The Milwaukee Brewers cannot catch a break. Already thin on their pitching depth with the injuries to Brandon Woodruff, Wade Miley, Jakob Junis and a roster of guys from the bullpen, the Brewers dealt with the early exit on Monday due to back tightness reported by Sophia Minnaert on the Bally Sports broadcast.

The Milwaukee Brewers officially announced that Joe Ross left the game with a low back strain.

Ross left the game after just one inning in which he gave up a walk and a single but got an inning ending double play on a lineout by Jesus Sanchez. Ross threw just 15 pitches.

Jared Koenig came on in relief of Joe Ross to give Pat Murphy a bridge to the bullpen where they could see the debut of Bradley Blalock, freshly called up from the AA Biloxi Shuckers.

The injury is unfortunate as Joe Ross was starting to build some solid momentum as a starter after missing the last two seasons following his second Tommy John surgery. Thankfully Ross’ injury isn’t related to his previous elbow issues, lending hope to a potentially short timeline on recovery for Ross.

Ross had pitched pretty well over his last three games against the Pirates, Royals and Cubs. He has 16 innings pitched and allowed six earned runs with 12 strikeouts and just three walks.

The injury to Joe Ross comes at a bad time for the Brewers who are already starting Bryse Wilson in games despite him spending 2023 and the beginning of 2024 in the bullpen.

The Brewers have also already had major league debuts by Tobias Myers and Robert Gasser. Robert Gasser is almost a guarantee to be a fixture of the Brewers starting rotation for the foreseeable future and has dazzled in his first two appearances. Gasser has thrown 11 innings and allowed just one run on eight hits (all singles) with six strikeouts and one walk.

Should Joe Ross hit the injured list, Tobias Myers is likely a call up to replace him. Myers has made four starts for the Brewers this year, two good and two bad. However, his most recent start was a solid one, four innings of one run ball against the St. Louis Cardinals with six strikeouts but four walks.

DL Hall is also a candidate to help the starting rotation after pitching a rehab appearance with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Sunday and then heading to Nashville to continue rehabbing there. Hall may not be ready to step in for Ross’ next turn in the rotation but as far as the rest of 2024 is concerned, Hall will be a factor.

Other options include Aaron Ashby who is struggling a bit in AAA and Jacob Misiorowski, the hard throwing phenom also in AA where Bradley Blalock was brought up from.

Bradley Blalock was already on the Milwaukee Brewers 40-man roster, making him an understandable call up. Blalock has been starting games for the Shuckers in Biloxi. Blalock has made seven starts and pitched 35.2 innings to a 2.27 ERA with 29 strikeouts and just seven walks. If Blalock can hit the ground running for the Brewers it would be very beneficial to a team dealing with injury after injury, mostly to pitchers.

Thankfully the Brewers have gotten some positive injury news on some other players like Garrett Mitchell, DL Hall and Devin Williams.

Hopefully Joe Ross won’t be missing extended time, forcing the Brewers into already tough decisions about how to bolster the starting rotation and bullpen.

Brice Turang is having the time of his life. So are the Milwaukee Brewers thus far thanks in large part to their 24-year-old second baseman.

Pat Murphy, in his first season as Brewers manager, saw it coming. Few others did.

“I think this kid’s gonna make a quantum leap,” Murphy said on March 12 in the Brewers’ spring-training camp. “I think he’ll establish himself as an everyday player. I’m really confident.”

For five years, Turang did not show much offense. He was a good defensive player and baserunner with potential, highly touted as a first-round pick out of high school in 2018. He got a $3,411,100 signing bonus at age 18. He climbed steadily if not spectacularly through the minors, hitting .270 with only 26 homers in 434 games.

He became a Brewers starter a year ago. There wasn’t much fanfare – Turang didn’t warrant it. He hit a measly .218 in 137 games with a paltry .585 OPS (.285 on-base percentage + .300 slugging percentage). That ranked 495th in the majors.

