Gary

Sánchez

Sánchez’ home run was his sixth. He hit a two-run shot off Jaden Hill in the sixth inning. Sánchez is the backup catcher, but got the start with Christian Yelich getting the day off and William Contreras sliding into the DH spot. Sánchez is hitting .206 with a .798 OPS.

Kyle Freeland doesn’t really qualify as a tough left-hander that fantasy managers would want Yelich to sit against, but he’ll get a breather in this one as the Brewers continue to manage his workload in an effort to keep him healthy for the remainder of the season. William Contreras will serve as the team’s designated hitter in this one with Gary Sanchez working behind the plate and batting fifth for the Brewers.

It looks to be nothing more than a routine day off for the dynamic 22-year-old outfielder. William Contreras is also getting a breather for the Brewers in this one. Sal Frelick will start in right field and bat seventh while Gary Sanchez does the catching and hits sixth for the Brewers against Astros’ right-hander Tatsuya Imai on Sunday.

Contreras gets a rare day off for the middle game of the series against Los Angeles. Gary Sanchez will be the backstop and hit fifth with Robert Gasser on the bump for the Brew Crew.

Yelich, 34, will miss his fourth consecutive game — assuming he doesn’t come off the bench — while dealing with tightness in his back. William Contreras is the designated hitter, and Gary Sanchez will get the start behind the plate with Yelich unavailable.

Yelich was activated off the injured list on Tuesday after missing a month with a groin strain. Unfortunately, his back felt tight after one game, and he has now missed the last two contests. Given his history of back injuries, his absence today is a bit concerning. William Contreras will be the DH with Gary Sanchez catching, but there is a chance that we will see Yelich head back to the injured list.

If you’re going to have to get a day off, doing so against Pirates’ ace Paul Skenes isn’t the worst thing that could happen to you. Tyler Black will start in his place as the Brewers designated hitter on Friday evening and will bat cleanup.

He didn’t factor into the scoring, stranding a runner on third with nobody out in his one real chance, but Sanchez hit the ball well and took a walk. Luis Rengifo picked up the RBI on a sacrifice fly, and the Brewers would scrounge up their other run with back-to-back-to-back bunts to score a leadoff walk. Sanchez is up to a .273/.429/.758 line in his first 33 plate appearances this season. He’s certainly an interesting short-term catcher candidate with Christian Yelich’s injury opening up DH at-bats.

Yelich’s original injury designation with hamstring tightness, but imaging revealed the strain. The 34-year-old will reportedly be out until the middle of May and possibly longer. Greg Jones has called up to take Yelich’s spot on the roster, and Gary Sanchez should see most of the starts at DH for the time being.

Yelich was unable to continue after the fifth inning due to the injury, and manager Pat Murphy said after the game that there would likely be further bad news here. If Yelich lands on the IL, Jeferson Quero could be called up, allowing the Brewers to use Gary Sánchez at DH fairly regularly.