Ryan Braun left Opening Day with ribcage strain, will be re-evaluated

The Brewers suffered one of the worst Opening Day losses in franchise history when the Rockies beat them 10-0 on Monday. Unfortunately, the loss isn't the only thing that hurts.

According to Adam McCalvy, Ryan Braun left the game in the top of the sixth inning with a strain in his ribcage, though the severity of the injury is unknown. Braun will be re-evaluated tomorrow and will hopefully be cleared to return to play sooner than later.

Todd Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel reports Braun suffered the injury while making a catch in right field. Troy Tulowitzki lined out to Braun to finish off the top of the fifth inning and Braun made a fairly routine catch, though he did jolt back a bit and looked like he exhaled pretty heavily after. Watching at the time, I had noticed the odd little jolt but nothing much seemed amiss. (Ed: He apparently hurt it chasing a deep fly ball in the fourth, not on this play)

It's very possible the injury is extremely minor and manager Ron Roenicke chose to take Braun out as a precautionary measure. That would be an easy decision with the Brewers already losing by 10 runs and it being just the first game of the season. It's not sounding like Braun is injured badly enough to need a DL stint, but it seems possible he'll miss a game or two.

The Brewers came into 2015 with very real concerns about depth in the infield and starting rotation. Thankfully, the outfield is one place where they do have a capable backup in Gerardo Parra. That's who replaced Braun defensively Monday and who figures to start if Braun can't on Tuesday.

Until tomorrow, though, it doesn't look like there will be much more information on the extent of Braun's injury. At the very least, for now we can be thankful it wasn't anything to do with his thumb.