Short-handed Brewers put Gennett on 15-day DL

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers added second baseman Scooter Gennett to their growing disabled list on Tuesday when it was clear Gennett would need more than a few days to recover from a laceration on the top of his left hand.

To replace Gennett, who cut his hand in the showers after Sunday's loss in Pittsburgh, the Brewers purchased utility man Elian Herrera's contract from Triple-A Colorado Springs. And to make room on the 40-man roster for Herrera, the team designated reliever Brandon Kintzler for assignment.

"When you start looking, really, at five days or more, you're really taking a lot from the team to have to play that many days short," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Seven is what they kind of said [for Gennett's hand to heal] so we just thought -- especially how things are going -- we need everybody we can have here."

When Gennett hit the 15-day DL on Tuesday, the Brewers had lost three of their eight Opening Day position players to injury in less than a week. Center fielder Carlos Gomez was placed on the DL Thursday with a strained right hamstring, and catcher Jonathan Lucroy was added Monday night after suffering a fractured big toe on his left foot.

In Herrera, the Brewers got a hot bat. He batted .422 in 11 games for the Sky Sox, with two home runs, nine RBIs and two stolen bases. His .500 on-base percentage was tied for the early lead in the Pacific Coast League.

The Brewers put Herrera right to work. He started at second base and batted second against the Reds on Tuesday night.

The removal from Milwaukee's 40-man roster continued Kintzler's fall on the depth chart. He made at least 64 appearances in the Majors in each of the past two seasons and signed a $1,075,000 one-year contract for 2015, but he was optioned to the Minors in March.