Brian Fitzpatrick‘s rookie season is already over, as Brewers manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) yesterday that the left-hander underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this week. As per the usual recovery timeline for TJ procedures, Fitzpatrick will be out until late August or early September 2027 at the absolute earliest, and it is possible he misses the entire 2027 season.
Fitzpatrick was placed on the 15-day injured list a month ago due to an unspecified elbow issue, and then was shifted to the 60-day IL a few days later when the injury was diagnosed as a partial UCL sprain. While Fitzpatrick will continue to accrue Major League service time during his lengthy absence, that’s small consolation in the wake of this big career setback.
A 10th-round pick out of Rutgers in the 2022 draft, Fitzpatrick made his big league debut earlier this season and posted a 1.35 ERA over his first 6 2/3 innings in the Show. The secondary metrics (like a 16.7% strikeout rate and a 10% walk rate) weren’t nearly as impressive as that sparkling ERA would suggest, but Fitzpatrick did generate a 54.5% grounder rate in his small sample of MLB work — easily the highest groundball rate of his pro career.
Fitzpatrick earned the call-up by posting a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings this season with Triple-A Nashville, and that ERA was backed up by a much stronger 32.3K% and 6.5BB%, plus a 50% grounder rate. The Brewers started to use Fitzpatrick mostly as a reliever during the 2024 minor league season, and he has been a full-time bullpen arm over the last two years.
Angel Zerpa also underwent a Tommy John surgery back in May, so the Brewers have now lost two left-handed relievers to UCL injuries. Aaron Ashby and Jared Koenig are the left-handed options currently in the bullpen, and DL Hall and Rob Zastryzny are both on the 15-day IL but expected to return some time in July. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Brewers chose to shore up this group by adding a left-handed reliever before the August 3 trade deadline.
