Royals suffer another blow
Moustakas out with torn ACL; Yanks add A-Rod but lose Teixeira
The Kansas City Royals placed third baseman Mike Moustakas on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, an injury that usually sidelines a player for a long period but one Moustakas said requires a second opinion.
“We’re still talking with the doctor, get a second opinion, see where we’re at,” Moustakas said. “You can’t rule anything out. I just want to go out there and be healthy and get prepared to play baseball again. That’s where I’m at right now.”
General manager Dayton Moore said surgery is a likely option.
“Obviously, it’s looking more like that, but you hate to jump the gun on that,” Moore said. “You need to just let it take its course, get second opinions go from there and see what happens.”
Moustakas and left fielder Alex Gordon collided Sunday while chasing a fly ball in Chicago. Gordon went on the disabled list Monday with a right wrist fracture.
“It’s disappointing. It’s just one of those things that happen in sports,” Moustakas said. “You can’t control everything. Me and Gordo (Alex Gordon) are going out trying to make a play and unfortunately we both got hurt. That’s just part of sports.”
Moustakas, a 2015 AllStar, was hitting .240 with seven home runs and 13 RBIs in 27 games. It is Moustakas’ second trip to the disabled list in May after missing three weeks with a broken left thumb.
While the Royals were losing a key player, the Yankees welcomed Alex Rodriguez back and found out they’ll be without Mark Teixeira for what they hope is only a few games.
Rodriguez, on the disabled list since May 4 with a strained right hamstring, returned to the lineup for Thursday’s game against Toronto, batting fifth and going 0-for-4. Teixeira, meanwhile, missed his second straight game with a neck problem, with manager Joe Girardi expecting the first baseman to sit out at least two more but hoping he won’t need a DL stint.
Teixeira received cortisone shots in multiple places in his neck Thursday, a day after an MRI showed inflammation but no serious damage. He also got cortisone shots two weeks earlier after he missed a pair of games because of the same issue.