Bad news coming out of Milwaukee this evening, as the Brewers have recently learned that they're going to lose second baseman Rickie Weeks for the remainder of the 2009 season. Weeks tore the tendon sheath in his left wrist on Sunday and the injury will require surgery that will keep Weeks out at least four months. It's the same injury weeks suffered in his right wrist in 2006 that ended that season and caused him trouble into 2007. It's almost unspeakable bad luck for Weeks, as he was off to a great start in 2009 and seemed to finally be fully healthy and ready to live up to the expectations that the Brewers placed on him years ago. Through 37 games, Weeks was hitting .272/.340/.517 with nine homers (his career high is 16) and even made Snyder's early All-Star ballot last week. He's still only 26, but to suffer another injury like this is devastating.
It's equally devastating for the Brewers, who were riding Weeks' breakout to the top of the NL Central. They haven't announced a move to fill the roster spot yet, but it seems like Craig Counsell will see the majority of the time at second base while top shortstop prospect Alicides Escobar, who's off to a slow start in Triple-A Nashville this year, will see some time at second base.
This will get Mat Gamel (who was destroying Triple-A pitching with a 1.075 OPS to start the season) some more playing time at third base, but unless Gamel duplicates Ryan Braun's rookie year, it's going to be hard to replace Weeks' bat in the lineup. This is just a terrible break for both Weeks and the Brewers.
UPDATE: A person familiar with Milwaukee's plans said the Brewers intend to use Craig Counsell at second for now, although Bill Hall could move over to second if Gamel hits well in the near future. We've also heard the move of Escobar is not likely to happen.
