The Philadelphia Phillies were able to advance past the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card round of the MLB playoffs, but one key pitcher suffered a very strange injury that could be devastating to their postseason hopes.
The injury, to relief pitcher David Robertson, was suffered during Game 2 of the Phillies‘ series against the Cardinals. There, star Philadelphia outfielder Bryce Harper hit a home run to give his team a 1-0 lead.
That ball was absolutely demolished#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/dnlsSnYz3r
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) October 9, 2022
What wasn’t shown in the video was Robertson celebrating the home run. That unfortunately caused a freak injury for the veteran reliever.
Robertson reportedly suffered a calf injury while jumping in excitement over the home run.
At the time it was not known how serious the injury was, but it appears to be a drastic blow for Philadelphia.
Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reported Tuesday that the injury caused the Phillies to remove Robertson from their NLDS roster.
David Robertson off roster. Suffered right calf strain jumping up celebrating Bryce Harper’s home run in second inning Saturday night
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) October 11, 2022
This is certainly a huge blow to the Phillies’ chances against the Atlanta Braves. Many have taken to social media to comment on the strangeness of this injury, and/or wish Robertson a speedy recovery from this unfortunate situation.
You've got to be kidding me… https://t.co/AqI76Lzu2Z
— CJHoytNews (@CJHoytNews) October 11, 2022
That's a new one🙄
He was part of their closer, setup by committee. Damn.#NLDS https://t.co/frRJTLj2RT— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) October 11, 2022
Not since the Kendrys Morales grand slam . . . https://t.co/Eez55ozRfE
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) October 11, 2022
Don't listen to Van Halen, kids. It's dangerous to Jump. https://t.co/8fLx8I3YcX
— Jake Crouse (@JakeCrouseMLB) October 11, 2022
As someone who got a knee injury that I STILL am dealing with years later from jumping up and down at a dance party, this is so relatable. https://t.co/kMJE4A0A5h
— Rachel (@rmiriam) October 11, 2022
This is SO baseball. https://t.co/WGfVAAXlXc
— Phil Rogers (@philgrogers) October 11, 2022
Baseball has produced many strange injuries over the years, but the closest we have seen to this was with Kendrys Morales with the Angels back in 2010.
Morales famously injured himself himself while celebrating a walk-off home run, breaking his leg as he jumped onto home plate.
Luckily Robertson didn’t suffer an injury nearly as severe as Morales did. But it is still a crushing diagnosis for Philadelphia.
Robertson has been extremely steady for the Phillies so far this year, recording a 2.70 ERA in 22 appearances with the organization.
They will certainly hope that Robertson will be able to return for a potential NLCS appearance should they get past Atlanta.
[Jim Salisbury on Twitter; photo from Eric Hartline/USA Today Sports]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.