Brewers Starter Out With Apparent Injury: What We Know So Far

The Brewers appear to have gotten bitten by the injury bug again...

Apr 18, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; General view of the Milwaukee Brewers logo in the dugout during batting practice prior to the game against the Athletics at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers faced off against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday afternoon to conclude a five-game series and had a scare during the contest.

In the top of the fifth inning, Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz grounded out and was seen grabbing his hamstring while running to first base.

Joey Ortiz has left the game after this ground out. He was grabbing his left leg.

Andruw Monasterio has entered the game at SS. pic.twitter.com/wEofnKCsar

— Hunter Baumgardt (@hunterbonair) August 21, 2025

Afterward, Ortiz was pulled afterward, as shared on social media by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.

"Joey Ortiz is coming out of the game after getting a visit from a member of the athletic training staff following his fifth-inning groundout," McCalvy said.

Ortiz initially was expected to miss Wednesday's contest. On Tuesday, Ortiz fouled a ball off of his knee and had X-rays that came back negative. But, initially, he was going to miss the game per McCalvy.

"X-rays negative for Joey Ortiz but he has a bruised knee and also some stomach issues today. So he won’t play Wednesday, Pat Murphy said," McCalvy shared.

Ortiz did end up playing and went 0-for-3 in the game. Before leaving the game on Thursday, Ortiz was 1-for-2.

If he needs to miss time, that could make things complicated in the infield for Milwaukee. Caleb Durbin has seen some time at shortstop this season. Brice Turang has as well and was in contention for the starting shortstop job in Spring Training. When Ortiz went down, the Brewers inserted Andruw Monasterio into the lineup to replace him. Anthony Seigler is also an infield option for Milwaukee at third base, which could help move Durbin to short.

This is putting the cart in front of the horse. As of writing, it hasn't been shared whether or not Ortiz will even need to miss time. This is a situation to closely monitor because losing him would lead to some challenges, but that has been the story of the season. Every year, teams deal with injuries. It has seemed like the Brewers have had an high high number of high-impact injuries, like Jackson Chourio and Rhys Hoskins both out right now. Milwaukee always finds a way through.