NL Central Notes: Brewers, Middleton, Friedl

The Brewers introduced a handful of roster strikes previous to this afternoon’s sport in opposition to the Cubs, most notably of which noticed the membership place outfielder Joey Wiemer on the 10-day injured listing with left knee discomfort. Infielder Andruw Monasterio was referred to as as much as exchange Wiemer on the roster.

What as soon as gave the impression to be a glut of outfield expertise has shortly evaporated because of accidents in Milwaukee with Wiemer now becoming a member of Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell on the shelf. Wiemer had been scuffling on the time of his harm, with simply 4 hits to his identify within the majors this season, though these struggles got here in a microscopic pattern of simply 24 journeys to the plate. Between his profession .269/.296/.492 slash line in opposition to southpaws and his robust glove within the outfield, Wiemer figured to be a powerful fourth outfielder for the Brewers whereas Mitchell and Yelich had been on the shelf.

Now, nevertheless, Wiemer is headed to the shelf with no return in sight. Whereas Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relayed that the outfielder underwent an MRI that exposed no ligament injury, he added that Wiemer had “no thought” when he’d have the ability to return from the strained muscle in his left knee. Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio and Blake Perkins determine to deal with the outfield regularly in Wiemer’s absence, although behind that group solely Jake Bauers has performed even an inning on the outfield grass this season of the gamers presently on the roster. Teen Chris Roller presently stands because the Brewers’ most skilled outfielder on the 40-man roster, although he has but to make his large league debut and has struggled to an 89 wRC+ at Triple-A this season.

Extra from across the NL Central…

• Cardinals reliever Keynan Middleton seems to be making good progress in his bid to return from a forearm pressure that sidelined him throughout Spring Coaching, as he advised reporters (together with Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that he hasn’t felt any discomfort in his arm since receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow final month. Per Jones, Middleton expects to pitch off a mound twice extra on Tuesday and Friday earlier than heading out on a minor league rehab task if all goes nicely throughout these outings. The return of Middleton, who dominated down the stretch with the Yankees final 12 months to a 1.88 ERA with a 30.4% strikeout charge, would bolster a St. Louis bullpen that ranks simply middle-of-the-pack with a 3.81 ERA regardless of a wonderful xFIP of three.30 and a powerful 25.6% strikeout charge.
• Reds outfielder TJ Friedl is doing nicely in his restoration from a proper wrist fracture suffered previous to the beginning of the season, with MLB.com’s Injury Tracker noting that supervisor David Bell advised reporters yesterday that the 28-year-old is on a “quick observe” towards returning to the large league membership. Friedl started a rehab task earlier this week and, in keeping with Bell, will return to the majors “every time we really feel he’s gotten sufficient at-bats” within the minor leagues. Friedl loved one thing of a breakout season final 12 months as he slashed a powerful .279/.352/.467 in 138 video games because the membership’s on a regular basis heart fielder and may present a giant increase to a Reds membership that has relied on Stuart Fairchild and Bubba Thompson in heart in his absence.