilek

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 01: Ryan Braun #8 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts after closing out the second inning against the Washington Nationals in the National League Wild Card game at Nationals Park on October 01, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 01: Ryan Braun #8 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts after closing out the second inning against the Washington Nationals in the National League Wild Card game at Nationals Park on October 01, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Milwaukee Brewers
Corey Knebel Milwaukee Brewers (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Injury Concerns

Several of the players on the roster that are set to be large contributors for the 2020 Milwaukee Brewers have injury problems looming over their heads going into the season. How much these injuries effect these players could weigh heavily on the overall success of the entire team.

First off, Lorenzo Cain and Ryan Braun have very similar thumb injuries. They are both getting periodic booster shots to numb the pain and keep it from affecting them. That, combined with their age could spell bad news for them. Hopefully, they can work through it and it won’t affect them too much.

Brett Anderson is a really good starting pitcher when he’s 100% healthy. He has a career ERA of 4.05, but a slew of injuries has derailed many of his seasons. He cracked the majors in 2009 with a full season of 31 starts, but has only had two full seasons since then. In those two seasons he’s had ERAs of 3.69 and 3.89. He managed to stay healthy through all of 2019 and he is hoping to put together back-to-back full seasons for the first time in his career.

Corey Knebel was set to come off a very strong 2018 September and playoff campaign where he appeared in 16 games without giving up an earned run when he injured his elbow and had to undergo Tommy John surgery.  He will not be ready for Opening Day, but he is throwing and he will look to give the Brewers’ bullpen a boost when he comes back.

Finally, Luis Urias who was acquired in a trade with the San Diego Padres this offseason had a wrist injury and will be out for likely all of Spring Training. He is hoping to be ready for Opening Day, and if he can hit the lower end of his six-to-eight week injury projection, then he will be.

Unfortunately, that still leaves questions about how polished his swing will be after sitting out for that period of time and if he’ll need a couple weeks in the minors to shake off the rust. He’ll be with the major league club early in the season, but something from that wrist injury could linger and hinder his swing as the season progresses.

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