By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Two major league ball players from the San Antonio area, both of them with All-Star credentials, have suffered from rotten luck in general and hand/wrist fractures in particular this season.
For Josh Jung and Jordan Westburg, their seasons were unceremoniously interrupted when they failed to avoid inside pitches that veered into their hands as they prepared to hit.
Westburg, a Baltimore Orioles infielder who once played at New Braunfels High School, had to be removed from a home game Wednesday when he was hit on the hand in the fifth inning against Toronto.
Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that he hopes Westburg can return to the lineup by the end of the season.
“They just X-rayed it,” Hyde said Wednesday in an Associated Press story. “How it heals and those type of things is way beyond my expertise.”
It was a tough break for the Orioles and for Westburg, who debuted in the MLB All-Star game a few weeks ago. The 25-year-old Westburg is batting .269 with 18 home runs and 58 RBIs. He is now on the 10-day injured list.
Jung, a Texas Rangers infielder who played in high school at MacArthur in San Antonio, has suffered misfortune in both of his two seasons in the majors.
Last season, as a rookie, he hit 23 home runs, made the All-Star squad and won a World Series title. But he missed much of the second half with a fractured thumb that he hurt while fielding a ball at third base.
Just as this season was getting underway, the dark clouds of bad luck converged again. Batting in a game at Tampa Bay, he was hit by a pitch. After a lengthy rehabilitation from a fractured wrist, Jung was activated Tuesday.
Notable
All Star Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers also fell victim to an errant inside pitch in June. He broke his left hand when he was hit during the seventh inning of a June 16 game against the Kansas City Royals at Dodger Stadium, according to an AP story. Manager Dave Roberts said on Wednesday that Betts could be back by mid-August, according to mlb.com.