Curtis Granderson Likely Headed Back to DL, Out At Least 4 Weeks After Breaking Hand
By Josh Hill
Curtis Granderson was placed on the disabled list by the New York Yankees this spring but there was hope he could still be a major factor for the team before the All-Star Break. He was activated just a week go on May 14 but it appears the Yankees center fielder is headed back to the DL after suffering a broken hand in Friday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Granderson was hit in the hand by a pitch in the fifth inning but managed to take his base. But while on base, Granderson was seen grimacing and flexing his left hand, but doing so in what looked like agonizing pain. He was pulled from the game and x-rays taken at Tropicana Field revealed that Granderson has a bone fracture in his hand.
“I thought I was going to be OK,” Granderson, via ESPN. “But once I got to third, it started hurting a little bit and I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m going to have to make sure I can go ahead and squeeze a bat before I can go back out there.’ And as the inning continued to prolong a little bit, it started to throb.”
Yankees’ skipper Joe Girardi said he wasn’t going to speculate about how long Granderson ultimately will be out but he did say that he expects his outfielder to miss at least four weeks.
“I’m not going to speculate. I’ll let the doctors tell us,” Girardi said. “Usually broken bones don’t heal in two weeks unless you’re like 3 years old. Curtis is not 3 years old anymore. You’ve got to say a minimum of four weeks and then we’ll go from there.”
The Yankees were hoping Granderson would be the first of many of the Bomber’s stars to come off the disabled list and work their way back into being productive members of the lineup. But with his hand broken, Granderson re-joins the likes of Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez, Joba Chamberlain, Kevin Youkilis and many other Yankees starters currently sidelined with injuries.
Granderson’s bad break is even more painful for Yankees fans who were just getting excited again about seeing a popular face back in the lineup. He was just activated from the DL but it looks like Granderson is headed back there and the Yankees season continues to tailspin out of control.