Brewers' Jeffress departs due to weakness in his right shoulder

Milwaukee Brewers closer Jeremy Jeffress departed three pitches into his Cactus League outing Wednesday due to weakness in his right shoulder. Jeffress lobbied to stay in the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but manager Craig Counsell wasn't being swayed after seeing the radar-gun speed.

"There's no pain there. He asked, 'Why are you guys out here?'" Counsell told reporters of the fourth-inning mound visit. "I said, 'The fastball is 83 or 84 (mph).' He wasn't aware of anything, and he wasn't aware of anything happening, really. Nothing significant. He did want to stay in. ... "We're going to take a couple days off from throwing and try to work on some strengthening.

He's fought it a little bit this spring. He turned the corner and reported feeling pretty good. He's just not there, obviously. Take a little time to strengthen it and see where we're at." Jeffress was an All-Star last season when he went 8-1 with 15 saves and 1.29 ERA in 73 appearances. The 31-year-old wasn't overly concerned when he met with reporters.

"It was uncomfortable for them, the coaching staff, so they just wanted to take precautions and get me out of there, get me right," Jeffress said. "We've still got a little bit of time. I understand you cannot be heroes in this game. It takes all 25 guys. I'll just try to make sure I can get back and help us win." 

(With inputs from agencies.)