There was a collective sigh of relief emanating from American Family Field on Saturday afternoon.
That’s because Willy Adames had been released from an area hospital the day after a scary sequence in which the Milwaukee Brewers shortstop had been hit in the face by a foul ball hit by teammate Brian Anderson early in a 15-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants .
Adames was officially placed on the seven-day concussion injured list as a result. Andruw Monasterio was recalled from Class AAA Nashville to take his spot on the 26-man roster and rookie Brice Turang will assume the every-day duties at shortstop during Adames’ absence.
“He’s going to rest at home today, see how he feels when he wakes up (Sunday) morning and then he’ll maybe make an appearance,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He will not go to Toronto with us; he’ll stay here and hopefully join us in Cincinnati.
“All the news has been good. He’s in very good spirits. Everything checked out well medically. So now it’s just today, especially, a day of recovery.”
Anderson was especially heartened by the news, considering the unfortunate role he played in the incident.
“It was a scary situation there,” Anderson said. “I think I still haven’t really processed it all the way through. The main thing is just concern for Willy, about his health and hoping he’s doing good.
“I was able to talk to him last night and it seemed like he was doing well. I think he was actually in better spirits than I was last night. He kept telling me, ‘Don’t worry about me, don’t worry about me.’ He’s a tough guy and we’re going to miss having him for a couple of days. Hopefully it won’t be long.
“It’s just a scary situation, something that you never think of happening and you hope never happens again.”
Monasterio, who turns 26 on Tuesday, was hitting .271 with four home runs and 19 runs batted in to go along with an OPS of .819 in 42 games.
Perhaps most impressive was the Venezuelan’s 32 walks compared to 29 strikeouts leading to an on-base percentage of .410.
“Andruw filled most of the duties at Triple-A at shortstop and has been playing well, so he earned the callup,” Counsell said. “I would describe Andruw as a solid all-around player. Offensively he’s just continued to make progress, defensively he continued to make progress.
“The ability to play shortstop. Controlling the strike zone exceptionally well in Triple-A.”
Monasterio was in the midst of his ninth minor-league season with the Sounds when informed of his callup by Sounds manager Rick Sweet late Friday night.
He’s also played in the Cubs, Nationals and Guardians organizations and split time between Nashville and Class AA Biloxi after joining the Brewers last season.
“I’m so happy I can’t even put it into words,” said Monasterio of his first major-league callup. “I’m just happy for the Brewers giving me this opportunity to play.
“I wish Willy a speedy recovery and hope to see him here soon.”
Left-hander Alex Claudio was designated for assignment to clear space for Monasterio on the 40-man roster.
Claudio pitched in one game for the Brewers on April 24.
Ethan Small opted back to Nashville
It’s been a tough couple of days for Ethan Small as well, but for different reasons.
The left-hander was recalled from Nashville on Friday then pitched the final three innings of a deflating game, allowing nine hits and five runs with five strikeouts.
Then on Saturday Small was optioned back to Nashville and right-hander Jake Cousins was recalled.
“These short glimpses when you get one shot and then you get sent out — it’s dangerous to draw grand conclusions from one outing, I think is probably the best way to say it,” Counsell said of the Brewers’ 2019 first-round pick , who’s had his struggles finding his footing after being switched from starting to a relief role last year.
“So, he had a job to do yesterday. He did one part of the job really well in that he finished the three innings that we needed him to finish. The results didn’t go his way. Then you just kind of assess it and learn from it and get better from it and move forward.”
Infielder Luis Urías is eligible to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list on Tuesday when the Brewers begin a seven-game road trip in Toronto.
He was two games into a minor-league rehab stint at Nashville entering Saturday, with several appearances in rookie-level games in Arizona also under his belt.
Whenever Urías does return, he’ll give the Brewers another infielder capable of playing shortstop as well as a right-handed power bat that should help add more balance against left-handed pitching.
He has been out since badly straining his left hamstring running to first base on opening day.
“We haven’t made a decision on that yet,” Counsell said. “He’s eligible the first day in Toronto. He’s only played two games (in Nashville). We can activate him then. But when we get to that day, we will kind of assess that.
“Ideally, we’d like to play him play more, I guess.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Willy Adames released from hospital, placed on concussion IL