The return of those two starters should also help overcome Gordon's injury. He reported no problems after a 60-pitch simulated game Wednesday, and will make a rehab start Monday for Double-A Northwest Arkansas so he can face live hitters. The Royals are also due to get Jason Vargas, out with a left flexor strain, back from the DL after the All-Star break. But reports from his rehab starts at Omaha were positive, his fastball back in the mid-to upper 90s. The hard-throwing right-hander had been struggling before going on the DL. In some positive injury news, Ventura will be making his first start since June 12 because of ulnar neuritis, a condition that caused numbness in his pitching hand. Yost said that Dyson and Paulo Orlando would handle the vacant spot in the outfield, though the Royals also still could make a move prior to the trade deadline. "I got a chance to talk to Gordo before I left the clubhouse. "It's just devastating," said Jarrod Dyson, who started in Gordon's place on Thursday. He had seven hits, reached base eight times and drove in six runs during a doubleheader sweep of Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Not only is the four-time Gold Glove winner one of the best defensive players in baseball, he was also the Royals' hottest hitter. And we're not on a losing streak.' And then it hit me, Alex Gordon. "I woke up last night and had that horrible feeling in my stomach, and I said, 'Wait a minute, I didn't screw up. "Put it this way, when I really screw up in a game, I'll wake up in the middle of the night and have this pit in my stomach, right?" Yost said. He later underwent an MRI that revealed the extent of the injury. He crumpled to the field near the warning track and lay there for several minutes, eventually needing a cart to leave the field. Gordon was injured in the fourth inning of Wednesday night's game. And it was going to be a lot more homework." "I knew as soon as Gordo went down, this was going to affect both of my teams. "That's another crazy thing about this," Yost said. Right-hander Yordano Ventura was activated from the DL to start, right-hander Aaron Brooks was optioned to Triple-A Omaha and left-hander Brandon Finnegan was recalled from the same club.įilling Gordon's void in the Royals lineup wasn't all Yost had to worry about: He is also the manager of the American League team for Tuesday's All-Star Game.Īfter spending Thursday morning pondering replacements for Gordon, who was due to start in Cincinnati, Yost chose Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner - one of the five "final vote" candidates. The Royals put Gordon on the disabled list prior to Thursday's series finale against the Rays, one of several roster moves they made. "We have no way of determining that," Yost said. When asked whether the eight-week timeframe meant Gordon would be back in games during the regular season, Yost said that he simply didn't know. Still, the clubhouse leader was on crutches and almost certainly will not do any baseball activities for several weeks. Royals manager Ned Yost said Thursday that an MRI exam taken after the game revealed a "two-plus groin strain," and that the one positive is that Gordon will not need surgery. The AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals will be without Alex Gordon for at least eight weeks after the All-Star outfielder sustained a severe groin strain while tracking down a fly ball Wednesday night against Tampa Bay.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |