Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Mark Rogers will start the major league baseball season on the 15-day disabled list.

Rogers, a right-hander from Orrs Island, was placed on the DL because of right shoulder instability.

He will be eligible to pitch April 9.

According to a report on the Brewers’ website, Manager Ron Roenicke said the club isn’t overly concerned.

“There are no issues, which is a good thing,” he said. “They’re not shoulder or elbow issues, it’s just building up arm strength. For some reason some guys take longer. I don’t know why that is.”

The move was made after Rogers, who was Milwaukee’s first-round selection in the 2004 draft, went 0-1 and compiled a 7.00 earned-run average in nine innings spanning four starts in spring training.

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During his second stint in the majors last season, Rogers went 3-1 with a 3.92 ERA, striking out 41 in 39 innings. He reached the mid-90s consistently.

Rogers topped out at 89 mph Sunday against the Colorado Rockies, and was pitching more around 87 or 88 mph as he made his first start in 12 days.

His outing — two hits, two earned runs and two walks to go with two strikeouts over three innings — was arguably the best of his four this spring. It came after a series of side throwing sessions.

But Rogers was out of the running for a spot in the rotation and not throwing well enough to be considered for the bullpen.

He’s out of options and can’t be sent to the minor leagues, so the logical step is a stint on the DL, which will allow him to continue working on increasing his arm strength.

“We know what we’re going to do. We just need to figure out going forward, especially the next couple of weeks, how we go about it. And Mark agrees,” Roenicke said.

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The Brewers’ medical staff has kept a close eye on Rogers all spring, because he has contended with numerous injury problems in the past. But he has a clean bill of health.

Roenicke seemed optimistic over Rogers’ situation.

“I know (pitchers) all go through a dead stage for a couple of outings but usually they bounce right back. There’s something else we need to do to build up that arm strength,” said Roenicke.

“Basically, it would be fatigue or weakness, whatever doesn’t allow your arm to perform at a high level. There’s something there. He hasn’t gotten to the place where he needs to be to make an evaluation on him.”

Rogers isn’t scheduled to pitch before the Brewers break camp Thursday.

“That’s what we’re going to talk about the next couple of days,” Roenicke said. “We’ll see what the steps are going to be. He threw great for us last year. He hasn’t had any injuries. He’s going to gain his velocity back. I feel confident in that.”

 


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