Lucroy expected to miss 4-6 weeks with broken toe

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers anticipate being without catcher Jonathan Lucroy for the next four to six weeks because of the severity of his broken left toe, which Lucroy detailed in a statewide radio interview Tuesday.

"It's fractured right in half," Lucroy said on the Bill Michaels Sports Network. "You just have to kind of leave it alone and let it heal on its own.

"We're going to let it get fully healed, though. The doctor said I would be feeling pretty good after a while; I won't be on crutches too long. But we have to let it fully fill in and heal because of all the squatting I do, and when you hit obviously you torque against it, and when you run you 'explode' off your feet. So this is something that has to fully heal and fully fill in with bone before you can really get after it again. If you reinjure it, you can be out even longer. It's not worth it."

Lucroy was hurt on a foul tip during Monday's loss to the Reds and knew almost immediately that the injury was serious. After an X-ray confirmed the fracture, Juan Centeno was removed from a game at Triple-A Colorado Springs and informed he was being promoted to the Major Leagues.

Video: CIN@MIL: Lucroy and Braun on Lucroy going to DL

Centeno arrived Tuesday as the backup to incumbent starter Martin Maldonado.

"Defensively, Maldy's great," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "[But] it's been the offense that we need to get going, and 'Luc' is such a great offensive player. That's why this hurts so much."

The good news, Roenicke noted, is that Maldonado filled in ably for Lucroy in 2012 while Lucroy was on the disabled list with a broken hand. Maldonado set career highs across the board that year with 78 games played and a .266/.321/.408 slash line.

"You can't put pressure on yourself," Maldonado said. "I just have to go out there and do the same thing I always do. We have to try to do our best to win every game. … I know my role here. We have one of the best catchers in the league. He's a guy that can do both things -- catch and hit, too. You never are expecting this, this early in the season, especially after he came back from the hamstring injury fast enough to be ready for Opening Day."

Centeno, claimed off waivers from the Mets in October, has appeared in 14 Major League games over the past two seasons. He left a 3-8 Colorado Springs Sky Sox team to join the 2-11 Brewers.

"We feel the same down there right now. We have about the same record, but we just kept playing hard," Centeno said. "We just keep doing what [we need to] do and the wins are going to come. It isn't going to stay like this forever."