Gennett leaves club to assess oblique injury
CHICAGO -- Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett was back in Milwaukee on Wednesday for further evaluation after right oblique tightness caused his scratch from Tuesday's lineup.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Gennett is seeing team physician William Raasch. Counsell didn't say it definitively, but the decision to send Gennett to Milwaukee is an indication the injury could be more than a day-to-day problem.
"If we send him to Milwaukee ... we sent him to Milwaukee to see Dr. Raasch," Counsell said.
Gennett felt the oblique tightness in the batting cages Tuesday and was scratched about 30 minutes before first pitch. He is hitting .258 with four home runs and a .361 on-base percentage.
Right-hander Corey Knebel is on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain, and right-hander Matt Garza is also on the DL with a right lat strain, a somewhat similar injury.
"It seems to be a more common injury in baseball the last couple of years, but I don't have any explanation for it," Counsell said.
Counsell and the Brewers learned last year how careful teams must be when players are coming back from these type of injuries. Right-handed starter Wily Peralta went on the DL with a left oblique strain last May, but the injury lingered and led to him being shut down in September.
"You've got to be cautious, for sure," Counsell said. "It's involved in every movement you make in baseball."