Colorado Rockies’ Carlos Gonzalez uncertain on return after wrist injury – MLB News
The Colorado Rockies out-fielder Carlos Gonzalez ended up crashing into the outfield wall on Sunday, July 3 to bruise his right wrist. The unfortunate incident has brought him some serious concern.
“I can't hold the bat right now," Gonzalez said. "I can't swing. Good thing it's not broken. I hit the wall full speed. The hardest part was that it knocked the air out of me.”
Although the team manager, Jim Tracy, dismisses any fears that Gonzalez may fall prey to the disabled list, there is still no certainty whether he will be fully fit to at least play one of the games against the Atlanta Braves.
"It looked like he hit the wall really hard," Blackmon said. "But luckily, from what I saw, it looked like he didn't get anything awkwardly hung up, he just slammed the wall really hard. I guess that's better than seeing something bad."
His ability to play against the Braves largely hinges upon whether he will be able to swing his bat or not. Although his bruised right wrist was iced the whole day on Monday, the wrist is too sore to handle the bat.
"This is not a DL situation," Tracy said. "We will nurse CarGo along from day to day."
In the entirely unpredicted absence of Gonzalez lies an opportunity for out-fielder Cole Garner to prove his efficacy. While Garner is for sure favoured to play the next game, this will also allow the Rockies some time to decide on Gonzalez’s fate.
For now, the goal is to somehow keep Gonzalez out of the disabled list owing to the fact that he has played a crucial role in helping the team put up resistance and play well during tough times.
Gonzalez, coupled with his home-run, also helped spark the 5-run fifth inning against the straining Royals’ starter Luke Hochevar. The player is not very known for having found himself in the disabled list very often.
The last time he suffered any injury was on August 30, 2010 during the game against the San Francisco Giants. The attempt to foul off a pitch coming from Jonathan Sanchez created enormous troubles for him.
Having played 83 games this season with 314 at-bat, he has scored a valuable 55 runs with no less than 93 hits, maintaining an impressive .296 average with .363 OBP and .497 SLG.
Ryan Spilborghs is said to be all set to replace Gonzalez in centre-field by the time Garner makes his way into the camp. The team hopes to have Gonzalez back sooner than later.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes for Gonzalez to get back into the line-up, as the Rockies’ will be looking forward to his early return.
Tags: