Brewers’ Nelson making progress, activated off injured list

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Encouraged by his progress, the Milwaukee Brewers have activated pitcher Jimmy Nelson off the injured list and put him at Triple-A San Antonio.

The Brewers made the move Friday.

The 29-year-old righty hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since September 2017. He was enjoying his best season when he injured his pitching shoulder diving back into first base after a base hit.

Nelson missed the entire 2018 season. He has made four rehab appearances this month, including three starts, in Triple-A and gone 2-0 with a 4.74 ERA. He struck out 22 and walked nine in 19 innings.

“We decided to option him and it’s really for him to just to continue to get back to where we think he can get to,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We think he’s making good progress. He’s answered the health questions, and I think he’s on his way back.”

“At this point, an option was kind of, for us, what we thought was best for the roster and best for him to continue on a regular schedule pitching,” he said.

Nelson originally was scheduled to begin his rehab assignment in late April, but that was delayed when his twin daughters were born prematurely.

Nelson was 12-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 29 starts, with 199 strikeouts in 175 1/3 innings, for the Brewers in 2017 when he was hurt.

“We’ve got to look at our roster a little bit, too,” Counsell said. “I think that’s the other thing. We’ve got a bunch of guys pitching really well right now in our rotation. If you have injuries, I think it’s a different conversation, or some other performance issues, a different conversation. At this point, I think part of it’s Jimmy, part of it’s we’ve got some guys throwing pretty well.”

Nelson, a second-round draft pick by Milwaukee in 2010, is 33-44 with a 4.12 ERA in 109 major league games, including 104 starts.