Rays’ shortstop Wander Franco, who was placed on the IL yesterday due to an injury to his hamate bone, will undergo surgery to repair it. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relayed the news, noting that Franco will be out 5-8 weeks.
Long considered one of the top prospects in the sport, Franco debuted last year and delivered on the hype with an excellent rookie campaign. Just 20 years old at the time, he got into 70 games, striking out in just 12% of his plate appearances and hitting .288/.347/.463 for a wRC+ of 127. On the heels of that campaign, the Rays signed him to an 11-year, $182MM extension to keep him around as the face of the franchise for the next decade-plus.
Unfortunately, the first season of that extension hasn’t gone according to plan, with Franco being beset by injuries on multiple occasions. He first landed on the IL in May due to a quad strain, before this hamate injury surfaced. He’s managed to get into 58 games on the season, but seems to have been dragged down by these ailments. His batting line this year is .260/.308/.396, still above average with a 104 wRC+, but surely a disappointment for a young player hoping to see year-over-year growth. With a 5-8 week absence coming up, it seems he won’t be back until mid-August at the earliest, but potentially not returning until September.
The grim news for the Rays doesn’t end there, as Topkin relays an update on center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who also went on the IL yesterday alongside Kiermaier. Manager Kevin Cash says that Kiermaier will see a hip specialist after the All-Star break and is going to be “down for some time.” The defensive wiz was having another one of his customary seasons, providing quality glovework while hitting just shy of league average. While the length of his absence isn’t exactly clear, it seems like it will be significant. This leaves the club doubly handicapped in the outfield, especially in center, as Manuel Margot is also on the IL, with a patellar tendon strain keeping him out of action for a decent chunk of time as well.
With Franco out of action in the past couple of days, the club has turned to Taylor Walls at shortstop. Through 73 games this year, he’s hitting just .164/.245/.264 for a wRC+ of 52. Center field has been manned by Brett Phillips, who’s hitting .146/.218/.247 for a 39 wRC+ on the campaign. With both Franco and Kiermaier out of action for significant time, these two areas stand out as clear areas of need as the August 2 trade deadline approaches. The Rays are currently 45-40, well back of the Yankees in the AL East but still in possession of a postseason spot in a tight Wild Card race.
Speedy recovery Wander!!
The curse of the huge contracts lately. It seems as soon as many players sign, then they get hurt/and/or their production falls off the cliff..
Rays can’t catch a break
Crucial for the rays
My son took a pitch to the hands and broke the hand. He’s out 4 to 6 weeks and misses the playoffs.
Sounds like the team will miss him!
Hamate bones take a LONG time to feel right again and sometimes never do. He won’t be himself until next year at earliest.
Oh no….it’s Buxton 2.o! all the great potential with all the non great injuries.
Technically as soon as he signed that extension, Buxton proved an outlier who has stayed healthy since the signing…. And if he stays healthy he may very well prove a fair deal or a slight underpayment in the grand scheme.
Franco and Tatis, Jr. are in the earliest part of their very long contracts. No way to know how they’ll fare long term.
Lots of very reasonably productive mega contract players have periods of being injured and unavailable to play. It’s just part of the game, whether you make the league minimum or are the highest paid player in history.
Actually the Buxton situation is not what it seems……
Knowing his propensity for injuries (going back to missing the better part of a season in the minors), the Twins FO approached 2022 with 2 modifications to his play: 1) He would only start around 110 games; and 2) He would cut back on attempting to steal bases.
Nevertheless, he has been injured quite a few times already this year, and starting 110 games may be difficult to achieve. Phrased another way: the Twins are not getting anywhere near 100% of Bryan Buxton, but are hoping if the team stays in contention he can be a force during the stretch run and in the playoffs if they make them.
Hamate bone? Dave Hollins has entered the chat….
Rather massive loss. Wander was not killing it this year, but still solid. And then you have Taylor Walls…ugh. If the Rays do rely on him to fill Wander’s spot long term, this team is not making the playoffs. (Paging Xavier Edwards!!!)
I wouldn’t count out any AL East team. Even BAL has a shot with additional wild cards.