Brewers' flip-flopping on José Quintana's calf injury continues

It's been a tumultuous couple of days for the Milwaukee Brewers' veteran starting pitcher José Quintana, who left his most recent start on Sunday afternoon with a calf injury. Initially, the injury seemed to be cause for concern; Quintana reportedly left the ballpark on Sunday evening in a walking boot, and the expectation was that he would miss at least his next start, with the potential need for a stint on the IL.

The Brewers then had an off day on Monday, and when Quintana arrived at the ballpark on Tuesday ahead of the team's series opener with the Los Angeles Angels, he played catch and told MLB.com Brewers' beat reporter Adam McCalvy that his calf felt great and the MRI that he had on Sunday evening didn't show a significant injury.

Spirits were high in regard to Quintana's injury on Tuesday night, and there was even a possibility that he would make his next start, which was scheduled for this weekend in St. Louis. With the Brewers needing to provide rest for some of their relief pitchers down the stretch, not losing Quintana for the final two weeks of the season appeared to be a huge break for Milwaukee.

However, ahead of Wednesday night's game, Quintana was asked to run on the field and see how his calf responded to the movement, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Curt Hogg. Things didn't go according to plan, and Quintana has now been placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to September 15.

José Quintana ultimately placed on injured list after days of uncertainty, Nick Mears reinstated from IL

Despite being retroactively placed on the 15-day IL, the decision still means that Quintana's regular season is over, as the Brewers will play their final regular season game on September 28. Quintana is still eligible to rejoin the Brewers' roster ahead of their first postseason series, and given the fact that he nearly avoided an IL stint, he should be more than ready when that time comes.

If there can be a silver lining to losing an important starting pitcher with just 11 games left in the regular season, it's that the Brewers replaced Quintana with a key reliever who has been out since September 5. In the corresponding roster move, the Brewers have activated Nick Mears from the 15-day IL and added him back to their short-handed bullpen.

Mears is an important piece of the Brewers' bullpen, so his return to the active roster is certainly a welcomed development. He has made an impressive 59 appearances this season and maintained a solid 3.42 ERA. He has the ability to cover high-leverage situations at the back-end of games and close out the starting pitchers' outing should they need it in the middle innings. He's a versatile reliever who had an excellent postseason a year ago.

Even still, it's a tough move to swallow for the Brewers, who are no stranger to late-season injuries. Losing Quintana means the Crew will likely have to call upon either Chad Patrick, Erick Fedde, or perhaps Robert Gasser for a spot start or two down the stretch. In doing so, the Brewers will lose one of their multi-inning relievers from the bullpen, who were supposed to offer relief for the other relievers in the 'pen in the final days of the regular season.