NEWSLETTER
[SEE UPDATES]
And everyone holds their breath in terror, just as things were going well for the Cubs.
Sliding headfirst into third base in the first inning today, Kris Bryant’s left hand caught the defender’s foot in an awkward way, bending what looked like the leftmost two or three fingers sideways. He was in visible pain immediately, and left the game, with Tommy La Stella taking over at third.
We’ll update when there is more available.
UPDATE: Here’s a visual on the play:
https://twitter.com/sinow/status/887710145198919680
Looks like the left ring finger, and it did not look like a good bend.
UPDATE 2: This is truly as good as the very initial news could be:
Cubs: Bryant has sprain of pinky finger. X-rays negative. Will monitor next few days.
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubMLB) July 19, 2017
I am not a doctor and I won’t pretend to be one, but I do follow baseball injuries enough to know that it’s conceivable there’s other damage in the hand/finger that wouldn’t show up on an X-ray. So I’d caution against FULL ON relief until he gets a day or two to see if full range of motion returns.
But, like I said, this is as good as it gets initially.
