Chicago Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward made a ridiculous catch to rob the San Francisco Giants’ Denard Span of extra bases in the first inning Friday night at AT&T Park, but was forced to leave the game after suffering an injury on the play.
Heyward ran a long way at full speed, before making a sliding catch and slamming into the wall, right by the 421-foot mark (the area known as “triples alley” at AT&T Park). He immediately rolled around the ground in pain, and stayed down for a few minutes, before being helped off the field.
The Cubs are saying that the injury “is to his right torso/abdominal region”.
Jason Heyward is under evaluation for an injury to his right torso/abdominal region. pic.twitter.com/OhJjhPmRVz
— #VoteCubs (@Cubs) May 21, 2016
Heyward, 26, signed an eight-year, $184 million deal with the Cubs this offseason. He’s considered by many to be the best right fielder in the game, especially in terms of defense, as he showed off perfectly on that play. He’s been off to a rough start offensively on the season, hitting .225 with just a .282 slugging percentage, but it’s been expected that would turn around soon (he hit .293 with a .795 OPS for the St. Louis Cardinals last season).
It’s a scary sight for the Cubs and their fans after Opening Day left fielder Kyle Schwarber suffered a torn ACL on a freak play in the outfield in April. This certainly doesn’t look like an injury near the severity of Schwarber’s, but Heyward’s a highly valuable player whose loss would be felt if it’s for an extended period of time.
UPDATE: Great news for Heyward and the Cubs, as he’s been (only) diagnosed with bruised ribs that are expected to sideline him only 3-5 days.
[Photo Credit: @suntimes_sports; Eric Risberg/AP]