As a team barely sticking in the conversation for a wild-card berth, the Milwaukee Brewers can't afford to lose anyone at this point in the season. Unfortunately for them, clean-up hitter and third baseman Aramis Ramirez could be out a while.
Ramirez was held out of the lineup against the Marlins on Thursday due to a lower back/oblique strain he sustained Wednesday night and Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said it's a "wait-and-see" situation as to how long Ramirez will be out. The injury is serious enough, however, that the Brewers will call up infielder Taylor Green, according to a tweet from his agent.
"You always worry about those things because they can be more than what a player thinks," Roenicke told reporters Thursday, a day after Milwaukee beat the Marlins for its 13th win in 16 games. "When he says, 'I don't think it's bad; maybe just a day,' sometimes it turns into a lot more than that.
"It's part of the oblique system; it runs a long ways back there. But I think of it more as a back muscle. They don't think it's bad, so I'm hoping it's not very long. It would be a big loss."
Ramirez's absence would indeed be a big loss to a team that was 6.5 games out of the wild-card race heading into to Thursday's game. Ramirez, 34, was batting .295 with 21 home runs and 89 RBI. Until Green joins the team, the Brewers will use shortstop Jeff Bianchi at third base.
Follow Ryan Kartje on Twitter.
