Brewers' Andrew Vaughn expected to miss 4-6 weeks; Jeferson Quero called up

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A Milwaukee Brewers team that made it through spring training relatively healthy is suddenly being hammered by injuries.

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First baseman Andrew Vaughn was placed on the 10-day injured list on Saturday, March 28, with a left hamate fracture, making him the second Brewers starter in three days to be sidelined by a hand injury.

Outfielder Jackson Chourio went on the 10-day IL on March 26 with a fractured third metacarpal in his left hand.

Whereas Chourio's injury likely stemmed from being hit by a pitch, Vaughn's occurred on a swing early in Milwaukee's 14-2 opening-day victory over the Chicago White Sox at American Family Field.

And, unfortunately for the 27-year-old, he's expected to miss four to six weeks as a result.

The Brewers recalled catcher Jeferson Quero from Class AAA Nashville to take Vaughn's spot on the 26-man roster.

More: Brewers catcher Jeferson Quero could be a 'really special story'

"I think it happened that first at-bat on opening day," said Vaughn, who remained in the game and finished 1 for 4 with a RBI before being removed late. "I got jammed; felt it more in my right hand. Went home that day, felt fine, hand was kind of sore. Woke up in the middle of the night and my left hand was just barking and I was like, 'Something's not right.'

"Texted Brad (Epstein) with the training staff and said, 'Hey, I probably need to come in and get this looked at.' Went and saw the doctor, got the scan and saw that I broke it."

Vaughn was a revelation at first base after being acquired via trade from the White Sox last season and in 64 games he hit .308 with nine home runs and 42 runs batted in while compiling an OPS of .869.

He then delivered a huge pair of homers to help down the Chicago Cubs in five games in the teams' epic National League Division Series matchup.

This spring, Vaughn carried that success over in the form of a .367/3/9/1.049 line in 16 games.

"It stinks," he said. "Unfortunately it's part of the game. Just trying to look at the positives. Hopefully it's a quick recovery and back out there with the boys, where I want to be."

With Vaughn sidelined, the primary first baseman becomes Jake Bauers, who had been expected to see more time in left field with Chourio out.

"It's day to day, man," Bauers said of his expanded role. "Whatever is called for that day is what I'm prepared to do. They haven't said anything. They don't need to say anything. Just keep showing up, preparing and whenever my name is called, give it what I've got."

Because the Brewers don't have an obvious right-handed-hitting option who can play first base ready to be promoted from the minor leagues at this point, catcher Gary Sánchez is now likely to see some time at first base against left-handed pitching.

"I think (Bauers) will get a lot of reps there, for sure," manager Pat Murphy said. "And I think we'll have to figure something else out. Obviously, bringing up Jeferson, we're excited as heck. He's one of our young prospects, but we didn't bring him up just to sit on the bench.

"So, I think you'll see Gary Sánchez get some shots over there and maybe we'll take a look at anybody else that might be able to fill in. Because that's big – Vaughn and Chourio, two out of our top five in the order, both right-handed hitters."

As for the 23-year-old Quero, he finally gets his chance to make his major-league debut after traveling an arduous road through the minors that's included surgeries on each of his shoulders – the second of which, in early 2024, was on his throwing shoulder.

"It's a long road to get here," Quero said. "But everything that happened made this moment more exciting, more happy."

Quero caught Robert Gasser's 11-strikeout game in Nashville's season-opening loss at Norfolk on Friday night then immediately headed to Milwaukee, where he spent the last several weeks of the season – including the playoffs – acclimating himself on the taxi squad in anticipation of making his debut.

"It helped me a lot," he said. "I feel excited but not too crazy because I've been here before. Not in this situation, but I know how things work."

Now comes the challenge of finding Quero opportunities to play behind the plate with iron man William Contreras hesitant to ever concede playing time regardless the situation.

"You're not going to get regular ABs if you've got William Contreras, but we brought him up to help us win," said Murphy. "He'll be in there sometimes. I can't tell you exactly when he's going to catch and when he's not going to catch."

The Brewers did get some good news in the form of another positive bullpen session thrown by right-hander Quinn Priester, who will throw one more before heading to Arizona to begin the next stage of what's essentially another full-scale buildup with an eye on a May return to the rotation.

"This is remarkable," Murphy said. "We've had all this bad news of losing these key players, and we're not a team that can get dinged as easily as some others. But it could have a big effect because having Quinn throw and feel pain-free is just really encouraging."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Andrew Vaughn out 4-6 weeks, Jeferson Quero called up by Brewers

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