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On Saturday, reports were there were going to be three opportunities in the next week for Ryan Braun to come off the disabled list — today in the series finale against the Cubs, Tuesday when the Brewers return home to face the Blue Jays, or Thursday for the first game of a series against Arizona. It all depended on when Braun would get a chance to test the injured calf that landed him on the shelf.
It turns out today is the day.
Here's the #Brewers lineup for the series finale of #MILatChC as Ryan Braun makes his return from the DL! #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/YUewSDQi1F
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 21, 2017
The Brewers announced Braun as part of Sunday’s starting lineup, returning to his familiar third spot in the order.
Instead of removing Nick Franklin or another bat from the roster, the Brewers decided to send down one of their extra pitchers instead, optioning Tyler Cravy back to Triple-A Colorado Springs just one day — and zero in-game appearances — after he was called up to replace Paolo Espino on the 25-man roster.
Cravy, you may remember, was highly emotional after being cut on the last day of Spring Training. All reports are he took this news better. He also got at least one days’ pay out of the situation, which might’ve softened the blow.
And just shy of $3,000 -- a day of MLB pay and service. But still, tough to get called up to a first-place team and not pitch. https://t.co/w8wqoe5lXW
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) May 21, 2017
Braun was hitting .287/.374/.574 with 7 home runs this year while battling a long list of nagging injuries before finally landing on the DL. He’s only made 7 at-bats this month, but the Brewers have been able to find offense without him during their recent hot streak.
Statistics courtesy Baseball-Reference