Brewers Welcome Back Joey Ortiz, Craig Yoho as Rosters Expand for September

The Brewers didn't finish August with the same ferocity or verve they showed for two months starting in mid-June. Much of that was a simple matter of the schedule catching up to them, compounded by small absences due to bereavement and paternity for key role players. They also ran into injury trouble, though, with Joey Ortiz shelved by a hamstring strain and Trevor Megill sidelined by a flexor strain in his forearm. On Monday, they made themselves a bit more whole again, although they're likely to play things differently down the stretch.

Megill remains on the injured list, and Abner Uribe figures to remain the closer in his absence, but rookie Craig Yoho will get one more shot to make 2025 the year he breaks through in the majors. His first stints with the parent club have been abortive, partially because he never quite earned Pat Murphy's trust. He won't step right into high-leverage situations, but the Brewers enjoy a big cushion in the race for the top seed in the National League playoff bracket. Murphy is likely to keep his bullpen powder a bit drier for the balance of the regular campaign, which will open some middle-relief innings for the likes of Yoho. 

More significant is the return of Ortiz, whose play at shortstop has been essential to the team's defensive phalanx all year. In his absence, Andruw Monasterio did yeoman's work, but Monasterio's sheer athleticism—his range and his arm—can't match that of Ortiz. The way Ortiz hit for the two months prior to his injury, he also restores some offensive upside at the bottom of the batting order, although Monasterio produced much as Ortiz had been during the latter's time on the shelf. Moving Monasterio back to the bench will give the team back its sense of great depth and flexibility, which had evaporated with Ortiz out of the picture. 

Meanwhile, the team also signed old friend Luis Urías to a minor-league deal, just ahead of the cutoff for postseason eligibility. Urías won't initially factor into the big-league roster, but he's shown his old knack for hitting the ball squarely (if not especially hard) this season with the A's. He becomes the team's fallback plan, should Ortiz reaggravate the injury from which he's returning so quickly. He'd slide into the bench role Monasterio now occupies, in that case.

With Jackson Chourio having returned a couple days ahead of the roster expansion, the Brewers are as close to whole again as they're likely to get any time soon. Robert Gasser is now technically done with his rehab assignment, but he remains at Triple-A Nashville, waiting to be needed. Megill might not make it back before the end of the season, but with or without him, the team has lots of depth in pitching. Now, they also have it on the positional side, as Chourio, Blake Perkins and Ortiz will spend substantial time on the roster together for the first time all year. It's a very comfortable time to be a Brewers fan, and the team should be able to cruise to a commanding position over the final few weeks of the regular season.