Veteran left-handed starting pitcher Erik Sloan, who began the 1977 season on the IL, will now be ending it that way as well. Sloan, the 1972 MGL Pitcher of the Year, had to leave Sunday's game after recording just a single out (while giving up 1 run on 2 hits) with what has now been diagnosed as a partially torn UCL. He will be undergoing surgery soon and is expected to be out of action for at least 9 months.
With team captain Matt Helm still sidelined with a strained oblique muscle and no word on when he might be able to return, it leaves the Brewers starting rotation without a left-hander heading into the stretch run. It's not an ideal situation, to the say the least.
And with Sloan having turned 34 years old earlier this season, and having not pitched very well over the course of his 20 starts with the Brewers this year, there are concerns about his ability to come back from this injury to give them anything like the production he has since joining the team in late June of 1972.