Centre-fielder Franklin Gutierrez out, partially torn right pectoral muscle – MLB News
Former Cleveland Indians’ and current Seattle Mariners centre fielder Franklin Gutierrez will not be available on Opening Day as he has a partially torn muscle which needed total rest at the moment. The Mariners entire roster is busy in 2012 Major League Baseball Spring Training and practising hard for the next big event starting in April when this news came as their main players is out for at-least one month.
The news of Franklin’s slight injury came after he missed two opening training sessions with the team while later the team’s GM spoke to the media and explained about the situation.
“At this point, we don't know,'' Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik told the media."Everybody responds to things differently. We don't know what he'll be able to do and at this point, we'll probably just ease him into things gradually. He played 244 games in the majors in center field, don't forget. We just haven't seen him do it here. And that's what we'll have to evaluate. We're going to watch and see how it all plays out. We'll see what these guys show us.”
Before going into this year’s Spring Training, Franklin was quite happy about the way things were going for him especially for the entire team. The Mariners’ top management had completed their 40-man roster way ahead compared to other League teams. The offseason went pretty smooth for him as he himself formed some goals for his own game.
Firstly, he was looking to enter into the new season with full energy and secondly he was giving the impression of being the responsible individual and will try to secure a good position for the franchise as well. Last season, the Mariners were good as they played well early in the season, but as the season progressed, their form started to decline losing many close games down the stretch in the regular season.
On the other hand, Franklin’s late injury is a bad sign for the team. According to doctors, he will not be playing in the first four weeks of the season which is also significant as every team understands the importance of early power play which also gives satisfaction going into a new season.
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