The Brewers snapped a five-game losing streak and Dave Sveum picked up his first win as Milwaukee's interim manager, but at what cost? Ben Sheets started but threw just 24 pitches in two innings before leaving with elbow pain. After the game, he admitted that it's been a recurring problem. From Anthony Witrado of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "We got an MRI earlier and it's not anything structural. The first time I felt it was in St. Louis (Aug. 26). We've done a great job since then, keeping me out there. It hurts."Elbow pain, huh? Sheets threw 100 pitches on Aug. 26 but was limited to just 54 in his next turn on Sept. 1, though the team's explanation at the time was that he had a groin injury. Sheets bounced back to throw 120 pitches in a complete game shutout on Sept. 6 but needed 113 pitches while laboring through six innings (five earned runs) on Sept. 11. For a guy nursing a bum elbow, the Brewers sure haven't minded riding him hard. I mean, really, somebody should be fired! Oh, wait ...
Sheets' comments were news to us since the team has kept the media in the dark about his condition. When asked if he though he would pitch again this season, Sheets said, "It's been so up and down that I would think it's very possible. There's been really good days. There's been really bad days. There's been days that it's hard to move and it's stiff, then the next day it's free."
The Brewers dodged a bullet winning on Wednesday, but they also used seven relievers in the process -- they may very well pay the price today. They trail the Mets by half a game in the wild card standings with no margin for error. Quite literally, their entire season could rest on whether Sheets is able to make his next start.
