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Jacob Nottingham
Brewers catcher Jacob Nottingham (thumb) said he will start catching off the machine next week.
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) March 5, 2021
Jacob Nottingham will begin to catch off a machine next week. It will be the latest recovery milestone for Nottingham after a thumb injury pulled him from the Wild Card series against the Dodgers last season. According to Nottingham, adorned in a Racing Sausage headband, recovery is going well, and he’s “ramping up” his hitting production while he builds up to a return behind the plate.
Nottingham is a highly reliable defensive catcher, but he’s struggled offensively, putting up a .188/.278/.458 slash line with a strikeout rate of 37%. He’s behind both Omar Narváez, who can reasonably expect a bounce-back offensive season, and the perennially underrated Manny Piña, as an option behind home plate
Nottingham, notably, is out of minor league options. If the Brewers can’t carry him on the 26-man roster or the IL, they’ll have to designate him for assignment, at which point, he could be picked up by another team.
Luis Urías
No further information postgame from Craig Counsell on Urias. Said the club would know a lot more Saturday about whether the hamstring is something to be concerned about.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) March 5, 2021
Luis Urías limped off the field on his own power in the third inning after running out a groundout and exited the game with a 0-2 start at shortstop. Urías has been underwhelming in competition with Orlando Arcia for the starting spot at short. The Brewers want to see more from Urías at the position and at-bat. He had plenty of offensive potential and production as a prospect but is unproven as a big-league hitter.
The Brewers described the exit as precautionary but didn’t offer many specifics about the injury. More information would be available on Saturday, according to Craig Counsell.