KC Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain has been nursing a wrist injury through August, according to the Kansas City Star. Cain’s return has coincided with the team’s return to contention.
Kansas City Star beat writer Rustin Dodd reported the story Wednesday morning after talking to Lorenzo Cain immediately following Kansas City’s 5-4 loss to the Yankees after midnight. He’s been dealing with the problem for close to two weeks.
Cain told Dodd early Wednesday morning:
“I’ve just been battling through it so far,” Cain said. “I feel like I need to be in that lineup no matter what. It’s something I’m probably going to have to deal with the rest of the year. But I’ll be in there.”
“Swinging really gets me,” Cain said. “It’s tough right now, but I’m getting through it.”
Baseball players like to keep quiet about nagging injuries that aren’t serious enough to keep them out of the lineup. First of all, they want to avoid any appearance of making excuses. But, most importantly, they don’t want to reveal information that might help opponents.
However, Cain grimaced in pain a couple of times after swinging and missing in the 10th inning with Raul Mondesi Jr. on third and Jarrod Dyson on second with no outs. It was clear that those misses physically hurt, rather than just mere disappointment at failing to drive in the tying run in the KC Royals 5-4 loss on Wednesday.
No Rest For The Weary
Cain’s wrist might be hurting, but you can’t tell from his numbers over the last two weeks. He’s slashed .326/.412/.488 with 4 doubles and 1 home run with 8 RBIs in the last 14 days. That’s pretty good for someone who’s suffering pain in his wrist.
Heck, that’s pretty good period.
Almost every player in major-league baseball is dealing with some kind of ding at this point of the year. That’s normal during the 162-game marathon that is a major-league season.
The Kansas City Royals just have to hope that Cain’s wrist issue doesn’t turn into a significant performance problem. With the KC Royals trying to stay in the playoff race at 3.0 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the AL’s second wild card, and 6.5 games behind AL Central leader Cleveland Indians, they need all hands on deck.
It’s easy to tell someone else suck it up—especially when you just write about the game. But, that’s pretty much all Lorenzo Cain can do at this point. The KC Royals are in a do-or-die 30 game run for the post-season.
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