As the Guardians pursue an AL Central title, they’re going to be doing so a little shorthanded. Pitchers Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale hit the injured list Friday, according to Terry Francona, the former with a broken hand and the latter due to forearm inflammation.
While Civale’s injury is relatively normal wear-and-tear, Plesac’s was self-inflicted. In his last start against the Mariners, Plesac gave up a home run to Jake Lamb in the seventh inning. He responded by one-inch-punching the mound, which is what the Guardians are ascribing his injury to.
I think Zach Plesac knew this one wasn’t coming back pic.twitter.com/8AeCdiuogq
— Casey Drottar (@CDrottar19) August 28, 2022
Francona praised Plesac after the game, saying “he did really well … He competed like crazy. And when you really look back on it, if he didn’t we wouldn’t have a chance.”
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In a year that already has a few weird pitcher injuries — Aroldis Chapman’s tattoo, Chris Sale falling off his bike, and Archie Bradley falling over the dugout railing to get involved in a brawl all come to mind — Plesac’s injury is a bit more reminiscent of Amar’e Stoudemire punching a fire extinguisher in frustration and breaking his hand in the process.
For the Guardians, it’s undoubtedly a frustrating injury as they continue to stave off the Twins and White Sox. While the Twins are one game back in the division, the White Sox are three games back.
Plesac’s 3-11 record belies a somewhat respectable 4.39 ERA, not horrible for a back-end rotational arm. He was replaced by Cody Morris for Friday’s start against Seattle, in which he game up two runs in two innings.
This isn’t the first time Plesac’s frustration has gotten the better of him. Last year he missed over a month with a broken right thumb he sustained while “aggressively” ripping his shirt off after a bad outing against the Twins.
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