Seattle Mariners’ Nelson Cruz injured on the dugout stairs
The injury woes of the Seattle Mariners continue, with Nelson Cruz hurting his ankle on the dugout stairs.
With the Seattle Mariners losing to Cleveland by a run in the bottom of the eighth inning on Saturday, the Mariners’ Robinson Cano led off with a double to center. Nelson Cruz was due up next, fresh off a two-run homer in his previous at-bat back in the sixth inning. Except Cruz didn’t step up to the plate. Instead, it was backup outfielder Guillermo Heredia, a player known more for his glove and wheels than his bat.
The 35,000 fans at Safeco Field and others watching at home could only wonder what the heck was going on. At the plate, Heredia made two unsuccessful bunt attempts before flying out to left. Surely, manager Scott Servais didn’t pinch-hit Heredia for Cruz in order to bunt the runner over? That’s an old-school move out of the Lou Piniella playbook. It turns out that wasn’t what Servais was doing (phushhheww).
Heredia pinch-hit for Cruz because, as fans would learn later, Cruz had a twisted ankle. According to Servais, Cruz was injured going down the stairs in the dugout when his plastic cleat slipped, causing him to fall. Ryan Divish tweeted after the game that Cruz was wearing a walking boot on his right foot. He’ll have an MRI tomorrow.
Cruz was wearing a walking boot on his right foot. He’s having a MRI tomorrow. X rays were negative
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 31, 2018
The Mariners just lost power-hitting catcher Mike Zunino to the DL. If Cruz misses significant time, it’s another big blow to the offense. Cruz has been the team’s best hitter in each of the last three seasons, ever since he signed a four-year, $57 million contract before the 2015 season. Even before the Zunino injury, the team was without regular left fielder Ben Gamel, which led to 44-year-old Ichiro Suzuki starting the first two games. To his credit, Ichiro had two hits today, including a single off Andrew Miller, who held lefties to a .161/.268/.213 batting line last season. Ichiro also scored a run and robbed Jose Ramirez of a home run.
The MRI will tell us more about his injury, but Cruz did say after the game that it felt better. It’s unlikely that he would play tomorrow after sustaining the injury today. The Mariners have the day off on Monday and play games in San Francisco on Tuesday and Wednesday, where the DH is not used. That would potentially give him four days off if the injury is minor. If he needs a 10-day DL stint, he could be back as soon as the end of the Mariners’ upcoming eight-game road trip. Anything longer than that would carry into the Mariners’ next homestand in mid-April.
Should Cruz miss significant time, Dan Vogelbach would get more time at DH. Vogelbach crushed the ball during spring training and has been productive in Triple-A over the last two seasons, but hasn’t had sustained success at the major league level. That’s at least in part because he’s never had regular playing time. If Cruz goes on the DL, Vogelbach should take over the DH role against right-handed pitchers.
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Cruz is the second big-time player to be injured by a staircase this year. Just before the start of the season, Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez was injured carrying his suitcase up some stairs. An MRI revealed a Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament and Perez is expected to miss four-to-six weeks. The Mariners are hoping Cruz won’t miss that much time.
Stairs have been the nemesis of baseball players before. In 2005, Rockies shortstop Clint Barmes broke his collarbone. At first, he told the media he was hurt carrying groceries.
Later, he said he fell while carrying a package of deer meat up some stairs in his apartment building. According to Barmes, teammate Todd Helton had given him the deer meat after the two of them had been riding ATVs with teammate Brad Hawpe. All three claimed Barmes did not get hurt riding the ATVs, but with these types of off-field injuries, you never know.
At the time of the injury, Barmes was hitting .329/.371/.516 through June 5. After coming back in September, Barmes hit just .216/.256/.288 over his last 27 games. He still finished eighth in NL Rookie of the Year voting, but it was a significant drop in production. He was again the Rockies’ starting shortstop in 2006, but the September slump carried over, as he hit just .220/.264/.335. That’s amazingly awful for someone who played half his games in hitter-friendly Coors Field.
The Mariners also had a player in the past who was once (allegedly) hurt on a flight of stairs. In 2003, closer Kazuhiro Sasaki was placed on the DL with fractured ribs. He claimed he injured his ribs when he fell down a staircase at home while carrying a suitcase. That’s still the official story, but writer Robert Whiting claimed sources told him Sasaki “hurt himself while drinking and practicing pro-wrestling style maneuvers with friends.”
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It’s a little consolation that Cruz didn’t get hurt practicing pro-wrestling moves or hauling deer meat upstairs. Hopefully, it’s not a severe injury, and Cruz will be back out there crushing baseballs in the next few days. The Mariners won’t break their long playoff drought without the Boomstick in the lineup.