Christian Yelich left Sunday’s game with left hamstring tightness, putting another hit on a Brewers lineup that had already been asked to carry too much through the first two weeks of the season. Pat Murphy said after the game that the injury would likely be bad news, and Milwaukee went into Tuesday’s series opener against the Blue Jays still trying to steady itself after a sweep by the Nationals and three straight losses before that.
The Brewers entered the matchup at 8-7, tied with the Cardinals for third place in the NL Central, and they were coming off a weekend in which Jake Bauers and Gary Sánchez each homered. Both have four home runs on the season. Even with that burst, Milwaukee’s offense has been uneven, hitting.236/.339/.387 as a team with 16 home runs, 80 runs scored and 24 steals, while Brice Turang has been the most productive regular at.298/.441/.617 with three homers, four doubles, one triple, nine RBIs, 14 runs scored and five steals in 13 games.
Toronto arrived at American Family Field tied for last in the AL East with the Red Sox at 6-9, with 57 runs scored and 82 allowed for a minus-25 run differential. The Blue Jays were also dealing with a long injury list that has hollowed out both the lineup and the pitching staff: George Springer went on the injured list over the weekend with a toe fracture and is expected to miss at least the minimum 10 days, Tyler Heineman is day-to-day with back spasms, Addison Barger should be back in the next week or so from an ankle sprain, Alejandro Kirk is out until May with a thumb fracture, and Anthony Santander could miss the entire season with an ACL sprain. On the mound and in the bullpen, Trey Yesavage is expected back in late April, Shane Bieber in late May, José Berríos is out until May, Yimi García should return in late April, Bowden Francis is out for the season and Ricky Tiedemann is week to week.
The Blue Jays still have a few bats keeping the club from going completely quiet. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting.321/.446/.434, Ernie Clement has 19 hits in 15 games and is batting.311, and five Toronto players are tied for the team lead with two home runs. But the club that entered the year as the reigning AL champion has spent the first 15 games giving up too many runs and not scoring enough to cover the damage. That leaves this series with Milwaukee as more than a mid-April meeting of teams trying to climb out of slow starts; it is a test of whether either roster can stay upright long enough to make its early numbers matter.
For the Brewers, the problem is immediate. Yelich’s status is unsettled, and Murphy’s tone suggested the injury could be significant. For Toronto, the issue is wider. Springer’s absence matters, but so do the others around him, and the Blue Jays have to find runs while patching together the rest of the roster. Tuesday offered both teams a chance to reset. It also made plain how little margin either side has if the injuries keep piling up.
