Jimmy Nelson discusses his injury rehab on MLB Network

Jimmy Nelson sounded very upbeat in an interview on MLB Network’s “Hot Stove” show, as reported by Tom Haudricourt on JSOnline. Nelson was injured last Sept. 8th at Wrigley Field and had subsequent surgery to repair a torn labrum.

Some selected quotes from Nelson:

"The progress has been impressive, and I'm pretty proud of how far I've come already. I'm just really anxious to start a throwing program and get to spring training."

Nelson personally purchased a hyperbaric chamber to use higher pressure oxygen therapy for his recovery.

"I researched it a little bit and bought one this offseason," he said. "I'm trying to do whatever I can to heal myself and get back, not only to where I was, but better. People ask, 'Do you think you'll get back to where you were?' Our goal is to get back better to where I was at.”

A return to something near his 2017 form would be extremely welcome news for the Brewers. Initial reports had him missing “a chunk” of the 2018 season, and that still most likely will be the case. However, the smaller the chunk, the better. It is also important to note that Nelson has not begun a throwing program, and will not do so until at least the start of spring training. It would be wonderful if he could make it back at full health for the second half, and any earlier would be an even more welcome development for the team. But it is important to note that a torn labrum is a difficult and tedious injury to come back from. It is also very possible, perhaps even likely, that Jimmy won’t make it all the way back to his very successful 2017 form.

Never count Jimmy Nelson out, though. He has steadily built his effectiveness as a Brewer starter and with Chase Anderson gave the team a very solid one-two punch at the top of the rotation. A return to that form would be tremendous news for the organization, the team, and Brewer fans.