San Francisco Giants outfielder Denard Span will likely be out a bit longer than 10 days, according to reports.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Denard Span is currently dealing with a sternoclavicular joint sprain in his shoulder. Span appeared to have suffered the injury after crashing into the wall at Coors Field during a game against the Colorado Rockies this past Saturday.
Span has not played since the injury first occurred, and he was offically placed on the 10-day DL this past Wednesday. The Giants also announced that Michael Morse had been recalled in a corresponding move. The now 35-year-old Morse, who was signed to a minor league deal over the offseason, was a big part of the Giants’ 2014 world championship club.
#SFGiants have also placed Denard Span on the DL and purchased the contract of Michael Morse (#38) from AAA Sacramento.
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 26, 2017
According to a tweet from Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle, Span recently underwent an MRI. Per Schulman, the Giants are now anticipating that Span will be out for longer than 10 days.
#sfgiants now believe Span will be out longer than 10 days. In bad shape. Team has gotten MRI. Bochy did not know results.
— Henry Schulman BLUE CHECK MARK (@hankschulman) April 27, 2017
However, Schulman later tweeted that Span revealed that the MRI results showed that there was “nothing alarming,” which should certainly be an encouraging sign for the Giants. The results of the MRI will also now be looked at by a radiologist and team doctor, per Schulman.
Span said "nothing alarming" in MRI today. In so much pain yesterday couldn't get through MRI. Feels better today. #sfgiants
— Henry Schulman BLUE CHECK MARK (@hankschulman) April 27, 2017
#sfgiants will have radiologist look at MRI along with team doc to ensure they see same thing.
— Henry Schulman BLUE CHECK MARK (@hankschulman) April 27, 2017
Span, who is now 33 years old, has had several terrific seasons with the Minnesota Twins and Washington Nationals. After being limited to only 61 games with the Nationals in 2015, the Giants signed him to a three-year, $31 million deal prior to the 2016 season. He had a pretty solid rebound season last year, hitting .266/.331/.381 (92 OPS+) over 143 games while accumulating a 1.1 bWAR and 1.4 fWAR. Span was off to a .200/.245/.280 start so far this season.
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The Giants are off to a shaky start in 2017, going just 8-15 thus far, and losing Span for an extended period of time would clearly be a blow to the club. With Span on the sidelines, current center field options include Gorkys Hernandez and Drew Stubbs.