Aramis Ramirez injury: Brewers 3B out 7-10 days

Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez told reporters, including Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel, that he expects to miss seven to 10 days of camp due to a sprained left knee.

Ramirez sustained his knee injury last Saturday while sliding into second base during a spring training contest. He underwent an MRI that revealed no structural damage. While that was a relief to Ramirez and the Brewers, the injury is still serious enough to sideline the veteran for a week-plus.

Ramirez admitted that he could even be forced to miss two weeks due to the injury, but he feels confident that it's "not that big a deal" considering it's still early in spring training. He said he was "scared" when he initially hurt his knee, as he expected to require crutches at this point.

Ramirez is confident that even with the injury he'll be able to log enough at bats to start the season healthy. Milwaukee had intended to get the third baseman more plate appearances to try and help avoid another slow start to the regular season, something that will now be postponed while his knee recovers.

The Brewers signed Ramirez to a three-year, $36 million deal last offseason. In his first season in Milwaukee, the 34-year-old hit .300/.360/.540 with 50 doubles and 27 home runs over 630 plate appearances.