Rays heart fielder Jose Siri suffered a fracture in his proper hand throughout this night’s win over the Twins, supervisor Kevin Money informed Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Occasions (Twitter link). He’ll land on the 10-day injured checklist, although the Rays are hopeful he may return in round three weeks.
Siri was injured within the fifth inning when he was hit by a Dylan Floro pitch. He completed that half-inning however was subbed out for the next defensive body. Vidal Bruján got here into the sport to play proper area, pushing Josh Lowe over to heart.
Lowe has spent the overwhelming majority of his season in proper however may transfer to heart whereas Siri is sidelined. Luke Raley may transfer extra steadily into proper area, probably clearing a path for Harold Ramírez and/or Jonathan Aranda to choose up a couple of further at-bats at designated hitter. Nonetheless the Rays play it, they’ll face a defensive downgrade.
Siri is among the higher defensive heart fielders within the recreation. He persistently charges extremely with the glove, with Statcast crediting him as 9 runs above common over 830 2/3 innings coming into play tonight. He’s a streaky offensive participant however is amidst a good second full season on the massive league degree. Siri has reasonably quietly popped 25 dwelling runs and is slugging .494 over 364 journeys to the plate. A dismal strikeout/stroll profile has led to him hitting .222 with a effectively below-average .267 on-base proportion, however he has uncommon energy potential for an affect defensive outfielder.
The Rays are all however mathematically assured of a playoff spot. They’re three video games behind the Orioles within the race for the AL East title (and sure the league’s prime seed). Monitoring down Baltimore was already an uphill battle and turns into slightly more difficult with right this moment’s information.
Extra notable is the chance that Siri’s damage may linger into the postseason. The playoffs start precisely three weeks from tomorrow. The membership’s restoration timetable places him proper on the border of being prepared by then, possible with out the good thing about many lower-leverage at-bats to get again to recreation pace. It’s potential that Siri may miss a playoff spherical, particularly if the Rays don’t observe down Baltimore and due to this fact should play in a Wild Card collection as an alternative of securing a first-round bye.
