redsoxman
03-01-2004, 05:11 AM
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Mets were thrown a scare on Sunday when shortstop Kaz Matsui had to leave the practice field after splitting the middle finger on his right hand while participating in a workout.
The Japanese Gold Glover, who was quickly whisked off the field, was taken to a local hospital for X-rays, which proved to be negative. Matsui received a pair of stitches and will be sidelined, the club hopes, for no more than seven days.
The injury occurred while Matsui was going through double-play drills with second baseman Jose Reyes shortly before noon. He fielded one grounder and made the flip to Reyes before crouching down and holding up his hand.
"The injury came from me taking my eye off the ball," said Matsui, who had the finger taped and bandaged. "I feel responsible for the injury. But it will be a max of seven days. I've jammed my finger a few times before but not to this degree. After seeing the doctor I was relieved."
Matsui will still be able to do conditioning drills but he will have no baseball activity for a week. He will still come to the park and watch the team go through workouts and play a pair of intrasquad games this week. Matsui should be in the lineup either next Sunday or Monday when the Mets play the Dodgers and Cardinals, respectively.
"We just have to wait and see what happens but I don't view this as a setback," general manager Jim Duquette said. "We feel he'll have plenty of time to catch up on baseball activities."
Joe McEwing will fill in at shortstop until Matsui returns with Chris Basak serving as the backup.
"I guess things were going too smoothly," manager Art Howe said. "I'm just glad it isn't broken. He'll be able to run and stay in shape and he'll be out there watching drills."
Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
The Japanese Gold Glover, who was quickly whisked off the field, was taken to a local hospital for X-rays, which proved to be negative. Matsui received a pair of stitches and will be sidelined, the club hopes, for no more than seven days.
The injury occurred while Matsui was going through double-play drills with second baseman Jose Reyes shortly before noon. He fielded one grounder and made the flip to Reyes before crouching down and holding up his hand.
"The injury came from me taking my eye off the ball," said Matsui, who had the finger taped and bandaged. "I feel responsible for the injury. But it will be a max of seven days. I've jammed my finger a few times before but not to this degree. After seeing the doctor I was relieved."
Matsui will still be able to do conditioning drills but he will have no baseball activity for a week. He will still come to the park and watch the team go through workouts and play a pair of intrasquad games this week. Matsui should be in the lineup either next Sunday or Monday when the Mets play the Dodgers and Cardinals, respectively.
"We just have to wait and see what happens but I don't view this as a setback," general manager Jim Duquette said. "We feel he'll have plenty of time to catch up on baseball activities."
Joe McEwing will fill in at shortstop until Matsui returns with Chris Basak serving as the backup.
"I guess things were going too smoothly," manager Art Howe said. "I'm just glad it isn't broken. He'll be able to run and stay in shape and he'll be out there watching drills."
Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.