The Brewers welcomed back a key piece ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Mariners at American Family Field.
Brice Turang, who missed all of Milwaukee’s four-game series against the Dodgers from Thursday-Sunday in Los Angeles, is in Tuesday’s lineup, leading off and playing second base.
Dealing with recurring pain in his left knee, Turang underwent an MRI scan in early August that showed no structural damage. But after the pain intensified during the Brewers’ Aug. 10-12 series in San Diego, Turang was held out for the entirety of the club’s series win in L.A.
He met his goal of being back in the fold on Tuesday, but the Brewers will have to be careful with their star second baseman.
“It's something we’ve got to manage,” manager Pat Murphy said. “We've got to manage his workload. We got to manage his pregame. He's a tireless worker pregame. He's, like, old school pregame, every BP, every ground ball session, extra BP, extra in the cage. We want to collaborate with him.”
With strong defense, a .266/.358/.408 slash line, 16 home runs and a team-high 75 RBIs, Turang’s 5.3 Baseball-Reference WAR ranks third among National League position players. Holding a 4 1/2-game lead in the NL Central, the Brewers will have to be careful with Turang to keep him healthy down the stretch and for what the club hopes is another deep postseason run.