LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) -- Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell has reiterated that ace Jimmy Nelson will not resume throwing until spring training and won't be ready for opening day as he comes back from a shoulder injury.
Nelson was 12-6 with a 3.49 ERA last season. The right-hander was hurt Sept. 8 diving back to first after rounding the base after getting a single.
"I talked to him last week, he's doing great and he's very encouraged by how he's recovering," Counsell said Monday at the winter meetings. "Look, the loss of Jimmy Nelson, it hurts. I knew when it happened, I said this is going to hurt more in 2018 than it does the last five starts."
"But in 2018 when you go back to a 25-man roster and you lose a guy that's pitching into the seventh inning three times a month, through the seventh inning, that's when it hurts," he said.
