The Brewers 23-year old right-handed starting pitcher
Eric Maisch is coming off a 21-4 1982 season which saw him win the Harris/Lee (formerly Pitcher of the Year) award in the MGL.
And he followed that up by getting off to a dismal start in the 1983 season, going 0-2 with a 7.03 ERA in his first 4 starts. In his 5th start, he was finally starting to look like the talented pitcher he is known to be, and headed into the 4th inning having not allowed a hit, having struck out 4 batters and walked just 1. And then, after getting the first batter of the 4th to hit into a groundball out, he could be seen wincing in pain on the mound. Brewers long-time team trainer Rusty Joseph and manager Barry Allen came out to check in on their young star hurler, and that was the end of his day. The Brewers won the game 5-0, getting strong relief from
Paul Johnson (2-1, 2 saves, 1.06 ERA) and
Brandon Veach (0-1, 1 save, 3.29 ERA), but they lost an Ace.
And, as it turns out, possibly the end of his season, with the most optimistic predictions being that he might be able to return to action in late August but realistically it is most likely that he might have a few starts at the tail end of the regular season after a bit of an extended rehab stint. The diagnosis of an arthritic throwing elbow also raises some fears that he may never have a season close to as good as the one he just had. But he is young and this is the first arm injury of his professional career. So the Brewers can only hope that the young man bounces back in 1984.