Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Milwaukee's starting rotation faces mounting injury concerns that threaten their playoff ambitions.
- The Brewers depth is thin with multiple pitchers sidelined and workload limits looming for their key starter.
- Tarik Skubal could dramatically alter their October outlook, but it would require sacrificing significant future value.
All of a sudden, the Milwaukee Brewers' starting rotation is in a bit of a rough spot. Jacob Misiorowski is still pitching as well as anyone, and guys like Brandon Sproat and Shane Drohan have stepped up, but Brandon Woodruff is hurt once again, and Kyle Harrison revealed he's been dealing with some soreness on the outside of his elbow.
Kyle Harrison has been battling some soreness on the outside of his elbow in recent weeks, and he said something about it tonight. Thus the early exit.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) July 9, 2026
He does not sound overly concerned. Said it’s a good time for the All-Star break.
Harrison doesn't seem to be too worried, which is a good thing, but he's not exactly out of the woods yet. Soreness, even on the outside of the elbow, is no joke, and this injury just adds to the uncertainty of the rotation as a whole. This added uncertainty should steer the Brewers closer to making a trade for Tarik Skubal.
Brewers' rotation is far more fragile than it's made out to be
The Brewers should be concerned about the state of their rotation. Woodruff's injury history is always at the front of the mind, and Harrison's injury is, at a bare minimum, one to watch. The concerns go further than this.
They're slated to get Logan Henderson back from the IL on Thursday, but Coleman Crow has been out since mid-June with a flexor strain, and Quinn Priester, who has missed the entire year, was recently ruled out for the remainder of the campaign after undergoing thoracic outlet decompression surgery. That's a lot of depth with injury questions.
As if that isn't concerning enough, workload restrictions need to be kept in mind. Jacob Misiorowski has already thrown 111 innings this season. He threw 123.1 regular-season innings, combining his work in Triple-A and the majors last season, and 145.1 if you include the postseason. He'll surpass that total in roughly a month based on how this season has gone, and there's still this year's postseason to keep in mind.
Skubal comes with his own durability concern as he missed some time with an elbow injury this season, but he's healthy now and looking more like his Cy Young self by the start. Obviously, there is no bigger game-changer realistically available to acquire.
Brewers should prioritize trading for Tarik Skubal
It's not in the Brewers' nature to go out and trade for a high-priced rental like Skubal, but if not now, when? The Brewers are consistently in the mix, yet are unable to get over the hump in October. At a certain point, shouldn't the goal be to win a World Series rather than simply making the playoffs? The Brewers were swept in embarrassing fashion in last year's NLCS by the Dodgers. Does anyone really think they've bridged that gap?
The Brewers should've been all over Skubal even before questions about their rotation began to emerge, but how can they stay away now? A rotation featuring the likes of Skubal, Misiorowski, Woodruff and Harrison can absolutely go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers, and even if one of those guys is out, having Skubal greatly raises their floor and ceiling.
Yes, it'd cost a lot, but the Brewers have one of the best farm systems in all of baseball. They can realistically acquire Skubal while holding onto their very best prospects like Jesus Made and Luis Pena, and that makes it even more crucial for them to get this deal done. If they don't, there's a good chance that the Dodgers or another team they'll have to go through will, and given the state of their rotation, that's something they can ill-afford.
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