Today, he ranks 11th in batting average (.314), 29th in on-base percentage (.369) and has a downright giddy .800 OPS, 41st overall. That’s better than such noted stars as Fernando Tatis Jr., Jose Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso, Nolan Arenado and a few hundred other players.

That is a big reason why the Brewers lead the National League Central Division with a 27-19 record. The Brew Crew is barreling along despite trading away ace pitcher Corbin Burnes, star closer Devin Williams being sidelined since mid-March with a back injury and slugging outfielder Christian Yelich limited to 20 games by a bad back. First baseman Rhys Hoskins, outfielder Joey Wiemer and pitchers DL Hall, Wade Miley and Jakob Junis are now on the injured list, too.

Short Stroke, Big Results

Turang’s turnaround was pointed out statistically by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. He found that tracking data lists Turang with the second-shortest swing in the game to two-time defending batting champion Luis Arraez.

“Short and direct, that’s what I’m trying to be every swing I take,” Turang told Hogg. “Short to it, long through it.”

That generally means making more contact at the expense of the long ball. Yet Turang already has 12 doubles, three more in 94 fewer games than he had as a rookie.

Other Young Brewers On The Rise

Turang is one of five Brewers in the regular lineup 26 or younger. The elder statesman of the group at 26, catcher William Contreras, is carrying the club. He’s third in the majors in batting (.341), tied for third in runs (40), tied for fifth in RBI (37) and seventh in OPS (.955).

His output is not as surprising. He has a .285 average and 52 homers in 340 career games for the Atlanta Braves and Brewers.

Third baseman Joey Ortiz, acquired with Hall in the deal that sent Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles, is batting .292 with 5 homers.

Jackson Chourio, the 20-year-old uber-prospect outfielder, is starting to find his way. He is batting .275 in May after a rough first 27 games in the majors when he batted only .206 with 34 strikeouts. He has only seven strikeouts in 15 games this month. He has 5 homers and a .226 average overall.

Left fielder Sal Frelick is hitting .250 but has six stolen bases. The Brewers rank third overall with 61 steals (in 71 tries), led by Turang. He’s 18-for-18.

Milwaukee ranks third in batting average, runs, RBI and fourth in homers.

Another Leap Two Years Ago

Andres Gimenez had similar numbers to Turang in the New York Mets’ farm system. Also like Turang, the native of Venezuela wowed everybody with his defense and baserunning. The question was, would he hit?

He batted .263 in 49 games after being called up in 2021, then was traded to Cleveland. Big expectations turned into big disappointment. He hit only .218 in 2021 with exceptional defense and 11 steals without being caught.

In 2022, Gimenez became an all-star at age 23. He won a gold glove, batted .297, had 17 homers, 69 RBI and went 20-for-23 in steal attempts.

Gumby Turned Out Well

For 17 years, Brewers fans enjoyed watching another contact-hitting second baseman. Jim Gantner batted .274 with only 74 homers in 1,801 games for Milwaukee from 1976 thru 1992. He didn’t claim a regular role until his fifth season when he hit .282 in 1980.

Turang has more natural athleticism than Ganter, nicknamed Gumby by teammate Gorman Thomas for the sometimes awkward but likeable cartoon character.

Gantner never won a gold glove or made an all-star team. He did hit .333 in the franchise’s only appearance in The World Series – a seven-game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982. Yet he was highly respected as the “Brew Crew Glue” that helped solidify the team for years.

Turang’s sudden improvement has him on track to surpass Gantner, though it is doubtful he’ll ever reach the status Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Paul Molitor achieved in Milwaukee.

He already has big-league bragging rights in the family, however. His father Brian hit .222 with 9 steals in 78 games for the Seattle Mariners. Dad’s numbers over eight years in the Mariners’ minors, 1989-96: .274, 45 homers, 103 steals in 673 games.

The Brewers knew the name. They had picked dad in the 20th round out of high school, but he went off to college and then was picked and signed by Seattle. They took Brice with the 21st overall pick 31 years later. It’s paying off now.