Padres’ Ramón Laureano to miss start of playoffs after fracturing finger vs. Brewers

San Diego Padres outfielder Ramón Laureano will miss at least the first round of the playoffs after fracturing the index finger on his right hand, manager Mike Shildt told reporters on Wednesday night.

Laureano suffered the injury during Wednesday’s loss against the Milwaukee Brewers (box score), a game in which he exited after taking an at-bat during the bottom of the second inning. It’s unclear when, exactly, he hurt himself.

Shildt inserted Bryce Johnson in Laureano’s place in right field. The Padres have not yet announced a roster move, though it stands to reason Laureano will be placed on the injured list at some point before Friday’s first pitch.

Laureano, 31, was added in a deadline trade with the Baltimore Orioles to shore up the corner outfield. He did just that by hitting .271/.325/.492 with nine home runs and three stolen bases in 49 games with San Diego. Overall on the year, Laureano batted .282/.343/.514 (136 OPS+) with 24 home runs and seven stolen bases. His contributions were worth an estimated 3.6 Wins Above Replacement, according to the calculations housed at Baseball Reference.

With Laureano sidelined through at least the first round, the Padres seem most likely to give most of the playing time in right field to Gavin Sheets.

As noted in the introductory paragraph, Laureano wasn’t the only loss the Padres suffered on Wednesday. The defeat at the hands of the Brewers drops them to 87-72 on the season. If the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks late Wednesday night, the Padres will enter their final series of the year — a three-game set against those same Diamondbacks —  with a 2 1/2 game deficit in the National League West. The Padres lost the season series against the Dodgers, meaning that they have to win the division outright to win it at all.