Brewers trying to coerce Guerra out of pitching in Venezuelan playoffs

The Milwaukee Brewers would rather Junior Guerra saved his bullets for the big leagues.

Guerra told reporters in Venezuela that he would make a coupe starts in the country's winter-league playoffs, but the Brewers don't endorse his participation in the games, sources told MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.

The 31-year-old rookie was spectacular for the Brewers in 2016, going 9-3 with a 2.81 ERA over 121 2/3 innings pitched. His season came to an early end, though, after he missed most of August with an elbow injury.

He went on to make three more starts in September before the club, well out of playoff contention, shut him down for precautionary reasons.

Guerra told reporters he plans on throwing 50-to-60 pitches in his first outing, and "a little bit more" in his second.

Of course, the Brewers are concerned that such a high volume of pitches so early in the year will affect him later on. Due to the fact that he was shut down early, the club suggested he skip winter ball entirely to recover and be at 100 percent for spring training.

As it stands, Guerra hasn't crossed his threshold of pitches permitted in winter ball, so the Brewers can't force him to shut it down, though the team is discussing the issue with his agent.