Blue Jays infielder Santiago Espinal exited Saturday’s game against the Yankees with what the team called a right wrist contusion, according to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. Espinal was hit by a Gerrit Cole pitch.
Next steps for Espinal aren’t known at this stage, although more should be known after today’s match is completed.
Espinal is off to a slow start to the year, hitting just .114/.162/.200 through his first 37 plate appearances (entering play today). The hit by pitch occurred in his first at bat of the day.
The 28-year-old has been a solid enough contributor for the Blue Jays over the past few seasons, putting up good defensive numbers and providing some value with the bat. He debuted in 2020, and posted a .280/.338/.378 line with nine home runs between 2020-22.
Defensively, Espinal has primarily been handling second base this season, but has also filled in at third and shortstop. At second, Espinal was worth ten Outs Above Average in 2022.
While it’s not yet known if Espinal will be forced to miss any time, the Blue Jays are fairly well stocked at second with Whit Merrifield and Cavan Biggio the internal options to handle the bulk of Espinal’s playing time.
Devastating news for the Jays. They probably won’t recover from this loss.
Wishes and thinkings for a quick recovery to play again.
It looked and sounded ugly when it happened. No doubt it was not a glancing blow. If he is day-to-day, that would be the best case.
On a lighter note, great to see Manoah getting right today. Looks as good as I’ve ever seen him. Granted, it’s not a scary Yankee lineup
Manoah’s britches moonlight as an America’s Cup mainsail.
And apparently you’ve got all the hot air needed to move that sail.
Contusion? His wrist walked into a 98mph pitch. He won’t be able to dress himself for weeks let alone grip a bat.
How on earth was this guy an All Star last season
A mixture of guys not going and a hot start. His numbers weren’t great last year but he actually did have a pretty decent first half which sparked his all star selection followed by a bad second half which ranked his numbers.
I don’t think Biggio really adds too much to their depth. If anything, it gives Merrifield his deserved everyday at bats. Slotting Biggio in to get out 4 times doesn’t add much.
@jdgoat
Biggio’s gotta go to AAA to figure things out or he’s just gotta go.
That popped up bunt yesterday was enough for me.