Injuries continue to pile up for the Brewers, who place Kolten Wong on the IL on Saturday
WASHINGTON - Just like the losses, the list of the walking wounded continues to pile up for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Kolten Wong was the latest casualty, being placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a right calf strain. The move is retroactive to June 8, meaning he'll be eligible to return on the penultimate game of the current road trip in Cincinnati.
"Tried running yesterday," Wong said. "I'm able to run, but there's still a decent amount of pain. So, we just figured with as long as it's been since I haven't played, doing it retroactive to the second game against Philly gives me (seven more days) to get it right.
"Obviously, I don't want to go on the IL. But looking at it, it definitely makes sense to do it now."
Mark Mathias was recalled from Class AAA Nashville and immediately placed in the lineup with the Washington Nationals starting left-hander Patrick Corbin on Saturday afternoon.
"We'll slow down a little bit, give him the next two days in the training room, then revisit trying to get back on the field and doing some activity in New York," manager Craig Counsell said. "But I think this is going to be short."
Wong said the calf injury dates to May 30, when he was hit in Game 2 of the Brewers' Memorial Day doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
"Anytime you get hit in those parts of the body, it's tough," he said. "There, the hamstrings — once you get hit there, it kind of causes (issues). My hamstring started getting tight and then it's just kind of a chain reaction of events.
"It just makes sense to kind of give it some time."
Wong had an injury plagued 2021 with three different stints on the IL. This is his first trip to the IL this season, but that's not to say he hasn't been dealing with his share of bumps and bruises.
In addition to the calf, Wong was hit in the right elbow and between the shoulder blades by pitches on the last homestand.
He's also had a swollen left thumb caused by an early season jam shot, and revealed he's been playing with torn cartilage in each shoulder that dates to his playing days with the St. Louis Cardinals.
"You learn how to find different slots to throw out of it and stuff like that," he said. "Part of it when you play the game this long."
Milwaukee also made a bullpen move, recalling right-hander Peter Strzelecki from Nashville and optioning out right-hander Luke Barker.
"We're down six pitchers off our major-league staff, and four bullpen guys," Counsell said. "Really, all of them are essentially bullpen, so we've struggled in that part of the game a little bit lately.
"It's an area where Peter's the next guy up, and we'll give him a shot to get some outs."
David Stearns joining Brewers on road trip, not using injuries as excuse for losing streak
President of baseball operations David Stearns is accompanying the Brewers on the entirety of their three-city, nine-game road trip, which isn't unusual in the least.
Before Saturday's game he provided his take on his team's seven-game losing streak, which is its longest since July 11-20, 2018.
"We haven't played well for the last 10 days or so," he said. "I think it's been a variety of aspects of our team. I'm not sure there's one segment of our team that we can look at and say the last 10 days has played up to its capabilities or what we'd expect.
"We also recognize that this happens almost every year, that you go through a stretch where you don't play well. You're going to lose games when you don't play well, and that's what's happened here.
"The key for us is, we've got to snap out of it and we've got to get back to the type of consistent baseball that we were playing for the majority of the season. And if we do that, we'll be just fine."
While acknowledging that the Brewers' ever-growing IL has played a large role in the team's recent slide, Stearns indicated it can't be used as an excuse.
"That contributes to it," he said. "But every team goes through injuries and every team goes through tough stretches in their schedule. So, what we're facing really isn't any different than what every team is going to have to go through during the course of the year."
In the 1-9 stretch entering Saturday, the Brewers were batting a collective .204 with six home runs while scoring just 29 runs (2.9 per game).
"I think we've been inconsistent there," Stearns said. "I think our approach for the most part throughout the season has been really good. We're for the most part swinging at strikes and not swinging at balls.
"Clearly, we started off a little slower than we would have liked. We hit a stretch where we're, I think, a very good and consistent offensive team for about a month. And now over the last 10-14 days we just haven't scored quite as consistently as we need to."
Brandon Woodruff progressing as he deals with Raynaud's Syndrome
Brandon Woodruff, who's dealing with Raynaud's Syndrome, threw off a mound before Saturday's game and termed the session "positive."
Woodruff threw only fastballs and changeups, however, with sliders and curveballs the next hurdle he needs to clear to be able to progress to pitching in games. And those can't be attempted in earnest until Woodruff regains the feeling in his index, middle and ring fingers on his right hand.
"How quickly the medication takes full effect and allows him to get back to 100%, we don't know," Stearns said. "I do think our medical staff is confident that we're on the right track here and we know how to help him through this."
While unusual, Stearns said he's heard of some cases of Raynaud's Syndrome in baseball previously. Woodruff said Friday one of his current teammates dealt with it a few seasons ago and recovered.
"I have heard of it," Stearns said. "I don't think it's particularly common, but I have heard of it. We know that there's a treatment that works, and so now it's just giving that treatment some time."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers make roster moves as Kolten Wong goes on injured list
