The Milwaukee Brewers took an important game from the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend. After they were crushed by the New York Yankees to start, they are 4-1 and back on track. But injuries have taken a toll, especially on their pitching rotation. When the Brewers put Nestor Cortes on the injured list Sunday, that left Freddy Peralta as the only projected starter in their rotation. Andrew Wagner of The Associated Press has more.

“The Milwaukee Brewers placed left-hander Nestor Cortes on the 15-day injured list Sunday with a flexor strain in his left elbow, further depleting the team’s starting pitching,” Wagner wrote. “The loss of Cortes leaves the Brewers with Freddy Peralta as the only healthy pitcher among those projected to be in the five-man rotation this season.”

Part of the Brewers getting back on track was a great start from Cortes. He took the hill for the first time in Milwaukee on Friday and spun six innings of shutout ball, allowing only one hit. But now, he will miss multiple starts with an elbow issue.

Cortes came to the Brewers from the Yankees in the Devin Williams trade. While it is his first issue in Milwaukee, it his is not the first elbow issue that Cortes has had in recent months.

The Brewers need a healthy Nestor Cortes moving forward

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Last year, Cortes missed the final month of the regular season with the identical injury. He came back for the playoffs, but did not pitch in the first two rounds and was the goat of the World Series. The injury may have been part of the reason the Yankees dealt him this offseason, but they were targeting Williams to be their closer regardless.

The Brewers have Monday off before they head to Colorado to face the Rockies. That is where Cortes' turn in the rotation will come up without him there. They called up reliever Grant Wolfram from AAA Nashville to take his roster spot, so we will see how they handle the next few turns of the rotation.

The Brewers have plenty of pitching issues already without Cortes' injury to consider. Aaron Civale, Tobias Myers, and Aaron Ashby are all on the injured list already. While they are all on the 15-day IL, it is still inconvenient before a Western road trip. The Brewers take their hot streak but thin rotation into Colorado and Arizona this week.