Abner Uribe injury news continues Brewers' brutal stretch of roster setbacks

The Milwaukee Brewers are having to navigate a grueling stretch of 17 straight games without an off-day, which includes two West Coast road trips, while injuries to key players continue to surface.

Already with Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt on the injured list as the result of a shoulder injury and a hamstring strain, respectively, the Brewers lost Joey Ortiz for several games due to a bout of neck tightness, and Brice Turang missed Thursday's series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers due to pain in his left knee. During this daunting stretch, which will finally end with a day off on Monday following the completion of their four-game series against the Dodgers, the Brewers have been forced to get creative with their defensive alignment. The Brewers' starting infield group during their victory over the Dodgers on Thursday night included Andrew Vaughn at 3B (3 starts at the position this year), David Hamilton at 2B (5 starts), and Gary Sánchez at 1B (5 starts).

That said, while the Brewers' position player group has been banged up as of late, their pitching staff, has largely remained healthy in recent weeks. However, just moments ago, that changed, as the Brewers announced that elite set-up man Abner Uribe is being placed on the IL, retroactively to August 11, due to a right forearm flexor strain. Right-hander Grant Anderson has been recalled from Triple-A to replace Uribe in the Brewers' bullpen.

Brewers place Abner Uribe on IL with flexor strain as injuries continue to pile up

It's another devastating blow for the Brewers, who have now seen four different players miss games due to injury during this ridiculous scheduling stretch. Uribe, who hadn't pitched since Sunday, when he tossed a 33-pitch scoreless eighth inning in the Brewers' win over the Twins, has been on an absolute tear over the last two months. The flame-throwing right-hander hasn't allowed a run since June 19, compiling 21 straight scoreless appearances.

Overall, Uribe has a stellar 2.05 ERA in 49 appearances this season and ranks 6th in the National League with 18 holds, despite serving as the Brewers' closer for a stretch during the early parts of the season. His incredible 55.6% ground-ball rate ranks in the 94th percentile among qualified relievers, and his 1.6% barrel rate ranks in the 99th. Any way you spin it, Uribe has been dominant this season, especially since the calendar flipped to June.

Therefore, his absence in the Brewers' bullpen will be a difficult one to replace. It puts more pressure and stress on arms like Aaron Ashby, Chad Patrick, and Trevor Megill, who are seemingly atop Murphy's trust tree at the current moment. Flexor strains are scary injuries for pitchers, but it's not yet known just how severe Uribe's is. It should be encouraging that the Brewers waited several days to place Uribe on the IL, indicating that they maybe thought he could avoid an IL stint before ultimately deciding to make the move. Notably, Megill suffered a flexor strain in late August of last year and returned one month later, shortly before the postseason began. Stay tuned for more updates on the severity of Uribe's injury.

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