The Brewers placed second baseman Kolten Wong on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left oblique, per a club announcement. Infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes is up from Triple-A Nashville in his place.
It’s the second oblique strain of the season for Wong, who figures to be looking at an absence of some note. Wong and manager Craig Counsell told reporters Friday that the injury occurred in the exact same spot as the left oblique strain he suffered in April (Twitter link via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). As such, the club is going to be more cautious to ensure that the injury is fully healed, which likely indicates Wong will miss more time than the two weeks he missed with that first strain.
The timing of the move is rather poor for the Brewers, who’ve been enjoying a highly productive stretch at the plate from the Gold Glove second baseman. Since returning from that first IL stint, Wong had raked at a .303./.342/.486 clip with four homers, a dozen doubles, a triple and four stolen bases through 152 plate appearances.
With Wong shelved for a yet-to-be-determined period of time, the bulk of the innings at second base will fall to recently displaced shortstop Luis Urias. The 24-year-old former top prospect opened the year getting regular reps at short, but defensive shortcomings prompted the Brewers to swing a trade for Willy Adames. With Wong now on the shelf, Urias will slide down the defensive spectrum and look to tap into his considerable offensive potential while playing a position more suited to his abilities. He’s swinging a good bat at the moment, having homered in consecutive games and batted .303/.361/.636 over his past 12 contests.
Too bad the no hot bid from Peralta is over.. great start
Peralta has been amazing this year, along with Woodruff and Burnes. What a great rotation the Brewers have had so far…it’s been fun to watch. I wonder what happened to that group of “expert” couch commentators who consistently ripped the Brewers for having no pitching a month or two ago in almost any Brewer article (even through their rotation last year was rather decent to begin with). They sure seem to have disappeared LOL. I guess it’s no big shock that none of those guys have had the courage to come on these comment boards and admit that they were just so wrong.
Adames is looking fantastic too. His home/road splits from his Tampa days tell the whole story and that what he’s done for the Brewers is no fluke. Apparently he had a real problem with the “batters eye” in Tropicana which caused him a lot of issues. Sure doesn’t have to worry about that in Milwaukee. Even Urias is starting to show some life after the trade! The injury to Wong really hurts, but I’m excited about the Brewers this year….especially if they can get Yelich going and get ANYTHING at all from Keston Huira
Out of the NL Central, I think the Brewers have the best shot at making a deep run in the playoffs. There isn’t a team in the league that has a better 1-3 than Woodruff, Burnes and Peralta right now, and that goes a long ways in the Playoffs. Do need some more consistent hitting from the corner IF, and maybe another solid 7th/8th inning RP (A healthy Justin Topa?). Just dont see many corner IF players in the farm or blatantly available on the market. Interesting to see what stearns can swing in the next month
You know I think that Jake Bauers would be a great pick up for them dfa’d Vogel and add a little versatility to the team. Would turn it around in County stadium lol