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Tyler Saladino was off to a hot start to his Brewers career, to the point that the team to demoted incumbent Orlando Arcia to the minor leagues. But his run as the team’s regular shortstop has come to an abrupt end, as he will hit the disabled list after leaving tonight’s game early when he was injured making a play in the field:
Tyler Saladino left tonight’s game with a left ankle sprain. X-rays were negative. #MILvsStL
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 30, 2018
Tyler Saladino will be headed to the DL with the left-ankle sprain, Craig Counsell says. No timetable for a return.
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) May 30, 2018
The play looked pretty brutal as it happened; Saladino couldn’t put any weight on the ankle and had to be helped off the field. So it seems somewhat fortunate that he didn’t suffer a break or anything more serious, although it’s unclear at this time how severe the sprain in and how long Saladino will be on the shelf.
If that’s not broken, I want whatever Saladino ate for breakfast. pic.twitter.com/cn2XPpLbyl
— Andrew Vrchota (@AndrewPPGRep) May 30, 2018
Saladino, 28, was acquired from the White Sox on April 19th and was first called up to Milwaukee on May 9th. He hit .311/.340/.578 with three home runs in 48 plate appearances while also accruing +3 Defensive Runs Saved at the six. Because this is an injury situation, Arcia would be eligible to return from the minor leagues even though he hasn’t yet been on optional assignment for the typical minimum of 10 days. He has three singles and four strikeouts so far in 11 at-bats for the AAA Sky Sox. If the Brewers wanted to keep Arcia down longer, they would have to go off the 40 man roster to find another middle infielder to call up. If for some reason that winds up being the case, Dylan Moore or Nate Orf would be the most plausible candidates. Current big leaguers Jonathan Villar, Hernan Perez, and Eric Sogard have varying amounts of experience at short, as well.
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs