Evan Longoria Out 6-8 Weeks with Hamstring Tear

Last night the Tampa Bay Rays announced Evan Longoria has been diagnosed with a tear in his left hamstring.  The injury is expected to sideline Longoria for the next 6-8 weeks.

Longoria suffered the injury during Monday night’s contest against the Seattle Mariners.  Many initially thought the cause of the torn hamstring was Longoria’s awkward slide into second base during a stolen base attempt.

However, Longoria told reporters that the slide had nothing to do with the injury.  Instead, Longoria said that he could feel something in his hamstring before the slide; as he made his way to first base and then again on his way from first to second.

While it’s never good to lose a player the caliber of Longoria, the timing of the All-Star’s injury seems especially awful.  Longoria started the season hitting as well as anyone, posting an OPS of .994 over his 23 games.  The Rays were playing their best baseball of the season, riding a hot streak to first place in the American League East.

Rays general manager Andrew Friedman told reporters, including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, that Longoria will likely need four weeks for his hamstring to heal.  At that time Longoria will be able to get ready to return to the majors, something that is then expected to take another few weeks.

Without Longoria, the Rays have turned to Elliot Johnson as their third baseman for the last two games.  Johnson and versatile infielder Jeff Keppinger are expected to see much of the time at the hot corner during Longoria’s absence.

For more on the Rays be sure to check out Rays Colored Glasses.

You can follow Call to the Pen on Twitter at @FSCalltothePen or like us here on Facebook.