MILWAUKEE — With a bevy of injuries and offensive struggles plaguing the Milwaukee Brewers through the first two months of the season, it has often seemed the team has taken one step forward only to take two steps back.
And on Wednesday, that pattern continued. Pitcher Marco Estrada opened the first inning with two strikeouts, sweeping through the first three batters in the San Francisco Giants order. But as Estrada batted bottom of the inning, hitting a two-run double down the third base line, he accelerated out of the batter's box and "felt a pop" in his right quad. The injury was initially called a right hip flexor strain, but Estrada said after the game that he thought it was more of a quad injury.
Either way, as Estrada slowly labored off the field, the Brewers were forced to deal with another potentially damaging loss due to injury. Estrada, the team's No. 5 starter, had an MRI Wednesday night to determine the severity of the latest ailment, and general manager Doug Melvin said on WTMJ Radio Thursday morning that the pitcher would miss three or four turns in the rotation.
After the game, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke didn't sound overtly optimistic about Estrada's status.
"It's not just a slight thing," Roenicke said. "He was hoping it would go away and it didn't go away. He strained it. I just don't know how bad."
Now, the Brewers' pitching staff will be forced to stretch even further than it already has. Initial fifth starter Chris Narveson was lost for the season in April with a torn rotator cuff. Roenicke acknowledged that the team's pitching depth is not capable of properly dealing with a serious injury to Estrada. But there are options Roenicke and the Brewers' front office have discussed if Estrada needs to miss his next start.
"We'll try to get some help, probably in the bullpen, and figure out who will pitch," Roenicke said. "We could do it with our bullpen. . . . We'll see what we do there."
For Estrada, who had an 0-3 record with 4.50 ERA in 36 innings pitched this season, the injury was especially frustrating, considering how depleted and overworked the Brewers pitching staff is.
"It's unfortunate, man," Estrada said. "It's really bad timing how this happened. I don't know how this happened or why. . . . Hopefully it's nothing serious. . . . Hopefully we get some positive feedback."
With Estrada out of the game, the Brewers were forced to go to their bullpen for the game's eight remaining innings. And despite the fact that the bullpen had pitched 28 out of the team's 61 innings in this week's home stand, Milwaukee's relievers were able to string together one of their best showings of the season — racking up a team total of 15 strikeouts.
But with Estrada gone, that bullpen could be in for even more work in the coming weeks.
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