When the going gets tough, apparently players continue to get injured. Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Alex Gonzalez is the done for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.
Gonzalez is the second Brewer in the last week to tear his ACL. First baseman Mat Gamel did the same against the San Diego Padres Tuesday night. It is still unknown whether Gamel is done for the season but all signs point to him not making a return.
Gonzalez suffered the injury against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday while sliding into second base on a steal. It was clear right away he did something bad to his knee as he threw his helmet in disgust and lay helplessly on the ground. Assistant general manager Gord Ash said Gonzalez is still deciding on who will perform the surgery.
“For all practical purposes, I’m told it’s a 6-8 month rehab,” said Ash. “Alex is going to have surgery. It’s just a matter of who is going to perform it.”
It is unfortunate to lose Gonzalez as he has already contributed greatly on offense and defense. Milwaukee knew they were getting a great glove in the infield but Gonzalez surprised them with his bat power. In 81 plate appearances he hit .259 with four home runs and 15 RBI.
The Brewers are already interested in signing Derrek Lee to replace the current platoon at first base but it is unclear what they will do with the shortstop position. A so-called contender cannot win a pennant with a platoon of Cesar Izturis and Edwin Maysonet. Hopefully, general manager Doug Melvin can find a suitable replacement outside of the organization.
Regardless, Milwaukee’s luck cannot get any worse. The only good news to come out of this is that it was not any of the core players on the team. The Brewers still have the heavy bats in the lineup and as long as they can go the rest of the season without injury they should be fine. Obviously, things look grim right now for the team but there is no reason to panic yet. Milwaukee still has talented ball players who can combine to put together a winning team.
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