MIAMI — The Milwaukee Brewers say there’s no update yet on Christian Yelich’s broken right kneecap.
Yelich was back in Milwaukee on Wednesday for further tests, a day after the reigning NL MVP was hurt when he fouled a ball off himself during a game in Miami.
“The hope is we can provide an update (Thursday),” Brewers Manager Craig Counsell said.
The team said after Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss that the star outfielder would miss the rest of the regular season. They didn’t say whether Yelich might be able to return for the playoffs that begin Oct. 1 if they make it that far. Milwaukee was one game behind the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild-card spot entering Wednesday’s games.
Yelich is hitting .329 with 44 home runs and 97 RBI along with 30 stolen bases. He leads the majors in slugging percentage and OPS.
Mike Moustakas celebrated his 31st birthday by returning to the lineup Wednesday and took Yelich’s third spot in the batting order. Moustakas had been sidelined since Sept. 5 because of a sprained left wrist. He is hitting .260 with 31 homers and a .571 slugging percentage.
“Any time any member of your team gets hurt, especially with an injury that takes you out for the rest of the season, it’s devastating,” Moustakas said. “For it to happen to Yeli, obviously our best player and one of the best players in baseball, it’s devastating. There are no other words to describe it.”
“But on the other side of things, we have to figure out ways to make up for his production and that is obviously an incredible task for how great a competitor he is,” he said.
METS: Manager Mickey Callaway says it is “likely” that Noah Syndergaard will pitch to catcher Wilson Ramos on Friday in his first start since Syndergaard’s misgivings over Ramos’ defense became public.
Callaway said Wednesday that Ramos would sit out Thursday afternoon in the series finale against Arizona, setting up New York’s primary backstop to start Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The New York Post reported Monday that Syndergaard and his agents have lobbied to let the right-hander pitch to backups Tomás Nido or René Rivera.
Callaway says he plans to make lineups that are best for the team, and that means keeping the hot-hitting Ramos in the lineup as often as possible, including Friday.
“That’s something that’s a likely possibility,” Callaway said.
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