Trevor Megill injury: Brewers closer lands on IL with flexor strain with barely a month left of regular season

The Milwaukee Brewers have placed closer Trevor Megill on the injured list with a flexor strain in his throwing arm, the team announced Wednesday. In corresponding moves, the Brewers signed right-hander Erick Fedde to a one-year contract and created space for him on the 40-player roster by transferring fellow righty Logan Henderson to the 60-day injured list. (Henderson has been sidelined with his own flexor strain since early August.)

Megill, 31, made his first career All-Star Game earlier this summer. In 49 appearances, he amassed a 2.54 ERA (164 ERA+) and a 3.41 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Megill also recorded 30 of his 51 career saves and tallied 1.4 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference’s calculations. 

With Megill sidelined, the Brewers will likely turn to a closer-by-committee arrangement. That will seemingly entail Abner Uribe, Shelby Miller, Jared Koenig, Aaron Ashby, and Nick Mears getting save opportunities depending on the matchup and situation. Uribe notched a save on Monday, while Miller pitched in the ninth inning on Tuesday (albeit in a tied game). 

According to Baseball Prospectus’ database, the average absence because of a flexor strain is nearly 70 days. The median timetable is 49 days. Major League Baseball’s regular season is just over four weeks away from concluding, meaning that Megill will need to make a quicker-than-normal recovery if he’s going to return before the playoffs get underway. 

Fedde, 32, is on his third team of the season, having previously appeared in games with the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves. He’s sporting a 5.76 ERA (73 ERA+) in 125 innings to date. He’s likely to serve in a mop-up capacity.

The Brewers will play the third of their four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday. Milwaukee entered Wednesday with the top record in the majors, and with six fewer losses than any other club. Barring something unforeseen over the coming weeks, the Brewers are likely to enter the postseason with home-field advantage throughout the postseason, as well as a first-round bye.