Reds 5, Brewers 4: Milwaukee’s injury-thinned pitching staff suffers another blow

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – If anyone needed another reminder of how important pitching depth is to the Milwaukee Brewers, it came on Monday night.

Five batters into what should have been a routine two-inning start for Aaron Ashby, the left-hander exited the game with an injury, marring a 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Goodyear Ballpark.

“Looks like an oblique. Got an MRI tomorrow,” said manager Pat Murphy. “It’s our sixth pitching injury. That’s not good.

“Doesn’t seem like it’s three months, but you never can tell.”

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Ashby, who was making his third spring appearance while vying for a spot in the starting rotation, had command issues throughout his 22-pitch outing. He hit leadoff batter TJ Friedl, walked Elly De La Cruz and twice nearly hit Gavin Lux before being pulled during the Kenosha native’s at-bat.

“He said he felt it early,” Murphy said. “He’s been struggling with his command, anyway. He’s not a pinpoint guy.”

Ashby’s premature departure came on the same day the Brewers reportedly agreed to terms with veteran left-hander José Quintana.

Ashby, of course, traveled a long road to return from April 2023 shoulder surgery and after extended struggles became an effective reliever down the stretch for the Brewers in 2024.

Following his outing, Ashby’s Cactus League ERA sits at 18.00 and his WHIP at 3.00 as he walked six and hit three batters in three total innings.

In brighter news for the Brewers (4-6-1), Vinny Capra continued his torrid spring as he followed a leadoff home run by Caleb Durbin with his fourth of the spring – a total that leads the major leagues.

Capra also made a nice defensive play at third base, charging in on a soft grounder to register a bang-bang out at first base an inning later. In seven games, Capra is hitting .412 with an OPS of 1.629 and leads Milwaukee with eight runs batted in.

Among the other notables: Tyler Black flipped over the dugout railing catching a foul pop-up to end the second inning (he was OK); Milwaukee pitchers picked off three baserunners (and could have had a fourth, but Tyler Alexander was called for a balk); and Cincinnati took the lead in the seventh when it scored two runs on no hits while stealing five bases.

Pat Murphy, unplugged

“I’ll take a righty or a lefty, if they’re good,” Murphy, speaking in generalities on if it might help the Brewers to add a starting pitcher like Quintana. Murphy can’t comment on the Quintana deal until his physical is finalized.

Prospect watch

KC Hunt, the Brewers’ co-minor-league pitcher of the year in 2024 along with Craig Yoho, replaced Ashby and tossed a scoreless inning with a walk (after assuming the Lux at-bat).

Cooper Pratt entered at shortstop in the eighth inning but didn’t get an at-bat.

Brewers spring training schedule

Off day Tuesday.

Brewers vs. White Sox, 2:10 p.m. Wednesday. Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta vs. Chicago RHP Bryse Wilson. Webcast – Brewers.com. Brewers at A’s, 2:05 p.m. Wednesday (split squad). Milwaukee RHP Tobias Myers vs. Oakland LHP Martín Pérez.