Houser (chest) threw his first bullpen session of the spring Saturday, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Houser was limited to only a handful of brief outings in the lower minors last season while returning from Tommy John surgery, but looked set to enter spring training with no restrictions after a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. Unfortunately for the right-hander, his spring activity has been delayed by an appendectomy, which has left him a week and a half behind the team's other healthy pitchers. Now that he's back on the mound, Houser should progress to facing hitters in drills this week before making his Cactus League debut in early March. Though he was developed as a starter prior to undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery, Houser is expected to be groomed as a reliever going forward in order to accelerate his arrival to the big leagues. He's expected to open the 2018 campaign at Double-A Biloxi.