Shelby Miller reacts as he walks back to the dugout after an apparent injury against the Philadelphia Phillies in the eighth inning at American Family Field on September 01, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
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Shelby Miller’s season is over and the veteran right-hander is facing the prospect of a second Tommy John surgery after suffering a UCL strain.
Miller, 34, was the Brewers’ primary pickup at the trade deadline after going 3-3 with a 1.98 ERA and 10 saves in 37 appearances for the Diamondbacks. He had been missed nearly a month with an elbow injury at the time of the trade but made his Milwaukee debut on Aug. 9 and made 11 appearances before feeling a pop in his elbow during an appearance against the Phillies on Monday.
“I just hurt for him,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. “Here’s a veteran who comes to a new team, earning the total respect of everybody, immediately got put in leverage, immediately did well most every time. With the number of injuries in our bullpen, it crushes us. But I’m more crushed for the guy.”
Miller will accompany the team on it’s upcoming road trip and will undergo an examination by Dr. Keith Meister next week when the Brewers open a three-game series against the Rangers in Dallas.
Miller knows the visit probably won’t result in good news.
“From the sound of it, it’s not very good,” Miller said. “I’m definitely probably going to miss next season.”
He’s got some experience with the matter, having missed almost the entire 2017 season and the first two months of 2018 after undergoing his first Tommy John surgery.
Since then, he’s battled a slew of injuries as he’s tried to work back to the form that made him a rookie phenom with the Cardinals in 2013. He signed a minor-league deal with Milwaukee in 2020 and was expected to be a key mid-season addition but never got the chance after opting out of the COVID campaign due to the birth of his first child.
Miller appeared to have finally turned a corner with the Diamondbacks this season and was expected to be an intregal part of a Brewers team that had complied the best record in baseball.
“Getting traded over here was a blessing,” Miller said. “To be part of this organization and the run that we went on when I first got here, and being in first place and fighting for a postseason spot and the division and ultimately the World Series, to not be a part of that is going to be hard. But I’ll be here, supporting however I can.”
Sore Back Sidelines Yelich
Along with Miller, the Brewers were also without Christian Yelich Wednesday night.
Yelich was originally in Murphy’s starting lineup but was scratched less than an hour before first pitch with lower back soreness, something that had been bothering him since sliding while stretching a single into a double last week against the Diamondbacks.
Murphy said after Milwaukee’s 6-3 victory over the Phillies Wednesday that Yelich is expected to sit out the series finale Thursday and return to action Friday night when the Brewers open a weekend series in Pittsburgh.
“It’s nothing he needs to talk to the surgeon about,” Murphy said. “He’s kind of played through it.”
Back issues had long been a problem for Yelich but after undergoing season-ending back surgery last August, he’s been fairly durable this season and had appeared in 132 games heading into Wednesday night.
“He hasn’t been out all year and has actually been super-healthy for us,” Murphy said. “He just didn’t respond well … the trainer came in and said ‘let’s give him a couple of days’ so hopefully we’ll have him for the weekend.”
He was replaced by Jackson Chourio who was originally supposed to get an extra day of rest as after experiencing cramping in his right hamstring during the game Sunday in Toronto.
The move was precautionary as Chourio had just returned from a month-long stint on the IL due to a strain of the same hamstring.
Other Medical Updates
- OF Jackson Chourio was held out of Milwaukee’s lineup Tuesday, Sept. 3 after experiencing cramping in his right hamstring while playing on the artificial turf at Rogers Center in Toronto Sunday and again during the Brewers’ loss to the Phillies Monday afternoon in Milwaukee. The move is precautionary after Chourio missed a month due to a right hamstring strain.
- LHP DL Hall is expected to begin plyometric work this week and on track for a potential return late this month.
- LHP Logan Henderson continues to recieve conservative care for a mild flexor strain and is playing catch from 90 feet without issue. He could return for the playoffs.
- 1B Rhys Hoskins is still on a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville and is expected to return in the next few weeks.
- RHP Trevor Megill is recovering from a forearm flexor strain and throwing from 120 feet without issue. He’s scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Thursday, Sept. 4 with a goal of returning mid-September.