CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Indians outfielder Bradley Zimmer is out six to eight weeks after having surgery to repair a bone in his left hand, the team announced prior to Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field.
According to the release, the Indians’ rookie center fielder had surgery Tuesday morning at the Hand and Wrist Center of Lenox Hill in Manhattan, New York. Dr. Thomas Graham inserted a plate and nine screws into Zimmer’s hand to internally fixate his fourth metacarpal.
Zimmer suffered the broken left hand in the bottom of the seventh inning of Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field.
On a softly hit grounder to first baseman Chris Davis, Zimmer tried to slide around a tag attempt and was stepped on while attempting to reach the base. Immediately after the out was recorded, Zimmer remained down on the ground and was attended to by Indians medical personnel before walking to the dugout and exiting the game.
“I know you hear so often, ‘Don’t slide into first,’” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “You hear it all the time. I disagree. As a baserunner, when you’re running that way and a fielder’s coming this way or the pitcher’s coming this way, sometimes, the best way to get to the bag is by sliding.
“Yeah, he got stepped on, but you could just as easily blow out an ankle or a knee. That guy hit his hand. It would’ve hit his foot. It’s hard for a runner. When you’ve got somebody else coming, you’re really vulnerable. Sometimes, I think going headfirst is actually safer. This didn’t work, but he could have just as easily blew his knee out.”
In his first Major League Baseball season, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Zimmer collected 72 hits, including 15 doubles, two triples and eight home runs, with 39 RBI, 41 runs scored and 26 walks in 101 games for the Indians.
Zimmer was a first-round pick (No. 21 overall) of the Indians in the 2014 MLB Draft.
