Athletics starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo injured his throwing hand on Saturday while playing video games. And yes, I’m serious.
The young, hard-throwing left-hander was placed on the 10-day IL on Sunday after he accidentally hit his hand on a table — he told reporters on Tuesday that his hand flung into the table on Saturday in reaction to his video game. The result: a hairline fracture to his pinkie.
But wait. Didn’t Luzardo pitch on Saturday? Yes, he did. Luzardo revealed the injury came before his start, and he self-diagnosed himself fit to play, despite noticeable swelling.
Luzardo said he swung his arm out as a reaction while playing a video game Saturday morning and hit it “obviously pretty hard.” He said it started swelling within minutes but he deemed himself OK to pitch against Baltimore. An X-ray after the game showed a hairline fracture to his pinkie.
“It was a dumb mistake and it was also just kind of like a freak accident,” Luzardo said.
Matt Kawahara/San Francisco Chronicle
Man, that’s rough. Can you imagine how stupid he must have felt after seeing the swelling? He likely simply didn’t want to tell anybody, though he should have. Luzardo allowed six runs, three earned, on five hits, by the way.
Per Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle, Luzardo hopes to return soon, and the injury is expected to heal on its own without a cast. He’s using high-tech treatment that will assist the healing and is also wearing a splint. Luzardo reported that the swelling was down, too. So apparently, starting on Saturday didn’t make the injury worse.
Or hopefully, rather, for manager Bob Melvin. What a sensational story here from Luzardo, one that’s certainly rare. Freak accidents do happen, however, even with professional athletes. I do like that he was at least tough enough to pitch on Saturday. And let’s hope for Luzardo’s sake his hand heals quickly and he can put this strange series of events behind him.
(Photo credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports)
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