Injury Notes: Ozuna, Gyorko, Winker, Longoria

The latest on some injury situations from around baseball…

• Marcell Ozuna isn’t sure when he’ll be able to return to the Cardinals lineup, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers writes, as the outfielder is still battling swelling in his right hand.  As a result, Ozuna “hasn’t been able to test his grip strength much.”  Ozuna suffered a fractured middle finger (and also jammed several other fingers) in late June, and there isn’t a clear idea as to when he’ll be ready to play again, though the team is hopeful the slugger will be back before the end of July.  Ozuna had hit .259/.331/.515 with 20 homers over his first 326 plate appearances this season.
• Also from Rogers’ piece, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told reporters that Jedd Gyorko will be out of action until at least the middle of August, and potentially not until the start of September.  While a back problem was the initial cause of Gyorko’s injured list that began on June 8, his return was delayed by a left calf strain, and then minor surgery on his right wrist.  He also started the year on the IL due to a right calf strain suffered during Spring Training.  With only 38 games and 62 plate appearances under his belt for the year, it’s beginning to look like a lost season for Gyorko in what might well be his final season in St. Louis.  The Cardinals will surely take the $1MM buyout of their club option on Gyorko’s services for 2020 rather than pay him $13MM.
• Reds outfielder Jesse Winker left today’s game in the middle of an at-bat due to injury.  After swinging at a pitch, Winker told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) that “my lower left back, side area tightened up.  I was feeling some tightness in my right rib cage as well.”  The problem first arose during his initial swing in the plate appearance, Winker added.  He will undergo tests tomorrow to further access the damage, though if Winker has suffered an oblique injury, he would be facing an absence of several weeks.  The 25-year-old has a .250/.328/.462 slash line and 13 home runs over 290 PA with Cincinnati this season, playing mostly against right-handed pitching (and with some drastic splits, including a .428 OPS in his only 39 PA against lefties).  Should Winker miss time, a platoon of Derek Dietrich and Phillip Ervin in left field would seem to be the Reds’ likeliest response.
• X-rays were negative on Evan Longoria’s left foot after the third baseman left after four innings of today’s Giants game due to plantar fasciitis.  Longoria told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters that he has been dealing with the nagging problem since last season.  The Giants are scheduled for a double-header against the Rockies on Monday and Longoria hopes to play in the second game, though he will get an MRI in the morning to access the damage.  Plantar fasciitis could explain Longoria’s overall struggles since coming to San Francisco in the 2017-18 offseason, though he has quietly been roughly a league-average (102 OPS+, 101 wRC+) hitter this year in the wake of a recent hot streak.  While a .241/.318/.446 slash line is a marked improvement over Longoria’s 2018 numbers, it still ranks as disappointing considering his track record and hefty contract.