Robinson Chirinos finished an at-bat with a broken forearm

Catchers are a tough breed. There’s no doubt about. But Robinson Chirinos took that toughness to an entirely different level on Saturday night.

According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, the Texas Rangers backstop suffered a broken forearm when he was hit by a pitch from the Angels’ hurler Garrett Richards. Chirinos was not awarded first base, however, because he was ruled to have offered at the pitch. That meant the at-bat continued. Despite feeling the pain and knowing something was wrong, Chirinos continued as well and actually finished the at-bat. 

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Chirinos was eventually retired on a deep fly ball to right field, which is pretty remarkable given his condition. The damage was done though. There was nothing Chirinos could do to mask the unbearable pain once he took that swing. That’s when the reality of his situation truly set in and the Rangers realized his injury was serious. 

“He wanted to give it a go,” manager Jeff Banister said after the game. “We knew it was hurting but Robby wanted to give it a shot. As soon as we saw the swing, we knew it was more serious. Obviously a blow to us but we have been in this position before. We’ll find the next man to step in and step up.” 

According to the Rangers, Chirinos will be out of action for 8-to-12 weeks. 

It’s an unfortunate setback for Chirinos. He also missed extended time last season with shoulder and biceps injuries. The Rangers want him to be the guy behind the plate. He’s had productive stretches when given a chance to run with it, but he just can’t avoid the injury bug. 

Perhaps his desire to stay on the field Saturday was fueled by those past injuries. He wanted to show the Rangers that he can handle the workload and tough it out. Who knows, but when you hear quotes like this one, it certainly makes you wonder what his mindset could be. 

“Kevin made me rotate my hand,” Chirinos said. “I felt the bone move and I thought the bone was broken. But I didn’t want to leave in the middle of an at-bat.”

Perhaps it was a pride thing too. Either way, we wouldn’t advise continuing an at-bat when a bone feels like it might be broken. if something feels wrong, chances are something is in fact wrong. Go get it checked out and hope for the best. 

[Elsewhere: Madison Bumgarner continues tormenting Clayton Kershaw]

Unfortunately for the Rangers, Chirinos wasn’t the only player to go down on Saturday. Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo suffered a calf strain during pregame warmups. The Rangers say he’ll miss to 4-to-6 weeks. To replace Choo, the Rangers are calling up top prospect Nomar Mazara. The 20-year-old outfielder was ranked as baseball’s No. 21 prospect by Baseball America.  

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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