San Diego Padres’ catcher Yasmani Grandal on 60-day Disabled List – MLB news
San Diego Padres’ catcher Yasmani Grandal is certainly not having his best year in the Major League Baseball. He missed the first fifty games of the season due to testing positive for banned substances. After making a return, he took at hit at the home plate
while trying to make a play which has landed him on the 60-day disabled list.
Grandal got injured against the Washington Nationals when Anthony Rendon slid in and was caught short. The slide twisted the knee of the catcher who is suffering from damage to his anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments.
He is replaced with Rene Rivera who has been called in from the Triple-A Tucson. Rene has made a comeback to the Majors for the first time since 2011 when he represented the Minnesota Twins.
Padres’ manager Bud Black acknowledged that there is always a chance of an injury when two players come in contact on a sports field. Bud did feel that the risk gets greater when a base runner is trying to reach home plate to score.
“Any play at home plate or third base or second base, when you have two professional athletes making contact, there's a risk,” Black said. “And at home, at times, it can be a little more extreme. You're trying to score a run.”
He also said that although such plays are made on all bases, the risk is greater at the home plate since a lot more is on steak and players put in that extra bit more.
A.J. Hinch, the assistant general manager of the Padres, was himself a catcher in the Major League during parts of seven seasons. He knows all about the risks that are associated with an incoming base runner. A.J. said that the runner is never expecting
to get out and is looking to score with no other options.
“You're taught to go hard into the base. As a base runner, you're not assuming an out there. And there's no base to brace yourself on,” Hinch said.
The assistant general manager also felt that such plays are awkward since big men are giving it their all to make it and collusion in that case can be pretty tough for the catcher in particular.
“Those plays are always awkward,” said Padres. “Those are big men coming into the plate with a lot of force.”
Yasmani should be back sometime in September though the actual time table will only be known after further scans are done once the team returns to an Diego. It is certainly a tough time for the 24-year-old who already had made a late start in the season.
He will be hoping to return to the game soon fully fit and raring to go.
Tags: