Brewers left-hander Eric Lauer out with a right shoulder problem

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Eric Lauer has joined the growing list of injured Milwaukee Brewers pitchers.

Lauer went on the 15-day injured list Monday, retroactive to Sunday, with an impingement in his right, non-throwing shoulder.

“He’s felt just some weakness in his shoulder kind of off and on throughout the season,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said before the Brewers’ Monday night game with the Houston Astros. “We’re at the point where we’ve got to figure out if he can take some time off from it, strengthen it. The results haven’t been good.”

Lauer, 27, is 4-5 with a 5.48 ERA is season. He allowed six runs and three homers over three innings Saturday in an 8-4 loss at Tampa Bay. He had gone 7-5 with a 3.19 ERA in 2021 and 11-7 with a 3.69 ERA last year.

Lauer said Monday that his non-throwing shoulder doesn't feel right and "has this, like, dead feeling to it" that has impacted his mechanics.

“It throws everything just a little bit off," Lauer said. “I feel like that’s the thing that’s halting me from that little extra tick in velocity or that little extra jump in my pitches, the sharpness that you need.”

Four of the Brewers’ projected top six starting pitchers at the beginning of spring training camp are on the injured list.

Two-time All-Star right-hander Brandon Woodruff has appeared in two games all season and hasn’t pitched since April 7 due to an issue with his throwing shoulder. Left-hander Wade Miley went on the injured list last week and is expected to miss six to eight weeks due to a muscle strain in the back of his throwing shoulder.

Left-hander Aaron Ashby hasn’t pitched yet this year and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder last month. There’s a possibility Ashby won’t pitch at all this season.

The Brewers recalled right-hander Tyson Miller from Triple-A Nashville to fill Lauer’s spot on the roster.

Miller has made three starts in nine career major-league appearances. He went 0-0 with a 1.93 ERA in three relief appearances with Milwaukee earlier this season.

In another move Monday, right-hander Gus Varland was returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers after clearing waivers. Varland, a Rule 5 draft pick, was designated for assignment last week after going 0-0 with an 11.42 ERA in eight relief appearances with the Brewers.

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