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One of these days, the Milwaukee Brewers are going to have all of the pieces that looked so impressive together during the season’s first series back in the lineup at the same time.
It just doesn’t seem like it’ll be anytime in the next few days.
Even though Christian Yelich is back in the starting lineup Wednesday afternoon following a DL stint for an oblique issue, Lorenzo Cain and Ryan Braun won’t be in the starting lineup for the series finale against Cincinnati.
It sounds like a much-needed planned day off for Cain, who’s had to play nearly every day despite being banged up himself because Yelich was also the team’s primary backup centerfielder. But it’s reportedly not a planned maintenance day for Braun, who is now once again dealing with a sore left calf — the same one that’s been bothering him over the past year or so.
Ryan Braun’s left calf is acting up again, Craig Counsell said. Does not sound like this was a scheduled day off.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 18, 2018
Ryan Braun out today with a left calf issue. Started bothering him last night.
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) April 18, 2018
Nagging injuries can probably be expected for a 34-year-old player, but they’re already starting to pile up for Braun, who is also trying to get over a back problem after it tightened up on him during a steal attempt on a cold night in New York.
The Brewers will likely wait and see how Braun feels in a day or two before making a decision on whether he needs to go on the 10-day disabled list, but considering his slow start (hitting just .200/.237/.400 in 16 games, although he’s been hurt by an extremely low .205 BABIP) and the number of issues he’s had to deal with in the past week, it might be in the team’s best interest to not wait around and just give him an extended break on the DL, especially during a soft spot in their schedule.
They likely won’t need him as they face the Marlins and Royals in their next 6 games, but putting him on the DL starting Thursday would mean he’d also miss the first three games of the next series against the Cubs, although he’d be eligible to return in the series finale on April 29th.
Of course, the DL talk might be premature — we don’t know the severity of the latest calf injury, and it may just be minor soreness. Stay tuned.
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs