Brewers rookie infielder out for extended period of time with back injury

The injury bug strikes again and it'll be another extended absence for a Brewers player. Oliver Dunn is going to be missing quite a bit of time.

The Brewers pulled back Dunn's optional assignment to Triple-A and instead placed him on the 10 day injured list on Wednesday, retroactive to June 19th with a back strain.

Ahead of Saturday's game against the Cubs, Brewers manager Pat Murphy confirmed that Dunn would be out for a minimum of four weeks with a "disc issue" in his back.

Oliver Dunn set for lengthy absence with disc injury in back

The Brewers acquired Oliver Dunn from the Phillies this past offseason in exchange for two solid prospects, Robert Moore and Hendry Mendez. Dunn was able to crack the Opening Day roster to make his MLB debut and has been up and down with the big league club a couple of times.

Prior to getting hurt, Dunn appeared in 41 games and accrued 104 plate appearances, posting a .221/.282/.316 slash line with two doubles, two triples, and a homer. His underwhelming .597 OPS and 38.5% strikeout rate were limiting his playing time opportunities, especially as Joey Ortiz ran away with and claimed the everyday third base job.

Dunn's injury leaves Andruw Monasterio as the primary backup to Ortiz at third base. Monasterio has taken advantage of his chances lately, hitting a walk off single on Wednesday. He's been in the starting lineup the last few days. Tyler Black is on the active roster and has prior experience at third base but hasn't played there much this season. Sal Frelick has also continued to take ground balls over at third base, a project he started in the offseason and during spring training before it had to be abandoned following Garrett Mitchell's injury.

Garrett Mitchell is set to soon return to the active roster following his rehab assignment and that could push Frelick to playing at third base more, especially as Ortiz continues to deal with a stiff neck.

It's an unfortunate break for Dunn that he'll miss so much time with a back injury and it just adds to the long list of injured Brewers. Dunn joins the list of 18 different Brewers who have spent time on the IL now this year. The Brewers do seem to be in solid position to withstand his absence due to the wealth of position player depth and versatility they have on the roster.