The Milwaukee Brewers entered Friday’s contest against the Washington Nationals in first place in the National League Central. Alas, the Brewers will have to continue to hold off the Chicago Cubs without one of their most talented players, as Milwaukee placed outfielder Jackson Chourio on the injured list (retroactive to July 30) with what’s described as a right hamstring strain.
Chourio’s vacated spot on the 26-player roster was filled by fellow outfielder Brandon Lockridge, who the Brewers obtained ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline when they sent left-hander Nestor Cortes to the San Diego Padres.
Chourio, 21, suffered the injury on Tuesday while legging out a triple. In his first 106 games this season, he had hit .276/.311/.474 (119 OPS+) with 17 home runs and 18 stolen bases. His contributions had been worth an estimated 2.3 Wins Above Replacement, according to the calculations housed at Baseball Reference.
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The Brewers, for their part, did not offer a concrete timetable to reporters on when they expect Chourio to return to the lineup. Instead, they conceded that the injury is more severe than they hoped, and that he’ll miss more than the 10-day minimum. Baseball Prospectus’ injury database suggests that players tend to miss 27 days on average because of strained hamstrings. While every injury and recovery is unique in its own way, it seems possible Chourio could miss most of August before returning to the lineup.
Lockridge, 28, is a career .210/.248/.280 hitter (47 OPS+) with a home run and 10 stolen bases in 59 big-league games. He is regarded as a plus defensive player, however, a dynamic owed in part to his impressive speed. He entered Friday ranked in the 99th percentile in sprint speed, according to Statcast.
