Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton will be sidelined four-to-six weeks with a broken hamate bone in his left hand, the team announced on Saturday.
Stanton appeared to suffer the injury on a swing-and-miss during Friday's 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After the game, he confirmed an awkward swing in the sixth inning was the culprit, noting that the bat dug into his hand and never felt right the rest of the game.
"On a swing, my bat dug into my hand a little bit," Stanton said late Friday. "It didn't feel the greatest. So just get it checked out and then know for sure what is going on."
What's going on is a major bummer for Marlins fans and for baseball fans in general, as we'll now miss out on Stanton's participation at next month's All-Star game and Home Run Derby in Cincinnati. Stanton had said he was willing to participate in the latter if asked, but that phone call isn't coming now.
Instead, Stanton is likely headed for surgery in the coming days, though his agent says no final decision has been made.
Obviously, this is a big loss for a Miami team that was already playing itself out of contention. The team entered Saturday with a 30-45 record and is falling faster by the day in the NL East. Even with star pitcher Jose Fernandez returning soon, there's too much ground to make up. With a handful of desirable veterans — see Dan Haren, Mat Latos and Martin Prado — the Marlins should be sellers at next month's trade deadline.
As for Stanton, he tried toughing it out Friday knowing his team needed his $325 million bat in the lineup. Without him going forward, the Marlins could quickly sink to the bottom of the league.
Right now, he just needs to get healthy. Any time there's a hand injury to a power hitter like Stanton, there's worry about how his strength will return and whether or not Stanton might push it to come back too soon. In this case how soon he's back on the field necessarily the concern. He just needs to be healthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment