J.J. Hardy out of Orioles’ lineup with hamstring injury
By Matt Fisher
Ryan Flaherty went to cover short as Zach Britton threw the ball to him, intending to start a 1-6-3 double play. He dropped the ball on the transfer and everyone was safe.
That could have been J.J. Hardy taking the ball and who knows what would have happened. However, it was not Hardy at short, because Hardy was in the dugout, nursing a pulled hamstring. He came up a little lame on a ground rule double by David Lough and was pulled from the game.
Hardy had been held out of the lineup on some previous occasions with consistent back spasms, but this hamstring problem could derail him again from getting regular playing time. Roch Kubatko of MASN says that Hardy may have been over compensating for his back, causing the hamstring injury; either way, Hardy says it’s frustrating.
"Frustrating as hell. It just seems like it’s one thing after another. And all this has just come up out of nowhere. I have no idea if it’s a few (days) or what. If I can jog, it can’t be that bad. I’ve seen guys hurt their hamstrings and can barely walk."
Showalter told reporters that Hardy was getting an off day on Monday anyways. As a result, the 31-year old shortstop will spend Patriots’ Day on the pine for Baltimore and Flaherty will likely take over shortstop.