The Brewers bullpen suffered a major blow with Opening Day right around the corner.
Closer Devin Williams is expected to miss roughly three months after he was diagnosed with two stress fractures in his back, ESPN reported late Wednesday night.
Back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins identified stress fractures on Williams’ left and right side of the T12 vertebra.
But the righty is expected to make a full recovery without having to undergo any surgery.
The Brewers hope to have Williams back by midseason, though the team will need to shut him down for six weeks and then begin a ramp-up process, a source told ESPN.
The 29-year-old has a career ERA of 1.89 and has been the recipient of the NL Reliever of the Year award twice in his major league career.
Williams has become one of the best late-inning relievers in baseball since becoming a steady fixture in the Brewers’ pen and has put up 3.40 strikeout-to-walk ratio to complement his 54 saves.
The injury puts first-year manager Pat Murphy in an interesting predicament since the Brewers bullpen was going to be such a big part of any success this season.
Milwaukee’s starting rotation took a hit when the club traded All-Star starter Corbin Burnes to the Orioles and fellow All-Star Brandon Woodruff is out for the year after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Williams started dealing with back issues last September but pitched through the pain since the Brewers were fighting to make the playoffs.
There hadn’t been any concern about his back coming into spring training, but it flared up after his first bullpen session and then after his second outing this spring
Williams felt the back pain impacting his throwing, which prompted further testing.
The Brewers do boast a bevy of talented relievers in their stable, including righties Abner Uribe and Joel Payamps.
It’s unclear who Murphy will turn to as his closer with Williams out.
