Carlos Gomez says he learned after last night’s game that his appeal of his three-game suspension will be heard this coming Monday, May 5.

— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) May 2, 2014

This tweet came over the wire not too long ago. What it means is that during the business day (so before the Brewers scheduled game that night is played), Gomez will have his appeal heard and decided upon. Gomez can be in New York for the hearing because whatever suspension remains — be it all three games or a reduced punishment — will be served starting immediately. Gomez won’t get off without some suspension, so losing the Monday night series opener at Miller Park against the Arizona Diamondbacks is a guarantee. That’s why El Potro can be in New York for the hearing without worry. What it also means is that the entirety of his suspension will be served during the series with the Diamondbacks. That probably couldn’t be better news for the Brewers. The D’backs, who as of this writing at the polar opposite of the Brewers in several respects, only have nine (9) wins on the season against 22 losses. The Brewers were the first (and as of “Publish” time, the only) team in MLB with 20 wins this season. You guessed where I’m going next. The Diamondbacks are the first team to 20 losses in MLB this year and (as of publishing) are still the only. Houston teeters at 19 as faces Seattle next. So whether Gomez misses three games, two, or somehow one, he’ll be back for the start of the Milwaukee stop on the Derek Jeter Farewell Tour on Friday, May 9th. The games on 5/5-5/7 though will force the Brewers hand on something else, in my opinion, if they haven’t already made a decision by then.

If Braun still isn’t available by Mon (and they haven’t DL’d him already), they almost need to. Brewers need Schafer in CF with Gomez out.

— The Brewer Nation (@BrewerNation) May 2, 2014

Put more verbosely than the 140 character format of Twitter allows, I’m saying that if Braun still isn’t healthy enough to play and they haven’t already placed him on the disabled list before Monday, they’ll almost have to do so in order to make sure they have enough outfielders to play all three spots as well as having Logan Schafer on the 25-man roster to start in centerfield.

If Braun goes on the DL after tonight’s game so Milwaukee can activate Schafer on the first day he’s eligible to return, then fine. If Braun thinks he’ll be able to play soon and they option the just-recalled Caleb Gindl to get Schafer back up, that’ll work, but then they’d be playing with only two true OFs if Braun still isn’t ready by Monday.

My point  is that Schafer will be on the field on Monday, May 5th one way or the other (unless he somehow reinjures himself before then). It’s just a matter of how the Brewers want to create the 25-man roster space for him. The D’backs are pretty punchless this season, especially with Mark Trumbo on the DL, but the fly ball outs still need to be caught by someone.

For Gomez, though, it looks like he’ll finally have some closure to this Easter Sunday saga…and in time for Mothers Day — and Kyle Lohse Bobblehead Day.