Brewers activate Ryan Braun from Injured List, send Mark Mathias back to Appleton

A day after DFAing a 1B/DH to make room for an infielder, the Milwaukee Brewers are optioning an infielder to make room for a 1B/DH.

Ryan Braun is ready to play after the wound from draining an infected finger healed, and the team is activating him before tonight’s game against the Minnesota Twins. Mark Mathias, who has impressed at the plate over the last week, is being sent back to the alternate training site.

Braun landed on the Injured List rather suddenly a day after Lorenzo Cain decided to opt out of the rest of the season. Those two moves happening back-to-back dealt a big blow to the Brewers’ lineup, leaving it without much punch for most of August as the likes of Christian Yelich and Keston Hiura also slumped until the last weekend.

Braun was 3-for-13 with 2 RBI when he went on the Injured List, having previously dealt with back and neck issues during the second half of Summer Camp. The Brewers certainly hope the extra time off while the cut on his finger healed will help him find some power — and provide him the opportunity to play more in the field, whether it’s in right field or first base.

Mathias was called up on August 3rd as one of the guys to replace Braun and Lorenzo Cain on the roster, and collected 5 hits in his 16 at-bats. He didn’t draw a walk or show much power, but hitting .313 with 2 RBI while everyone else in the lineup was struggling was enough to get him some fairly consistent starts over the last week. While the Brewers have plenty of infield depth with Luis Urias now on the active roster, it would be a safe bet to say Mathias will be back at some point this year.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference