Brewers' injury woes continue, RHP Eric Yardley latest to head to injured list

Prior to Saturday’s game, the Brewers placed right-hander Eric Yardley on the 10-day injured list (placement retroactive to April 30) due to a right shoulder strain.  An extreme grounder specialist, Yardley posted a 1.80 ERA over 35 innings with the Padres and Brewers in 2019-20, but struggled to a 5.73 ERA over his first 11 innings of 2021.

Yardley is the seventh pitcher and the 16th player overall on an incredibly crowded Milwaukee injured list.  Despite missing so many key players, the Brewers are still 16-10 and in first place in the NL Central, though one wonders if the loss of healthy manpower will eventually catch up to the team.  

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy provided a rundown of known or estimated return dates for the 16 players, with a few unknowns based on a lack of information (such as Corbin Burnes’ placement on the COVID-19 injured list).

More on some injury situations from around baseball…

• Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk left Saturday’s game due to left hip flexor discomfort.  Kirk was just 24 hours removed from his biggest performance of the season, hitting two homers in the Jays’ 13-5 victory over the Braves on Friday.  For the year, Kirk is hitting .225/.326/.475 over 46 PA, good for a 127 wRC+.  Danny Jansen would assume starting duties in Kirk’s absence, and since Toronto has an open 40-man roster spot, Reese McGuire or veteran Juan Graterol could be selected to the roster in the event of an IL visit for Kirk.  (Riley Adams and Gabriel Moreno are the only catchers on the 40-man but neither has any MLB experience.)
• In better injury news for the Blue Jays, manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters, including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, that Ross Stripling is expected to start against the Braves on Sunday.  Stripling hasn’t pitched since April 8 due to a flexor strain, and given his absence, his outing tomorrow is probably likely to be limited to a few innings rather than a full starter’s workload.