Boston Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks broke his wrist last night and will likely miss the rest of the season. (Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE)
Will Middlebrooks clutched his wrist last night after a 95 mph fastball bounced off it. Bobby Valentine and the rest of the Red Sox training staff came out and assisted him off the field. It was revealed today that Middlebrooks was clutching a broken wrist and he’s likely going to miss the remaining seven weeks of the Red Sox seasons.
Middlebrooks is the future at third base for the Red Sox and is one of the primary reasons that fan favorite Kevin Youkilis was shipped to the south side of Chicago earlier this season. He was hitting .288 with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs at the time of his injury. Nick Punto replaced Middlebrooks following his exit from the game.
Speaking of former Minnesota Twins infielders, Danny Valencia, whom the Red Sox acquired earlier this month from Minnesota, has been called up from Triple-A Pawtucket and will likely get the start in place of Middlebrooks.
Middlebrooks thanked the Red Sox faithful, who flocked to Twitter to give him their best wishes.
Thank you guys for your prayers and thoughts…It doesn’t go unnoticed.
#RedSoxNation— Will Middlebrooks (@middlebrooks) August 11, 2012
The initial prognosis is unknown at the time but manager Bobby Valentine said it didn’t look good.
“Bad spot,” Valentine said. “He got hit pretty good in a bad place. … He’s in a lot of pain. I was hoping it was down on the meat. It was straight on the bone.”
There are still seven weeks left in the Red Sox season, and the max recovery time should be 4-6 weeks but with Boston not in a position to win anything it would be foolish for the Red Sox to rush Middlebrooks back.
