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The Milwaukee Brewers are making an improbable charge towards the postseason without Christian Yelich, and could certainly use all the additional help they can get. So while Yelich’s season-ending injury continues to be a downer, there was some welcome news on the injury front today in the Cream City.
We learned yesterday that Brandon Woodruff would get activated off the injured list in time to start tonight’s game, and that transaction was made official earlier this afternoon. Woodruff was an All-Star this season and pitched to a 3.75 ERA / 69 FIP- / 69 DRA- in 117.2 innings with 136 strikeouts versus 29 walks before going down with an oblique injury in late July. Woodruff will serve as “opener” in tonight’s game ahead of Gio Gonzalez.
#Brewers have officially reinstated RHP Brandon Woodruff from the injured list. He will be the initial out-getter tonight against the Padres.
— Tom (@Haudricourt) September 17, 2019
Another star player, rookie Keston Hiura, is apparently back to full strength coming off of a strained left hamstring. The first-year sensation was actually activated off the 10-day IL during the Marlins series, but he has yet to start a game in the field since returning. That will change tonight as he slots in at his usual second base and bats fifth in the starting lineup. In 72 games at the big league level this season, Hiura is batting .302/.370/.571 with 16 home runs and nine steals.
Here's the #Brewers lineup for game 2 of our series against the Padres. #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/gtAO8L4jpK
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 17, 2019
Finally, catcher Manny Pina hasn’t played since September 5th when he suffered a concussion against the Chicago Cubs. He had a difficult time with the symptoms in the days after the brain injury, but he has now officially passed the necessary concussion tests and is back active with the team tonight. Pina continues to provide his typically stellar defense and has made an impact with the bat even after scaling back into a reserve role behind Yasmani Grandal this season, batting .230/.305/.419 with seven home runs in 164 plate appearances. Manny isn’t in the lineup tonight, but given that Grandal has started every game behind the plate in Pina’s absence, he’ll likely get a start at catcher during this series with San Diego.
Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus