Scary moment for New York Yankees fans on Tuesday after Robinson Cano was struck in the hand during his teams 7-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays .
Cano was hit in the left hand on a pitch by J.A. Happ in the first inning of play. Team officials diagnosed Cano with a contusion, and X-rays later in the day showed up negative.
The team’s All-Star is listed as day to day with an expected return date for the team’s Friday home game against Baltimore.
Asked about his injury, Robinson said: “It’s swollen right now, and the last thing you want to do is aggravate it.”
Cano was struck by an 0-2 fastball clocked at 90mph. The ball appeared to strike Cano near the pinkie finger. Manager Joe Girardi and trainer Stevie Donohue spent a good amount of time at home plate with Cano before he made his way to first base.
Despite being hit in the hand, Cano stayed in the game long enough to score on a three-run homer by Alfonso Soriano . In the bottom of the inning, Cano was replaced at second base by Eduardo Nunez.
As if to vindicate his fellow Yankee, Soriano took the very next pitch from Happ and rocketed the ball three sections up in the left-field seats. The Yankees took a 4-0 lead before an out was recorded.
Happ is not having a good season in terms of injury to fellow players. You might recall that he also broke Curtis Granderson’s right forearm with a pitch back on Feb. 24. Granderson was hurt during the very first game of spring training and missed 38 games.
Losing Cano would be a big blow to the Yankees’ lineup. Cano is currently the teams best hitter with 24 home runs and 85 RBIs on a.305 batting average.
Ronbinson Cano becomes a free agent at the end of the season and is expected to pick up a huge multi-year deal.