Baltimore Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy will be the latest to join the disabled list as he has been diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his right wrist and will be held out of baseball activities for four to six weeks.
Hardy was hit in the wrist with a 93 mph fastball by St. Louis Cardinals starter Lance Lynn on Sunday afternoon. He stayed in the game after being hit, but left in sixth inning to go under testing. A CT scan confirmed the fracture today.
It is the second time in as many years that Hardy has a broken bone after none leading up to last season. He fractured his foot last season on a foul ball. He now seeking treatment from fracture doctors to make sure the fracture heals properly.
The Orioles are in a world of hurt right now as Chris Davis, Ryan Flaherty, Darren O’Day and Zach Britton are already on the disabled list. The loss of Davis until after the All-Star break has already forced Buck Showalter to make lineup and position changes in the infield, and more are on the way.
Ruben Tejada will likely take over at shortstop for Hardy, as he did on Sunday. It is likely that the O’s will bring back Paul Janish from Triple-A Norfolk to replace Hardy on the 25-man roster.
Showalter could also go with Manny Machado at shortstop and have Janish at third. Machado was the primary shortstop when Hardy went down last season.
MLB Trade Rumors shared this important note about Hardy’s future following the injury:
“From a bigger-picture perspective, the injury makes it an absolute lock that Hardy will not trigger his $14MM vesting option for the 2018 campaign. The 34-year-old was roughly on pace to reach the requisite 600 plate appearances he’d have needed to accumulate in order to lock in that salary, but the option will now be a $14MM club option with a $2MM buyout.”
Hardy is batting .211/.248/.308 with three home runs and 21 RBI in the final year of his contract. He was heating up as of late with seven hits in his last 22 at-bats.
