The Milwaukee Brewers vaunted bullpen is entering the season without.

Corey Knebel is out indefinitely with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow Tyler Clippard Jersey , the type of injury that sometimes ends in Tommy John surgery. He’s expected to join Jeremy Jeffress, down with a sore right shoulder, on the injured list to open the season.Knebel had 16 saves and a 3.58 ERA with Milwaukee last season, plus a 1.29 ERA in six postseason appearances. He plans to see multiple doctors before deciding if he needs surgery.“It’s going to take a week for him to compile some opinions from other doctors and then sit down and make a decision on what he feels is the best way to get this thing right,” manager Craig Counsell said Friday.Knebel missed about six weeks early last season with a hamstring injury. He was an All-Star in 2017 with 39 saves and a 1.78 ERA in 78 innings.Jeffress, another important cog in the bullpen a year ago, hasn’t thrown a Cactus League inning this spring. He is expected back by late April.Counsell will have to mix, match and experiment with new pitchers to get through the beginning of the season. He faced a similar challenge early last season, which is when he began relying on long relievers for extended outings and relief openers at the start of games. Those strategies helped propel Milwaukee to the NL Championship Series, where it lost to the Dodgers in seven games.“Sometimes the best answers come from when you get put in those situations,” Counsell said. “You have to come up with a different way to look at the problem.”Josh Hader, the breakout star of the bullpen last season with 143 strikeouts in 81 innings, said the Brewers are uniquely equipped to deal with the situation.“It’s going to take an army to get through the season,” Hader said. “You never know when we’re going to need it. I think we have the guys to do so.“You gotta always adapt and you’ve gotta just be open for anything.”Milwaukee added reinforcements Friday http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , agreeing with reliever Alex Wilson on a one-year deal for $750,000 plus performance bonuses, pending a physical. The 32-year-old Wilson has a 3.23 ERA in six major league seasons, the past four with Detroit.NOTES: Counsell said starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson, trying to return from Tommy John surgery that has sidelined him since late 2017, had elbow soreness after an outing Thursday. “It’s going to slow him a little bit,” Counsell said. Nelson, however, was not scheduled to open the season on the active roster, and it may not have much of an effect on the timing of his return, which the Brewers hope is by the end of April. … The Brewers optioned infielders Tyler Saladino and Cory Spangenberg to minor league camp, which Counsell said means that outfielder Ben Gamel has made the opening day roster. PITTSBURGH (AP) Jameson Taillon spent the hours before the trade deadline doing some detective work. The Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher scoured Twitter for updates, asked team trainers if they were scanning medical records and touched base with acquaintances of potential targets for a brief rundown on who might be joining the hottest team in the majors.”I had fun with it,” Taillon said. ”My heart was racing Yuli Gurriel Jersey , I think.”So are the Pirates.Hours after his team picked up Texas closer Keone Kela and Tampa Bay starting pitcher Chris Archer in an effort to give Pittsburgh’s surprising postseason push a jolt, Taillon pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the Pirates held on late for a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.”We’re really excited for the additions,” Taillon said. ”I think we still kind of don’t have anything to lose so we’re going to keep playing free. Going to hopefully play complete games like we’ve been doing and see what we can make happen.”Gregory Polanco hit his team-leading 19th home run, a solo shot in the eighth that gave the Pirates a two-run cushion. They needed it after closer Felipe Vazquez gave up a single to pinch-hitter David Bote leading off the top of the ninth and Addison Russell followed with a shot to the gap in right-center that scored Bote.Russell sped to third on the play and was initially ruled safe , but the call was overturned upon review. Vazquez retired the next two batters to pick up his 24th save in 28 opportunities.”I’d like to see the replay on that last play, because I didn’t see it,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. ”I went up and looked at it. The call on the field has integrity and I’d really need to see why that was changed.”David Freese added a pair of RBI doubles for the Pirates, including a drive to the gap in right-center in the fifth that scored Polanco and put Pittsburgh ahead to stay as the resurgent Pirates won for the 16th time in 20 games.”We’ve been fighting the last month,” Polanco said. ”We know we want to play in October and to bring in pitchers (like Kela and Archer) is good for us and you know, that’s a good plan. You’ve got to keep fighting, keep winning.”Taillon (8-8) allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings of work, his lone mistake an off-speed pitch to Javy Baez in the fourth that Baez turned into a three-run homer that tied the game.Baez finished 3 for 4, including his shot to the rotunda behind the left-field seats that boosted his season home run total to 22, but the Cubs hit into two double plays and left seven runners on base to lose for the third time in four games.Jon Lester (12-4) hadn’t lost on the road since falling to Cleveland on April 25. He needed 101 pitches to labor through five innings Jake Marisnick Jersey , giving up four runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Lester is 2-1 with a 4.69 ERA in four starts against the Pirates this season.”It seems like every time I throw against them, I’m not getting ahead,” he said. ”Kind of a grinder. Hopefully, I get another shot. I feel like I haven’t pitched even close to anything good against these guys.”The Pirates were reeling three weeks ago but have moved into the playoff chase by posting the best record in the majors since July 8. General manager Neal Huntington splurged at the deadline, bringing in Archer and Kela while parting with young prospects in outfielder Austin Meadows and pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Taylor Hearn.Huntington called the decision a difficult one but felt it was worth it with both Archer and Kela under team control through at least 2020. Either way, the Pirates enter August in the thick of a crowded NL playoff chase. Consider the Cubs believers in Pittsburgh’s chances after their NL Central rival drew within six games of first place.”I think this team is definitely not out of it,” Lester said. ”I think we’ve seen in the past where they do get maybe a little bit on the streaky side. Hopefully, you kind of catch them when they’re not streaking in a positive way. But yeah, their offense gets rolling. They’ve got a good group over there.”TRAINER’S ROOMCubs: RHP Yu Darvish (right triceps) reported no pain following a bullpen session on Tuesday. Darvish, who hasn’t pitched since May 20, called it a ”starting point” and remains out indefinitely. The four-time All Star also brushed off comments made by former MLB star-turned-ESPN analyst Alex Rodriguez, who said during a broadcast on Sunday night that Darvish’s slow rehab was a distraction in the Chicago clubhouse. Darvish said ”it doesn’t matter” what Rodriguez thinks of him.UP NEXTCubs: Cole Hamels will make his first start for the Cubs on Wednesday when the teams wrap up their two-game set. Chicago acquired Hamels from Texas last week. The four-time All-Star went 5-9 with a 4.72 ERA for the Rangers this season.Pirates: Nick Kingham (5-5, 4.80 ERA) will try to bounce back after giving up six runs in three-plus innings in a loss to the New York Mets last Thursday.—