Alex Gordon carted off field with potentially serious groin strain
The Kansas City Royals will likely be without All-Star left fielder Alex Gordon for an extended stretch after Gordon suffered a left groin strain during Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Gordon was carted off the field during the fourth inning after crumpling to the ground in alarming fashion while chasing Logan Forsythe’s fly ball. Gordon tracked it to the warning track before awkwardly twisting his left leg. As the ball landed, Gordon stumbled into the left field wall and then went to the ground in pain.
Forsythe ended up circling the bases for an inside-the-park-home run, but the concern of everyone in the ballpark, including that of Forsythe and the Rays, immediately turned to Gordon. Royals manager Ned Yost and the team’s medical staff arrived quickly as a packed Kauffman Stadium held its collective breath. Gordon was unable to put any weight on his left leg before the cart arrived to take him off.
It was a heart-stopping scene. As Yahoo’s Jeff Passan pointed out, it was eerily similar to another injury that occurred at Kauffman Stadium.
If you recall, Rivera went down in a similar fashion near the Kauffman Stadium warning track while shagging fly balls during batting practice before a game in 2012. Rivera suffered a torn ACL, which cost him the final five months of what many expected would be his final MLB season.
Fortunately, the early indications are that Gordon has avoided the worst-case scenario. The severity of the groin strain will be determined by an MRI. It will undoubtedly cost him some time, perhaps even resulting in a lengthy absence, but there’s reasonable hope it won’t be a season ender.
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Gordon, who was voted to start next week’s All-Star game in Cincinnati, came in hitting .280/.394/.459 with 11 homers and 39 RBIs on the season. He was coming off a big day on Tuesday, in which he collected seven hits and reached base eight times in a doubleheader sweep of Tampa Bay.
Gordon was a huge part of Kansas City’s run to the World Series last season, so his presence will be dearly missed for as long as he’s sidelined.
Jarrod Dyson will likely see an increase in playing time as a result. Dyson replaced Gordon in left field and actually threw out Rays runner Brandon Guyer at home plate later the same inning. Later in the game, he hit an inside-the-park home run himself, so for night at least the dropoff wasn’t noticeable.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
