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Luis Urias still hopes to be ready by Opening Day

The Brewers’ new shortstop is recovering from his broken hamate but still faces a race against time

MLB: San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Brewers got one of their first bits of bad news in 2020 before pitchers and catchers even reported to camp, when new acquisition Luis Urias broke his hamate bone in his wrist while playing winter ball.

It’s an injury that brought plenty of concern — wrist injuries can wreak havoc for hitters — and immediately signaled a test to the depth David Stearns had tried to accumulate in the infield over the winter.

As players start to matriculate into Maryvale today, we’re learning there’s a bit of good news when it comes to Urias’ injury — his cast is off and he’s still aiming to be in the Opening Day lineup for his new team.

From the way it’s being described by reporters, specifically Tom Haudricourt, the Opening Day goal is more of a hope at this point than a solid timeline. We’ll likely find out more on the actual timeline in the coming days and weeks as he starts to work his way back into baseball activities now that the cast is off.

In the meantime, Orlando Arcia and Eric Sogard figure to end up getting more reps at shortstop this spring.

Urias hit .223/.329/.326 in 249 plate appearances for the Padres last year. PECOTA is projecting the 22-year-old to hit .256/.341/.412 with 11 home runs in 420 plate appearances in his first season in Milwaukee.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball Prospectus