The Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins are back at it for their series finale. It’ll be the rubber match as the two teams have split the first two games so far.
The Brewers made some roster moves prior to this game, however, due to injuries. Last night, Joey Ortiz left early with neck tightness, so there were concerns as to whether or not he’d need an IL stint. Pat Murphy said Ortiz was day-to-day with his injury, but also shared with the media pregame that Cooper Pratt was dealing with a hamstring issue and was getting an MRI.
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A little while later, about 40 minutes prior to first pitch, the Brewers officially placed Pratt on the injured list with a right hamstring strain. To take his place, the Brewers selected infielder Ji-Hwan Bae to the active roster after signing him to a minor league deal this morning. To make room on the 40 man roster, the Brewers designated Drew Rom for assignment.
It’s a tough break for the Brewers infield, now losing both of their top shortstop options to injury. Ortiz is still on the active roster and has not been placed on the IL yet, but there’s still concern for his availability. With this being a day game after the injuries were suffered last night, it may have been difficult to arrange travel in time for someone already in the system. It’s likely Bae was one of the first available players the Brewers found that could get to Milwaukee in time for the game today.
With no Pratt and no Ortiz, that leaves the Brewers thin on the left side of the infield, which is why Andrew Vaughn is starting at third base for today’s game. He’s played there in some late-game emergency situations before, but this is the first start Vaughn has had there with the Brewers and just the second time he’s started at third base in his career. The lone other time came in 2021 with the White Sox when he was a rookie.
The lineup is not only missing Ortiz and Pratt, but there’s also no Garrett Mitchell and no Christian Yelich in the order either. The two left-handed hitters get the day off against the left-handed Connor Prielipp of the Twins.
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Prielipp, the pride of Tomah, WI, has a 4.75 ERA on the season with a 3-5 record. He’ll be dueling against the Brewers ace, Jacob Misiorowski.
Misiorowski is 11-5 with a 1.63 ERA on year and is five strikeouts shy of 200 on the season. He’ll have Gary Sanchez behind the dish for him today, which has only happened a small handful of times this year.
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