Wrist Injury Ends Logan Morrison’s Season

3:20pm: Morrison now confirms to Topkin (Twitter link) that he’s done for the season. He’ll have an MRI performed on his wrist this Wednesday, which will determine whether he requires surgery. Even if only rehab is required, though, Morrison won’t play again this year.

8:46am: Rays first baseman/designated hitter Logan Morrison believes he’s done for the season after incurring a left wrist injury while taking a swing in yesterday’s game, he tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Morrison explains that he heard a “pop” in his left wrist, which had previously given him no issues. He’ll undergo an MRI to determine if surgery is needed to correct an injury that, according to manager Kevin Cash, pertains to Morrison’s tendon sheath, according to Topkin. “More than likely, I’m probably done for the year,” Morrison said. “I’m just hoping everything is all right.”

The injury comes with the worst of timing for Morrison, who is slated to hit the open market following the 2016 season. He’d gone a long way toward rebuilding his stock after enduring one of the slowest starts of any player in recent history, but season-ending wrist surgery certainly won’t do him any favors as he looks for a new contract this offseason.

Morrison, who recently turned 29, was acquired by the Rays along with Brad Miller and Danny Farquhar in the offseason trade that sent Nate Karns, Boog Powell and C.J. Riefenhauser to the Mariners. He opened the season in dreadful fashion, collecting just two hits through his first 44 plate appearances and didn’t collect a multi-hit game until May 17. Morrison’s overall batting line sat at just .119/.221/.143 through his first 95 plate appearances, and it was questioned in mid-May how long he could hang onto his roster spot.

Morrison answered naysayers emphatically with a brilliant finish to the month of May, though, and continued to hit for the remainder of the season when healthy. (Notably, a forearm strain did cost him more than two weeks of action in late July/early August.) Over his final 303 plate appearances this season, Morrison slashed .275/.350/.498 with 14 homers, 16 doubles and a triple, raising his OPS nearly 400 points in the process.

While Morrison was never going to rank as one of the top 10 free agents of the offseason (in terms of earning capacity), another three strong weeks would’ve helped to further distance himself from that disastrous start to the season. Now, Morrison will simply hope that surgery isn’t required to alleviate the newfound pain in his wrist, as a lengthy rehab would presumably create some hesitation on behalf of interested teams. All of the first base options on the market, of course, will be playing second fiddle to Edwin Encarnacion, but Morrison will join a crop of first basemen that also includes Brandon Moss, Mike Napoli, Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce this coming winter.