The Milwaukee Brewers’ injury list just got a lot uglier.
Already grinding through a brutal 17-game stretch without an off-day, the Brewers added another setback Thursday when they placed Abner Uribe on the injured list with a right forearm flexor strain, retroactive to August 11. Right-hander Grant Anderson was recalled from Triple-A to take Uribe’s spot in the bullpen.
Uribe had not pitched since Sunday, when he worked a 33-pitch scoreless eighth inning in Milwaukee’s win over the Twins. Before that outing, he had been rolling for two months without giving up a run. The hard-throwing right-hander has now strung together 21 straight scoreless appearances, with his last earned run allowed coming on June 19.
The loss lands hard for a Brewers team already juggling injuries everywhere else. Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt are on the injured list because of a shoulder injury and a hamstring strain, respectively.
Joey Ortiz missed several games with neck tightness, and Brice Turang sat out Thursday’s series opener against the Dodgers because of pain in his left knee. With bodies disappearing all over the roster, Milwaukee has had to patch together its defense on the fly.
In Thursday night’s win over Los Angeles, the Brewers started Andrew Vaughn at 3B, David Hamilton at 2B, and Gary Sánchez at 1B.
Uribe’s season has been elite by every measure. He owns a 2.05 ERA in 49 appearances and ranks sixth in the National League with 18 holds, even after spending a stretch as the Brewers’ closer earlier in the year. His 55.6% ground-ball rate sits in the 94th percentile among qualified relievers, and his 1.6% barrel rate is in the 99th percentile.
That kind of production is not easy to replace, and this injury puts more weight on Milwaukee’s other trusted arms, including Aaron Ashby, Chad Patrick, and Trevor Megill. Flexor strains are always a concern for pitchers, though the Brewers’ decision to wait several days before making the IL move suggests they may have hoped to avoid it. Megill dealt with a flexor strain in late August last year and returned a month later, just before the postseason.
The Brewers’ stretch of games finally ends with a day off on Monday after they finish their four-game series against the Dodgers.
In Other News...
Brewers Just Got A Massive Boost In The Race Dodgers Fear Most
A tense late-inning win over the Dodgers gave Milwaukee exactly the kind of boost that matters in a race this tight, even if the real damage showed up on the other side of the box score. Los Angeles entered the ninth with control of the game, but the inning unraveled fast against Edwin Daz, whose season has been a step down from the dominant version the Dodgers expected after elbow surgery and an offseason move to shore up the back end of their bullpen.
For Milwaukee, the bigger takeaway is simple: one of the teams it has to keep eyeing in the National League race just took a hit from a familiar problem. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts still sounds committed to Daz as his closer, largely because the bullpen does not offer a cleaner answer right now, but the continued struggles only deepen the pressure on a club that cannot afford many more nights like this. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Suddenly Face A Brice Turang Concern They Cant Ignore
Brice Turangs spot in the Brewers lineup was empty because of a left knee injury, a reminder of how quickly one issue in the middle infield can ripple through Milwaukees plans. Manager Pat Murphy said the injury is being monitored day to day while Turang goes through treatment and evaluation, and the club is already dealing with another hit up the middle with Cooper Pratt on the injured list.
The encouraging part for the Brewers is that the first look at Turangs knee did not point to anything severe, which at least keeps the situation from sounding like an immediate long-term concern. Still, the absence matters because Turangs value is tied as much to his defense as his bat, and the Brewers now have to keep one eye on his recovery while trying to patch together the middle of the diamond. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Protected One Crucial Farm Asset As Everything Else Shifted
The trade deadline and draft brought the usual reshuffling of a farm system, and for the Brewers, the biggest question was how much of the future would have to move to help the present. Milwaukee added pitching help and sent out some prospects in the process, but the top of the organization stayed intact, a small but meaningful win for a club that has tried to balance immediate needs with long-term depth.
That stability showed up again in the Brewers updated Top 30 prospect list, which reflected both deadline movement and draft additions. There was still plenty of change beneath the surface, with some names climbing and others slipping, but the systems upper tier remained a strength as the post-deadline picture came into focus. Among the most notable risers was Ricki Moneys, whose strong Arizona Complex League showing helped him surge well up the board. [Read more 🡒]