Milwaukee Brewers anxiously await injury update on their second-year shortstop

Thursday was a really good day for the Milwaukee Brewers, with one exception. While the team earned a huge win over their NL Central foe, the Chicago Cubs, and secured their 80th win of the season, Milwaukee's second-year shortstop, Joey Ortiz, suffered a hamstring injury while running out a groundout to third base in the fifth inning and had to be removed from the game. According to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, Ortiz is set to undergo an MRI prior to Friday night's series opener with the San Francisco Giants.

The hamstring injury wasn't the only injury that Ortiz suffered during the five-game series at Wrigley Field. In the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader, Ortiz fouled a pitch off his right knee and suffered a bone bruise. However, the injury wasn't severe enough for Ortiz to miss time, as he was back in the starting lineup on Wednesday night.

Hamstring injuries are notoriously fickle and can linger for a while depending on their severity. Even minor hamstring strains, like the one that Sal Frelick suffered last month, can lead to a stint on the injured list. Frelick ended up missing just seven games due to his hamstring strain, but that was because his stint on the IL overlapped with the All-Star Break. Should Ortiz need an IL stint, the best-case scenario is that the Brewers are without their everyday shortstop for just 10 games.

Should Ortiz's injury lead to an IL stint, concerns exist regarding how the Brewers will replace the second-year shortstop in their everyday lineup.

Brewers awaiting injury update on Joey Ortiz, concerns exist with his potential replacement

Losing Ortiz to an IL stint would certainly present some difficult decisions for Pat Murphy and Matt Arnold in regard to who replaces him at shortstop. While Ortiz may not be having the best season at the plate, replacing his glove in the field would be far more difficult.

Not only does Ortiz lead the Brewers with 10 Outs Above Average (OAA), but Milwaukee doesn't roster another true shortstop. Brice Turang and Caleb Durbin have both spent limited time at shortstop throughout the season, but the former suffered arm fatigue when he tried to flip over from second base during spring training and the latter hasn't played much shortstop since his college days at Washington University.

The Brewers would likely elect to have Andruw Monasterio fill in at the shortstop position for Ortiz, but that move presents issues on both sides of the ball. Monasterio is a below-average defender at shortstop, meaning he would be a significant downgrade from the sure-handed Ortiz on defense. Meanwhile, despite Monasterio having a really strong month of August at the plate, prior to the month beginning, he was slashing .184/.259/.286 on the season, which is worse than Ortiz's underwhelming offensive output this season.

Ortiz might not be having the best season, but losing him to an IL stint could be detrimental to the Brewers' success in the foreseeable future. The team would either be forced to move Turang and Durbin from their respective positions where they have spent all season, or replace Ortiz with a replacement who comes with some question marks. Hopefully, Ortiz's hamstring injury doesn't end up requiring a stay on the IL. News on the severity of his injury should drop before tonight's game, so stay tuned for more information.