Milwaukee Brewers Roster Moves: Narveson to 15-day DL, Hart Moved to 60-day DL and Lalli Brought up from AAA

Folks, after the Milwaukee Brewers barely held off the Chicago Cubs in Chicago’s home opener yesterday, 7-4 (the Cubs left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth), I knew the Brewers would have to finally make a roster move or two.

However, I didn’t necessarily expect these moves.

First, left-hander Chris Narveson was placed on the 15-day DL with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand.  Narveson will probably be on the DL for longer than 15 days, and could be there as long as six weeks.

Second, the Brewers brought up the man I suggested a few days ago that they might want to take a look at — catcher/first baseman Blake Lalli.  Lalli’s much more familiar with the contemporary pitching staff than either of the two incumbent catchers, Jonathan Lucroy and Martin Maldonado — and the way things have gone with the injury bug, the Brewers have had to play both catchers at the same time (Lucroy has caught, while Maldonado has played first base).

This way, the Brewers will always have at least one catcher on the bench into the late innings of every game.  That’s a move I applaud.

The main reason, though, I’m only cautiously optimistic that these moves will help is this — to get Lalli on the 40-man roster, the Brewers had to transfer Corey Hart to the 60-day DL.  The other choices to go to the 60-day DL were Aramis Ramirez, Mark Rodgers, Jeff Bianchi, and Taylor Green.  The Brewers hope to have all of those players back by mid-May, particularly Ramirez.

However, there has been no really good news in the saga of Taylor Green.  He has a problem with the labrum in his left hip, which he sustained in Spring Training.  He’s been on the DL since March 22, and it’s unlikely he’ll play much before mid-May, if at all.

Everyone else — yes, even Rodgers — can be expected to come back well before that time.  But with Green’s vexing injury, if I’d been Doug Melvin, I’d have been interested in putting Green on the DL instead.

Consider, please, that Green is a marginal player at this point, while Hart is a solid contributor with two past All-Star appearances to his credit.  (Mind you, Green could still well improve, does play multiple positions, and is usually a solid defender.)  That hip labrum will need a good amount of time and rest to improve, considering surgery does not seem to be in the cards.  And injuries like this can nag you all season long if not properly treated to begin with . . . which is why with a known “fast healer” like Hart on the roster, I’d have been much happier with moving Green to the 60-day DL instead.

I am pleased that Lalli has come up, because I think he has tons of potential and it’s a very good thing to have another catcher on the roster.  I’m not happy that Narveson has sustained this odd injury, but maybe it’s for the best that he’s been put on the DL.  And, of course, I’m quite displeased that the Brewers moved Hart to the 60-day DL rather than Green under the circumstances.

But as the moves have been made, there’s nothing to be done about it.