2021 Milwaukee Brewers: Early Season Injury Crisis

2021 Milwaukee Brewers: Current Injured List (9)

As it currently stands, Anderson joins a nine-man injury list, with varying degrees of severity. Out of these nine guys, there are at least four or five who could have an impact on the current team. So let"s have a look at who is on it in return-to-play order.

Christian Yelich – Back (expected around April 26th)

The standout guy for the 2021 Milwaukee Brewers. This injury was always going to be key to how the Brewers move forward in 2021. Although he is scheduled to come off of the list in a few days, there may be some speculation of keeping him on the list longer.

Yelich was averaging .333 before he was activated on the 10-day IL due to back soreness. The Brewers were always going to miss what his bat brings, and that is evident when looking at the last article on the Early Season Update. This showed they lacked bats in their current line-up. They are averaging a measly .209 throughout their roster, something that isn"t good enough when trying to compete.

Derek Fisher – Hamstring (expected around April 28th)

Fisher has yet to make an appearance for the 2021 Milwaukee Brewers in the current season. He injured his left hamstring and put on the 10-day IL back on March 14th. He had tightness in his hamstring which has clearly been worse than initially expected.

Fisher was traded to the Brewers in February for an initial PTBNL and cash considerations. He had been averaging .273 in Spring Training, on the back of a .226 shortened season with the Blue Jays. Although Fisher may not have played many games for the Brewers due to the stacked outfield, there would have been a possibility for starts due to the recent injury crisis.

Brett Anderson – Knee (expected around April 28th)

The latest 2021 Milwaukee Brewers casualty, Anderson picked up an injury to his left knee in his most recent start against the Cubs. There will be investigations into the injury problem before a definitive expected date is announced but he looked to be in some pain as he left the field.

With a 2.65 ERA heading into the game with the Cubs, he allowed six runs in a manic first inning by the Brewers. This ruined a solid start to the season for the veteran, who had picked up a couple of good wins as well as his decent ERA.

Jace Peterson – Thumb (expected around May 2nd)

Just as Kolten Wong was being re-instated after his spell on the injured list, Peterson found himself on it. The stand-in 2B, through Wong"s injury, had discomfort in his left thumb and was consequently put on the 10-day IL. He had been hitting a bit of form before his injury, averaging .208 with a couple of home runs. Despite his average not being the best, he still found himself hitting a couple of bombs back-to-back and picking up four RBIs.

Lorenzo Cain – Quads (expected around May 4th)

LoCain found himself on the injury list just before Yelich did. Confirmed as a strain after Tuesday"s loss, Cain will see some time on the injured list. After averaging just .154 with a couple of home runs, Cain started his comeback season very slowly. We all know how much of a good hitter he can be and that is what the 2021 Milwaukee Brewers will be hoping will happen when he re-appears in the near future. In a season that should show healthy competition between the outfielders, he joins a list that contains two other outfielders.

Tim Lopes – Oblique (expected around May 31st)

Bobby Wahl – Oblique (expected around June 3rd)

Justin Topa – Elbow (expected around July 1st)

Mark Mathias – Shoulder (expected around July 1st)

Plenty of other names were already on the list before the big-name hitters joined them. Lopes and Wahl with oblique injuries, Topa suffered a right elbow flexor strain and joins Lopes on the 60-day list. Mathias had been averaging .308 in Spring Training before his injury struck.

2021 Milwaukee Brewers: Has the IL hampered the Brewers?

Although the list hadn"t contained as many top players, there are still everyday players with parts to play during this normal season. Fisher, Mathias, and Peterson would have been in and around it, whilst Cain and Yelich are main starters.

The bats have been severely hampered so far this season, with the batting average being low, and the strikeout percentage being high throughout the team. There"s a considerable amount of time left this season, so plenty of these will make some sort of appearance this year.

With a fully healthy Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich, the 2021 Milwaukee Brewers should be firing on all cylinders. As it stands that isn"t happening and not enough players are stepping up due to the losses of these two in particular.

That being said all teams should be able to win without a handful of players, it just happens to be consistently going with a drop in quality from the bats.

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