Spring Training is not for the faint of heart. You just want your team to be healthy. And, gulp:
Javy puts ball in left-center gap and limps around first, glides into second, leaves game with trainer.
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) March 8, 2018
Baez reached for hamstring while rounding 1st. Hit a low pitch into LC.
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) March 8, 2018
Today’s game is not televised, so there’s no video of the play. We will have to await word from the team with more specifics. Gonzales later wrote at the Tribune that it was Baez who signaled for the trainer to come out, so that ain’t great.
As you probably know by know, hamstring injuries can be a particularly cruel monster for baseball players, with even the mildest strains shutting a guy down for multiple weeks, and keeping him out of game action for a month or more. We don’t yet know that it’s what we’re dealing with, so reserve some of your panic for a little more information.
In the meantime, you can assume Baez will miss some time even if this is the most precautionary removal ever. Nobody is quite Javy, but the Cubs are reasonably well covered at second base, with all of Ben Zobrist, Ian Happ, and Tommy La Stella able to play (well) there if this is an extended absence situation.
UPDATE: It is indeed a hamstring issue for Baez:
"left hamstring tightness" for Javy, per Cubs. Being evaluated by docs.
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) March 8, 2018
“Tightness” is, I suppose, a better initial phrasing than “it fell off the bone,” but hamstring strains often first manifest as tightness as a guy is running. We’ll know more after the doctors take a first pass, and then it’ll be time to decide whether an MRI is needed. You are rooting for not.
UPDATE 2 (Michael): We can probably breathe a little lighter, friends:
#Cubs Baez says he's fine. Problem might have been dehydration. Scheduled off Fri, hopes to play Sat
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) March 8, 2018
And if that wasn’t enough, this should be:
Javier Baez " I feel 100 percent . I don t think I will miss anytime" Baez had a natural day off planned for Friday .( he had treatment from medical staff and just went home )
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) March 8, 2018