Ryan Braun pulled early from game with tightness in right side

The Milwaukee Brewers are going through a bad stretch when it comes to injuries.

Having already seen top starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo exit a game early with a leg injury on Tuesday night, now the team had Ryan Braun forced early from Thursday night’s affair with the Atlanta Braves.

The injury for Braun? The rather ominous, and never encouraging, “tightness in his right side.” According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Braun had just recently returned to the Brewers after a stint on the DL with an oblique injury. If this injury forces him to miss extended time, it looks like those mid-section type injuries are becoming a trend for the controversial slugger. That never bodes well for position players in the big leagues.

There have been plenty of other signs in recent weeks that the Brewers might be crashing back to earth after a strong start to the 2014 season, namely their mediocre run differential: entering Thursday’s action they had only a +4 mark, far worse than the Cardinals (+17) and only four runs better than the lowly Chicago Cubs.

Any regression will be exacerbated, of course, by the injury bug. The Brewers will hope that this injury to their star outfielder is nothing serious and that they will get the chance to continue to prove they are for real with their full complement of players.