Making little progress with injury, Sogard given cortisone

Making no progress with an ankle injury that has sidelined him for more than two weeks, utility player Eric Sogard was given a cortisone injection Friday with hopes of getting over the hump.

As is customary after an injection, Sogard will remain idle for two days before trying to resume workouts.

The move was made after things did not go well during a pregame workout Friday.

“I was taking groundballs and started feeling it again,” said Sogard, who suffered a sprained left ankle when jamming on the breaks around third base in a series in Cincinnati.

“Hopefully, (the injection) is going to help. I won’t do anything for two days, then we’ll see how it feels. It has been frustrating. I wish it would be gone. Everything else feels great. I didn’t even roll it; I just kind of jammed it.

“It’s part of the game. I’m doing my best to handle it. Right now, we’re just taking it day to day.”

Sogard was called up from Class AAA Colorado Springs on May 12 and soon after took over at second base in place of slump-ridden Jonathan Villar. In 43 games, Sogard has batted .331 with a remarkable .438 on-base percentage, 22 walks and 24 runs scored.

He also played stellar defense and was a big part of the Brewers’ offensive before the ankle injury.

“Tomorrow, we’ll have to decide what’s next,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We may say we’ve got to play through it and see how it reacts. Or if we have to do further tests, that could be a step.

“Hopefully, we can take a direction after tomorrow. He has plateaued, there’s no question. We’ll see where it goes from there.”

In Sogard’s absence, Villar has been in the lineup every day in the leadoff spot, giving him a chance to shake free of his season-long slump. Entering Saturday, he had eight hits in his last 22 at-bats (.364), bumping his average to .220.

“He’s getting a good opportunity,” Counsell said. “He’s certainly capable of (doing well). He’s starting to show some signs over the past couple of weeks.”

Careful with Braun: With his grand slam Friday night in the 9-6 victory over Philadelphia, Ryan Braun showed his left calf had improved enough to make a big contribution.

But, after Braun missed more than half the games in the first half, Counsell said he’d gauge his playing status on a day-to-day basis.

“Enough has happened as we’ve gone through this that this is day to day for the rest of the year, for me,” Counsell said.

“We’ve had a couple of recurrences of it. I think it’s something we’ll have to deal with it the rest of the year.

“It has come back before, so I’m not going to say we’re in the clear. He’s going to have to be careful with it, and we are, too. We’re going to have to give him some breaks and get him out of some games, and we’ll do that.”

Counsell has talked all season about the depth on his roster, and said the Brewers’ success despite Braun’s limited action is proof of it.

“The month of May, really, was Jesús Aguilar playing instead of Ryan Braun,” Counsell said. “No offense to Ryan, but there was no difference in their production. Jesús Aguilar has produced at a pretty good level (.906 OPS in 81 games).

“We want a healthy Ryan Braun, but we’ve had success with this team because of depth and will continue to rely on it if we have to. I have no problem with that. I really believe we have good answers to withstand some things going wrong. It’s a good thing.”

Peralta on hold: Right-hander Wily Peralta, on rehab assignment (calf strain) at Colorado Springs, was shut down after a terrible outing (five runs in one-third of an inning) on July 8 to work on things in bullpen sessions and has not pitched since.

“I think he’ll pitch again Monday or Tuesday,” Counsell said. “He’s working on some mechanical things.”