Vladimir Guerrero hasn’t played since being plunked on the right hand as part of the Orioles-Red Sox brouhaha Sunday and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reports that X-rays revealed a small “crack” in the hand.
Guerrero was hoping to play through the injury and perhaps even rejoin the Orioles’ lineup tonight, but “couldn’t get through batting practice” this afternoon.
Zrebiec speculates that he’ll be given 24-48 hours to show significant improvement before a stint on the disabled list, but at this stage of Guerrero’s career it doesn’t make much sense to have him playing at anything less than 100 percent.
He’s hit just .279 with a .700 OPS for by far the worst production of his career and a few weeks off may do the 36-year-old some good either way, particularly since any thoughts of the Orioles getting value for him at the trade deadline are probably out the window now anyway.