Rough luck:
Urias still waiting,
The 2020 season has been nothing but a waiting game so far for Luis Urías.
Arguably the Milwaukee Brewers’ most exciting offseason acquisition – he joined the team last Nov. 27 along with left-hander Eric Lauer in a trade that sent outfielder Trent Grisham and righthander Zach Davies to the San Diego Padres – the 23-year-old shortstop/second baseman has yet to see the field with his new team.
First, a Jan. 28 operation to remove the hamate bone from his left hand after breaking it in a winter-league game in his native Mexico kept him out of action for the first month of spring training.
Urías was finally given the green light to return and slated to be in the starting lineup in a split-squad game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 12, but rain scuttled those plans. Then, hours later on that same day, the remainder of spring training was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fast forward three months, and Urías was once again on the precipice of returning only to test positive for COVID-19 himself along with left-hander Angel Perdomo shortly before the Brewers were due to open summer camp at Miller Park in baseball’s reboot.
Now Urías finds himself back on the sideline.
“We feel terrible for Luis,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said Thursday. “This is a really good kid who just wants to play baseball, but he’s had hurdles put in front of him ever since we acquired him. It certainly hasn’t tempered our excitement for him.”
Urías and Perdomo are both asymptomatic but now in quarantine, and won’t be allowed to return until they’ve tested negative twice at least 24 hours apart and then been cleared by team medical personnel.
How long that will take remains to be seen.
“We look forward to seeing him on the field but the time frame for that is really anyone’s guess,” Stearns said.
“As we’ve learned about (COVID-19) collectively over the last three or four months, you’ve heard of people who test negative fairly quickly after a positive and you’ve probably heard of people who have to wait weeks and sometimes months before getting the negative test that shows they’ve completely shed the virus.
“We’re in a waiting game, Luis is in a waiting game, but it’s a heck of a lot tougher on him, being quarantined in an apartment, than it is on us. But we’re hopeful that he’ll be back sooner rather than later.”
The Brewers have plenty of coverage at shortstop in Urías’ absence, with Orlando Arcia, Brock Holt and Eric Sogard all in the mix. But there’s no question the Brewers have been looking forward to Urías pushing Arcia, who has been inconsistent offensively.
In 83 major-league games over the previous two seasons, Urías was a .221 hitter with six home runs and 29 runs batted in.
Staying in the Windy City
The Brewers will play their only exhibition game of camp on Wednesday, July 22, at Guaranteed Rate Field against the Chicago White Sox. The current plan is for them to stay in Chicago and work out at Wrigley Field the next day in preparation for the season opener July 24 against the Cubs.
Asked if he will be in attendance for that opener against the Cubs, Stearns said, “I will be at Wrigley for opening day. I have no idea where I’ll sit, but I assume they’ll let me in the ballpark somewhere and there will be plenty of space, I’d imagine.”
Stearns got his first taste of what it’s like to watch a game in an empty stadium Wednesday when the Brewers played their first simulated intrasquad game at Miller Park.
“It was surreal,” he said. “I’ll say that to begin with. Just sitting behind the ‘dish’ at a major-league stadium with major-league players on the field and no competition. Occasionally, you’ll see that for a small BP when media isn’t around or cameras aren’t around, but it was really weird to see Christian Yelich in the batter’s box in a major-league stadium in competition in an empty ballpark.
“It is something we’ll remember for a long time, I think. We’ll remember this season, going through it, for a long time because these are very unusual feelings for all of us to experience when we’re watching games like this.
“In terms of the actual game and the way that the game played out, I think it looked like normal baseball. If you just zoomed in on the field and didn’t pay attention to what was not there in the stands, I think it looked like normal baseball. Most importantly, our guys got their work in and they stayed healthy.”
Of the unusual season that lies ahead, Stearns said, “It’s all different. The schedule is different, the roster rules are different, roster construction is different, some of the rules on the field are different. So it’s all different, and we have to adjust.
“We’re staying in our own time zone which, from a travel standpoint, is healthy. We’ve got a lot of trips to Chicago, so we don’t even need to get on a plane for those. We’re on the road for 30 games. For a major-league team, that’s nothing.
“It’s going to be a different type of road trip, there are going to be different protocols and parameters and, at the end of the day, it’s 30 games. Guys that are used to spending months and months of the season on the road, it’s not going to feel like that much.”
Encouraging words for Holt
Of all the players who have done individual interviews via Zoom during camp, one that seemed to strike a chord with the most people was utility player Brock Holt saying he wasn’t sure he’d still have a career if he opted out to stay home with pregnant wife Lakyn and young son Griff.
Holt, 32, has been a successful, versatile player in the majors and the Brewers hold a club option on him for 2021, but he said he feared staying home might end his job security.
Asked about those comments, Stearns said, “These are very difficult and personal decisions that each player and staff member has to make right now – the variety of considerations that each person has to go through in their minds with their families.
“Really, in a pretty short amount of time from when the agreement was reached, we knew we were starting up and reporting to camp is pretty tough and I think a lot of players are still working through those considerations. And that’s very understandable.
“Brock’s been a good major-leaguer for a while. That’s why we have him here; that’s why we were really excited to sign him. We think he’s going to help us this year and I would certainly believe that Brock’s got multiple good years as a major-leaguer ahead of him.”
Strong tune-up for Woodruff
Right-hander Brandon Woodruff had an extended stint of five simulated innings in the Brewers’ intrasquad game Thursday.
Manager Craig Counsell has not named his opening day starter, but the assignment for Woodruff put him on schedule for that July 24 game against the Cubs.
Outfielder Ben Gamel had a nice day with a sacrifice fly, single and diving catch in center to rob Holt of a hit. Logan Morrison delivered an opposite-field double off Woodruff, Ryon Healy later came through with an RBI single, Holt did likewise, Lorenzo Cain singled twice and catcher Jacob Nottingham made a strong throw to second to nab Jace Peterson on a steal attempt.
Other pitchers to get work included Jake Faria, Eric Yardley, Drew Rasmussen and J.P. Feyereisen.