Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe brings us some unfortunate news about promising Red Sox outfield prospect Ryan Kalish.
The 23-year-old injured his shoulder while diving for a ball on Thursday night at Triple-A Pawtucket and has now been diagnosed with a partially torn labrum.
Kalish will try to rehab the injury first, but season-ending surgery is a strong possibility if things don’t go well out of the gate. Either way, he’s going to be out for several months.
A ninth-round pick in the 2006 MLB Amateur Draft, Kalish has carved a slow but steady path through the Red Sox farm system. He posted a healthy .884 OPS, 13 home runs and 25 stolen bases across 343 plate appearances last season between Double-A and Triple-A.
This season he opened as Pawtucket’s starting center fielder.
With J.D. Drew headed for free agency in the winter, Kalish may be in line to take over in right field for the big league club in 2012. His shoulder should be back to 100 percent by then.