Jeffress on track to return within 2 weeks

MILWAUKEE -- After clearing his latest hurdle on Friday night, All-Star reliever Jeremy Jeffress has a lane that leads back to the Brewers' bullpen.

Barring a setback, Jeffress is on a schedule that will return him to the Major Leagues during the Brewers’ April 15-21 homestand against the Cardinals and Dodgers, manager Craig Counsell said Saturday. Jeffress, sidelined during Spring Training by shoulder weakness, began a rehab assignment at Triple-A San Antonio on Friday and threw 25 pitches over 1 1/3 innings.

The report that landed on GM David Stearns’ desk had Jeffress’ fastball sitting at 92 mph, with occasionally higher readings. That is not too far off from his 93.4 mph average last April.

“The most important thing is he feels better. He feels strong. He feels healthy,” Stearns said. “He gave up a home run, which is going to happen, but he got through the outing in good shape. We wanted him to go one-plus [innings], and he went one-plus. So it’s a good step in the right direction.”

Of the radar gun readings, Stearns said, “The velocity is going to come back. The thing that’s worth noting [is] that at the front end of last year, JJ’s velo was kind of 91-93 and it built up throughout the year. As he got pushed back into games and, frankly, the stage got bigger, the velocity began to spike. So he’s probably getting pretty close now to where his velocity was in April of last year.”

Jeffress’ next appearance for the Missions is tentatively set for Tuesday.

“We’re looking forward to getting him back,” Counsell said. “He’s been on the right path now, a month now of positive days, so there’s no reason why that should change at this point.”

Another notable pitcher on the Brewers’ injured list, Jimmy Nelson, has been throwing extended bullpen sessions at the team’s rehab facility in Phoenix. “The next stop,” Stearns said, is a three- to four-inning stint against hitters in a controlled environment.

At some point, the Brewers aim to get Nelson to San Antonio as well.

“He feels fine,” Stearns said. “We’ve talked about this a bunch; there’s a lot going on. There was a lot going on with the surgery. We believe that he is going to continue to get back, but we also understand this is a complicated process with stops and starts. It hasn’t been ‘even’ and it’s not going to be even going forward.”

Last call
• Bathed in sweat three hours before Saturday’s first pitch, Eric Thames said he was working hard to get used to the challenge of playing mostly off the Brewers’ bench. He delivered a pinch-hit, three-run home run against the Cubs in Friday’s marathon 13-10 win.

“Just be aggressive,” Thames said. “You can’t worry about being comfortable. If you get anything to hit, you have to put the barrel on it. It’s tough to get used to. … You can’t get caught up in the result.”

• The Brewers-Cubs game on Thursday, Sept. 5 at Miller Park has been moved up an hour to 6:10 p.m. CT. It will still air on FOX Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.