Santana hurt, Shaw returns
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The neck contusion suffered by Travis Shaw when he was hit by a throw Saturday was bad enough to sideline him for the Milwaukee Brewers’ series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field.
But only for half an inning.
After rightfielder Domingo Santana was hit in the right wrist by a 96-mph fastball thrown by Chris Archer in the first inning, Shaw found himself back in action at third base with Hernán Pérez taking Santana’s place in right.
Shaw wound up singling in his first at-bat in the second, one of just six hits on the day for the Brewers in a frustrating 2-1 loss capped by Steven Souza, Jr.‘s walk-off home run.
“Quick ambush into the game,” said Shaw, who also walked and made a nice defensive play to end the sixth with the potential go-ahead run at third. “Domingo went down and I felt OK, so I figured I’d give it a shot.”
The original plan was for Shaw to take Sunday off and then be back in the lineup Monday when the Brewers open a two-game set at Minnesota. But now the question is will Santana be available?
X-rays were negative on Sunday, and he said afterward that the only real issue was some numbness in his hand that went away not long after he was pulled from the game.
“It was scary because it was a pretty good bruise,” Santana said. “After it got numb I started getting scared, but I’m OK. Hopefully Counsell puts me in there (tomorrow). I’ll be good.”
Leading questions: Subtracting Shaw from the middle of the lineup coming into Sunday’s game necessitated some other shuffling for Counsell, with Eric Thames dropping to fifth and Eric Sogard replacing Thames atop the lineup.
That leadoff spot continues to be problematic for the Brewers, who are in a weeks-long offensive drought during which they’ve scored five runs or more only three times in their last 21 games.
Sogard, who’d been such a sparkplug before injuring his ankle and landing on the disabled list, has been unable to get going at the plate since returning. After going 0 for 3 on Sunday, he’s 2 for 33 (.061) with three walks and two runs scored.
Counsell gave Thames a three-game audition there from Thursday through Saturday, and he went 1 for 12 with one run batted in and seven strikeouts.
Jonathan Villar, a dynamo in the leadoff spot last season, remains mired in a season-long slump and is playing only sporadically. Santana and Keon Broxton have hit there several times this season but are better fits elsewhere in the lineup at this point.
In all, Counsell had tried seven different players in the leadoff spot this season heading into Sunday, and they’d combined to hit .239 while compiling a .310 on-base percentage and an OPS of .673.
“We’re just trying to put the best guys out there in the best order to try and score runs,” Counsell said. “The guys at second base are part of that; we’re struggling there. We’re trying to get one of those guys going, and I think that’s the logical fit there. I think the lineup fits better.
“As we get later into this with these teams that are in it, they have addressed handling lefties. So I’m trying to be a little more cautious about where I space those guys in the lineup, so we don’t get tough matchups later in the game.”
So as Counsell waits for someone to step forward and take control, the Brewers’ leadoff man will continue to change.
“I think it’ll be a little fluid,” Counsell said.