Jonathan Villar placed on 10-day DL, top Brewers prospect Lewis Brinson recalled

The Super Two deadline passed, and the flood gates have opened. First, it was outfielder Brett Phillips. Next up, left-handed pitcher Josh Hader. Now, Lewis Brinson is joining the mix.

After Jonathan Villar went down last night, it was a very likely scenario that he would need at least some time on the disabled list to recover from his back injury. He’s the third position player the Brewers are down, with Ryan Braun still on the DL and Travis Shaw on the emergency family medical list. It gave the Brewers a chance to call up some of their top prospects, and now, another one is joining the ranks.

That’s right, top Brewers prospect Lewis Brinson has officially been recalled to join the Brewers roster. He is the third prospect to earn a call-up this season, as well as the second of the Brewers outfield prospects. In 45 games for Colorado Springs, Brinson is batting .312/.397/.503 with 6 home runs, 25 RBI, 7 stolen bases, and a 45:22 K/BB ratio. He entered as the top prospect on several publications, and was expected to make his major league debut at some point this season. It looks like that time has come.

It will be interesting to watch how the Brewers decide to divide up the outfield time with both Brinson and Phillips up. Santana’s playing time is likely safe for now, but Keon Broxton could face more days on the bench, since he is only batting .225/.295/.403 this season. There’s also Thames to factor in the mix, who could see some outfield time when the Brewers want to get Jesus Aguilar in the mix.

It’s also become more obvious what the Brewers strategy has been this season. With three call-ups in under a week now, the Super Two deadline was what they were waiting for before calling up some of these prospects. Hopefully that means the days of infielders playing the outfield will come to a close (and with two regular infielders out right now, it likely will until they return).

This also means that the rest of the team should be on notice. If you’re not performing and one of your minor-league counterparts is, your job is not safe. The minor-league players are coming.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference