Hart Has Appendix Removed; Out Until September

While Hart had his struggles to start the season, he was finally starting to come around at the plate and showing glimpses of what made him in All-Star after a hot first half in 2008.  As McCalvy notes, Hart was hitting .329 in his last 22 games, meaning the Brewers’ offense will take yet another hit with him out of the lineup.  He was especially hot in his past 10 games, raising his OPS by 21 points.

With Hart moving to the DL, the Brewers are already recalling Bill Hall from Triple-A Nashville. Hall reportedly played in right field for the Sounds on Sunday night in preparation for possibly seeing playing time there in Milwaukee. McCalvy guesses that Frank Catalanotto — who started this afternoon — will see a bulk of the playing time the rest of this month, but Hall is likely to get a chance against left-handed starters.  Considering the Dodgers throw Clayton Kershaw tomorrow, it’s a good bet he’ll be in the lineup to start the LA series.

Hall was probably the easy (and right) decision to make when it came to calling someone up to replace Hart, but part of me is wondering what Brendan Katin could do in right field if given the chance.  Granted, his Major League equivalent stats are pretty ugly (think Russell Branyan without the ability to walk), but perhaps he’d provide more pop than Hall.  Calling up Katin would probably involve some shifting on the 40-man roster, though, so for the time being Hall was the easier choice.  

Of course, Hart’s situation creates some interesting questions when it comes to possible waiver trades.  Does Doug Melvin go out and find a short-term solution, like he did with the Felipe Lopez and Claudio Vargas trades?  While the team has played like crap for two straight months, they’re still only 4.5 games out of first place in a very winnable division.