Brewers' DL Hall hoping he can come out better on the other side of his left knee sprain

A month into the season, the hope was DL Hall would be firmly entrenched as a consistent contributor in the Milwaukee Brewers' starting rotation.

Instead, the left-hander is in the beginning stages of a stint on the injured list caused by a sprained left knee with no timetable for a return.

"It’s going to be more so depending on how my body feels," Hall said Saturday. "Hopefully not too long. Hopefully sooner than later."

Hall suffered the injury while fielding a bunt last Saturday during a start in St. Louis. He remained in the game for several innings after the play but his velocity was down markedly. The Brewers put Hall on the 15-day IL the following morning.

"The third-base line was soaked, the dirt. As soon as spun and planted to throw my foot shot out from under me," Hall explained. "It was kind of a very sped-up version of me going down the mound in an uncomfortable way."

Hall said he's dealt with pain in his left knee dating back several seasons to when he was still an up-and-coming prospect in the Baltimore Orioles organization.

"I’ve had a history with it in the past. I’ve had this happening since 2021," he said. "Each year it’s kind of been something that’s bugged me and this time it bit me harder than normal. I have a super long stride and get super far down the mound, so my shin angle is super low.

"It’s just a lot of tension on the inside of your knee and it’s something where if your spike gets caught in the ground and pulls it or whatever, it tweaks it."

Through four starts (16 ⅓ innings), Hall is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA and WHIP of 2.27, numbers that certainly nobody expected from the key piece in the Brewers' Feb. 1 trade of Corbin Burnes.

Another number that was off-kilter considerably while Hall was pitching was his fastball velocity. Averaging 92.3 mph, it was 3.3 mph lower than in 2023.

The move from pitching out of the bullpen to starting could explain some of it away, but not such a drastic drop.

"I definitely think it had a little bit to do with it," Hall said. "Not sure how much, but definitely a couple ticks, I’d assume."

Hall played catch before Saturday's game and he'll continue on that regimen until the pain in his knee subsides.

"It's still uncertain," manager Pat Murphy said of Hall's return. "We've got to get that knee healthy. Because without it healthy, we start throwing too much and then you might compensate in another area and then you're putting too much stress on something else.

"Pitching is a very precise thing. It's still a work in progress."

Hall, well-regarded by the Brewers for his competitive nature, is on board with the plan and is banking on a major comeback once he's fully healthy and cleared to return.

"It gives me a chance to kind of reflect on, obviously, a tough start for me this year," he said. "This doesn’t make it any easier. But I’d say I’m pretty used to it. I’ve dealt with some bumps in the road in the past and I feel like this is just another one of those.

"I’ll put in the work and come out the other side of it."

Brewers make roster moves involving Janson Junk and Jared Koenig

Earlier Saturday, Milwaukee recalled right-hander Janson Junk from Class AAA Nashville and optioned left-hander Jared Koenig out.

"The business of baseball it's tough," Murphy said of sending Koenig down after he'd registered victories in the past two games out of the bullpen. "The kid has been great for us but he's got an option, so we need the length."

In four appearances at Nashville (three starts), Junk was 1-2 with a 4.70 ERA and WHIP of 1.43.

Junk made one start and two appearances for the Brewers last season. Considering where Milwaukee's rotation stands due to injury – all three of the team's scheduled starters for the upcoming series against the Tampa Bay Rays are listed as TBA – anything seems possible for Junk.

"We see him as length right now. Probably more in the bullpen than as a starter," Murphy said. "But check in with me in three days and we'll see."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' DL Hall hopes to be better after recovering from knee sprain