D’backs Plagued by Early Injuries
Chris Young and Justin Upton watch their team take on the Pirates from the dugout.
After 33 plate appearances He’s yet to bring in a run for his ball club. To make things worse he has no home runs with only seven hits for the season.
I’m not talking about Jason Kubel either; it’s Arizona’s right fielder, Justin Upton who’s currently in a slump and he just hasn’t been the same this season.
On Tuesday afternoon, an MRI on his jammed left thumb revealed a bone bruise and Upton admitted that the pain has been “nagging” him for a while now. The injury occurred on April 8 against the Giants when Upton jammed his thumb while sliding into second base in the seventh inning. Upton has gone 5-for-14 since his injury.
As the D’backs seek a victory in today’s rubber match against the Pirates, they’ll have to do it without their star right fielder and apparently without the hot bat of center fielder, Chris Young.
Young slammed into the left center field wall after making a remarkable catch in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 5-4 loss. He was eventually pulled from the game with an injured right shoulder. Young is currently batting .410/.500/.897 with 5 home runs and 13 RBI.
“My guess is that he’ll go on the DL. That’s my guess,” Gibson said regarding Young’s injury. “I hope it changes but he’s pretty sore today.”
While there’s a good chance that Young may head to the DL, Gibson told reporters that Upton wasn’t going anywhere quite yet.
“We’ll give him a day or so to see if we see any improvement at all,” Gibson said.
The injuries don’t stop with Upton and Young. Following Tuesday’s loss Arizona placed Geoff Blum on the 15-day disabled list after the utility infielder pulled an oblique muscle during batting practice. Not to mention newly acquired set-up man, Takashi Saito began the season on the DL due to an injured calf. Saito has yet to begin a rehab assignment.
The D’backs called up both, outfielder A.J. Pollock and infielder Cody Ransom from Triple-A Reno to fill the void. Ransom was batting an impressive .294/.400/.529 with 2 home runs in the minors. Pollack made his MLB debut today, and was hitting .340 with 5 RBI before getting called up.
Pollock and Ransom may not be saviors but they are the D’backs only options until Blum, Upton and Young get healthy.
