Blue Jays: Alford heads to DL with fracture in wrist
MILWAUKEE— The injury woes keep piling up for the Toronto Blue Jays.
On Wednesday, prior to their game against the Brewers and less than 14 hours after recording his first majorleague hit, rookie outfielder Anthony Alford was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a fractured left hamate bone in his wrist.
The injury occurred on a foul ball in the ninth inning, a 2-1 pitch, after which he struck out swinging. Alford heard and felt a pop in his wrist on the strike-two swing against Neftali Feliz but he finished the game, one in which the 22-year-old, as a pinchhitter for pitcher Danny Barnes in the seventh inning, had ripped a hard double off the centre-field wall for his first big-league hit.
After the game, Alford received treatment and the Blue Jays’ training staff took him for X-rays that revealed the fractured wrist.
“Last night I was pretty down, but at the end of the day I can’t control the injuries,” a philosophical Alford said. “I just try to come out and play to the best of my abilities and to help the team. It was definitely a way to rain on my parade. It was an exciting day for me yesterday, getting my first hit, and on top of that getting a win, but unfortunately we got the bad news after the game.”
Alford’s life and career have been riddled with misfortune, but he still manages to maintain an optimistic outlook.
In December, his mother’s family home in Southern Mississippi burned to the ground in an early morning fire, with all family members escaping safely. Blue Jays players supported him and his family emotionally and financially, via an online fund to rebuild the home.
On Tuesday, Alford talked about how the baseball from his first hit would be the first new souvenir to give to his mother Lawanda after most of his sports memorabilia had been destroyed in the fire.
Even though he has been in the major leagues less than a week, Alford feels the renewed support from teammates from his injury.
“I feel like a lot of those guys treat me like a little brother,” Alford said. “They do a good job of taking care of me. I look at these guys as like a family to me. I look up to a lot of them and try to take bits and pieces from their game and try to implement them to my game . . . They’ve always had my back, so I’m pretty confident that they’ll continue to support me.”
Alford is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks.
“We’re elated what we’ve learned about him,” GM Ross Atkins said. “When guys like Anthony work hard, focus on process, focus on being good teammates and do have talent to compete at the major-league level, it makes it an easy decision for us to bring him into this environment.”