Brewers Injury Update: Why has Jesse Winker Been Out of the Lineup?

Though the main offensive core for the Brewers was largely kept intact after last season, Milwaukee still acquired a few new position players in an effort to make the offense a little more consistent. One of those players was outfielder Jesse Winker.

After harassing Brewers pitching as a member of the Reds for five years, Winker was traded to the Mariners prior to the 2022 season. Injuries caused him to have a down year and this last offseason, he was traded to the Crew in part of a trade that sent second baseman Kolten Wong over to Seattle.

The Brewers made the move hoping that Winker would be a prime candidate for a bounce back season and early on in 2023 it looked like that could end up being the case. Then, in the team's most recent series against the Diamondbacks, he was absent from the lineup. So where has he been?

Brewers outfielder Jesse Winker has been out of the lineup due to illness.

The last time Brewers fans saw Winker was last Sunday when he went 1-for-3 with a run scored in a 6-1 victory over the rival Cardinals. But as he continued to be out of the lineup after that, fans started wondering where he was.

Well it wouldn't be a surprise if you missed it as it wasn't reported very heavily, but Winker had come down with an unspecified illness and had been away from the team. Luckily, it sounds like it might not be much longer until the Crew are able to utilize his services once again.

Last night it was reported that Winker was back with the time during last night's game against the Padres, a 4-3 win that was kicked off by Colin Rea's excellent performance in a spot start after being added to the roster. Winker's return to the team was mentioned by Adam McCalvy on Twitter prior to the game.

Winker was off to a solid start for the Brewers prior to his illness, hitting .308 with a .387 on base percentage in eight games. He also had two doubles, had driven in seven, and had scored four runs on the season.

Milwaukee has scored 3.5 runs per game without Winker in the lineup, as opposed to their 4.77 rpg on the season. With the second game of their series against the Padres on tap for later tonight, we'll see if the 29-year-old ends up back in the lineup to try and help secure a win and at least a series split before the team leaves San Diego.