BOSTON – Brewers second baseman Brice Turang sat out a second consecutive game Wednesday in an effort to calm the left ankle tendinitis that has slowed him for the past week or so, but said he expects to be back in the starting lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Nationals at home.
“We’re just trying to get me off my feet for a couple days,” Turang said. “This rolls into an off day, so it will be three days and then I’ll be ready to roll on Friday. Just trying to get it knocked out, get it out of the foot.”
Manager Pat Murphy indicated he does not expect the issue to require a roster move for Turang, the Brewers’ reigning club MVP who played for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
According to Turang, the tenderness started in Spring Training and “slowly but surely came along.” When it became clear it would not resolve on its own, the Brewers decided it was best to sit for a few days.
“Turang’s playing on one leg and he hasn’t got great numbers on this road trip, but he’s helped us win,” Murphy said. “He’s been on base, he’s played defense. He’s a threat when he’s taking his walks, which is crucial for what he needs to do.”
Health is a high priority at the moment for the Brewers, who got off to a hot start in spite of some key losses, beginning with right-hander Quinn Priester’s thoracic outlet syndrome in Spring Training. Priester opened the season on the 15-day injured list.
Then the team placed budding star outfielder Jackson Chourio to the 10-day IL on the morning of Opening Day with a fracture in his left hand, which stems from the World Baseball Classic. Two days later, they placed first baseman Andrew Vaughn on the 10-day IL with a fractured hamate bone in his left hand that required surgery. And on Monday, the Brewers put workhorse reliever Jared Koenig on the 15-day IL with a low-grade UCL sprain in his left elbow.
Chourio and Vaughn are each scheduled for follow-ups with their doctors on Thursday’s off-day. Chourio will have follow-up imaging at his visit, said the Brewers, who remain hopeful about a mid-to-late-April return. In the case of Vaughn, the hope is that he will receive clearance to advance to the next stage of his rehabilitation. The club estimates a mid-May return.
Those injured hitters were especially missed on a day like Tuesday, when the Brewers matched up against left-handed Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet.
“Sometimes a guy needs a rest, and sometimes a guy needs a total day,” Murphy said. “Some particular guy might need a total day [because] he might be nursing an injury. It behooves you to just say, ‘We’ve got to live with it.’ Every team goes through it, but we’ve been hit by injuries more severely than most.”