Brewers Place Rickie Weeks on DL

Added on Jul 29, 2011 by Scott in

MLB

Milwaukee Brewers All-Star second baseman Rickie Weeks has been placed on the 15-day disabled list after spraining his left ankle in Wednesday’s win against the Cubs. He suffered the injury while beating out a throw to first base. He’s expected to miss anywhere from two to six weeks, depending on how long it takes the ankle to fully heal.

Manager Ron Roenicke wasn’t clear on when Weeks will return to the lineup.

“Some guys come back in two weeks and other guys, it’s going to take six,” Roenicke said. “Part of Rickie’s game is speed on defense, speed on the base paths. Until he’s right, it’s going to be hard to put him out there because of the way he plays.”

The 28-year-old Weeks is enjoying a breakout season in 2011. In 104 games, he is hitting .272 with 19 home runs and 43 RBI and earned his first All-Star appearance in eight major league seasons. He was on pace to eclipse his career highs in homers (29) and RBI (83), which he set a year ago.

Veteran Craig Counsell will take over duties at second in Weeks’ absence for now. However, the 40-year-old utility player is batting a pathetic .150 in 73 games thus far, so Roenicke may look for other options. Infielder Eric Farris has been called up from Triple-A and Josh Wilson could slide over to second if necessary.

Another option is a trade. With Sunday’s deadline looming, the Brewers could swing a deal to give them extra infield depth, especially if Weeks is out for an extended period of time.

The Brewers are battling the Pirates, Cardinals and Reds in the compacted National League Central. They currently lead Pittsburgh and St. Louis by 1.5 games, and Cincinnati by 6.5 games.

The division will likely come down to the wire. Milwaukee has 25 games remaining versus its three rivals, including ten against the Pirates.

Source: ESPN.com