Joey

Ortiz

Ortiz underwent an MRI exam that revealed nothing more than abdominal swelling. He’s also dealing with a knee contusion. If it were the postseason, it’s possible that he may have gutted it out, but with nothing to play for on Sunday it was an easy choice for the Brewers to keep him out of the lineup.

Ortiz also underwent tests on his knee, but they showed only a contusion. He seems doubtful for Sunday, but he could be ready to play in the NLDS opener.

Ortiz suffered an injury during Friday’s game against the Cards and has dealt with various ailments as of late, and the Brewers won’t take any chances. David Hamilton will handle third base and hit ninth while Ortiz sits.

Ortiz seemed to role his ankle while running the bases in the second inning. His limp then seemed to get progressively worse throughout the game before he was ultimately lifted late. It sounds like a day-to-day type of situation, but look for the Brewers to provide more clarity on Ortiz’s availability prior to Saturday’s ballgame.

Ortiz singled in two with a sixth-inning grounder. The funny thing is that he had the hardest-hit ball of the game, a 106-mph liner to left, but it was the only out he made on the night. Ortiz is hitting .417 with two homers and eight RBI in 12 games this month. His OPSs by month are .481, .565, .640, .930, .830 and 1.071.

Pratt has served as Milwaukee’s primary shortstop since arriving in the big leagues back in mid-June. It’ll be defensive standout Joey Ortiz getting the nod in his absence.

Ortiz is hitting .305/.344/.491 since the beginning of June, which is just a tad better than his .188/.287/.231 line from the first two months of the season. It looks like he’ll head into the postseason the Brewers’ starting third baseman.

Ortiz led off the sixth inning with a triple off of left-hander Sean Manaea then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cooper Pratt. He also singled in the ballgame. The 28-year-old infielder is having a solid, if unspectacular season at the plate, slashing .250/.316/.382 with seven homers, 38 RBI and nine stolen bases across 336 plate appearances.

Ortiz single-handedly tried to drag the Brewers back into this game after they fell behind 7-0 in the second inning. He hit a two-run home run in the bottom of that inning, a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and an RBI single in the 8th to make it 7-4 before their comeback attempt fell short. With Cooper Pratt back off the injured list, he’s going to be competing with David Hamilton and Andrew Vaughn for third base reps.

Pratt missed the minimum 10 days with his hamstring strain. His return will push Joey Ortiz back over to third base to split time with David Hamilton. Jonathan Ornelas sticks around for now, but he’ll probably be dropped once Sal Frelick is activated.