Brewers southpaw has been sidelined by an oblique strain thats likely to keep him on the shelf to begin the season, but the lefty did get some good news on his latest wave of imaging. , the second opinion on Ashbys most recent MRI was more favorable than the first. Hell be shut down for two weeks and then anticipates that hell resume building up as a starter. That the plan for him is to continue stretching out as a starter isnt a huge surprise, given Milwaukees need for rotation depth. The Brewers just inked on a one-year deal, but they also lost lefty to the 60-day injured list and will be without for the beginning of the season as he continues a slow build back from a significant 2023 shoulder surgery. At present, the Milwaukee rotation includes , , , and Quintana. The Brewers also signed veteran swingman to a one-year deal last month, but the Quintana signing likely pushed him Kevin Seitzer Jersey to the bullpen. Depth options beyond that group are inexperienced. Righties and are on the 40-man roster but have yet to make their MLB debuts. Young righty has a dozen MLB frames to his credit. Fellow right-hander , who signed after a nice showing as a reliever in Japan, has all of 33 MLB innings. Non-roster options include and , neither of whom has had a sustained run of succe s in the majors. Top prospect will probably get a look in 2025, but hes a 2022 second-rounder with only 170 pro innings to his name just 17 of them coming in Triple-A. It seems as though Ashby could be throwing before the end of spring training and thus could head out on a Triple-A rehab a signment early in the season. A mid- or late-April return seems plausible, barring setbacks. Ashby himself hasnt quite solidified a spot in the majors, though he pitched quite well in 28 1/3 innings last year mostly in relief. Hes oscillated between the rotation and the bullpen in Milwaukee through parts of three MLB seasons over a four-year span. Entering the 2021 season, Ashby was among the Brewers top-ranked prospects. He showed promise in his rookie campaign, posting a pedestrian 4.55 ERA in 31 2/3 innings but punching out better than 29% of his opponents against a serviceable 9% walk rate. For a 23-year-old whod just set down a gaudy 36% of his Triple-A opponents on strikes, it was a solid debut. Ashby continued down a similar track in 2022. Though he was sporting a mid-4.00s ERA in July, hed turned in excellent strikeout numbers and moved into the Milwaukee rotation. The Brewers and Ashby agreed to a five-year, $20.5MM extension that summer, which looked to lock the southpaw in as a foundational piece of the pitching staff. As is too often the case for young pitchers, injuries intervened. Ashby hit the injured list with shoulder inflammation just one month after signing his contract. He returned for the final couple weeks of the season and pitched quite well. Further shoulder woes surfaced in 2023, however, and he mi sed most of the season with an impingement and a tear in his labrum. Despite debuting in 2021, Ashby has only 167 1/3 big league innings. Though hes yet to claim a long-term spot in the rotation, the fact that hell build back up as a starter once his oblique injury calms down suggests that he could get that opportunity this year. Presumably, a healthy Ashby would be one of the first names called if the Brewers incur an injury elsewhere following his return (depending on Woodruffs status at that time). Ashby is still under contract through 2027, and the team holds a pair of club options on him for 2028 and 2029. Logan Porter Jersey