Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun will be placed on the 10-day disabled list with a strained back.
Per MLB.com, Braun was out of the Brewers lineup on Saturday against the Braves but appeared as a pinch hitter in the ninth. The Brewers lost to the Braves 5-1.
Catcher Manny Pina will join Braun on the 10-day DL with a left biceps strain. Pina suffered the strain in his second at-bat of Friday's game against the Braves.
Braun is batting .235 with 10 home runs, 35 RBIs, and an OPS of .711. But in his last seven games, he has struggled mightily going 3 for 22 (.136) with one home run and only two RBIs.
Braun was reluctant to let this injury take him away from the field especially with the Brewers holding a 1.5-game lead over the Cubs for first place in the National League Central standings. But this injury reached a point where he couldn't swing the bat without feeling pain.
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"[Manager Craig] Counsell talked to me after the game yesterday, and where we're at as a team and the timing of it, the fact that I've been dealing with this for a while now, we just felt like it was the right thing to do," Braun said. "I irritated it a little bit again the other day to the point where it's painful to swing.
"I've played through these intercostal-type things plenty of times, but once it gets to that point, you have to shut it down. Sometimes it's two days, sometimes it's 10 days. You just don't know."
If injuries could come at a good time, this would be one of them as the Brewers will play against two struggling teams this week— the Miami Marlins and Pittsburg Pirates— before the All-Star break.
There is a piece of good news for the Brewers, outfielder Lorenzo Cain was activated from the DL on Saturday. Cain was placed on the 10-day DL on June 27, 2018, with a left groin strain. Before being placed on the DL, the 32-year-old was batting .291 with eight home runs, 26 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases.
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