Detroit – Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suárez hopes he avoided a major injury when he was hit on the right index finger by a pitch late in Monday night’s 5-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Suárez, who is a candidate to be traded to a contender, was struck by a 95.6 mph sinker from Will Vest in the ninth inning. Suárez immediately doubled over in pain and quickly left the field.
“The good news is that the X-rays were negative, but it still obviously hurt,” said Suárez, who was not bending the finger. “There are more tests scheduled for [Tuesday]and we will go from there. I’ll come back as quickly as I can.”
The 34-year-old infielder is hitting .248 with 36 homers and 87 RBIs in 104 games this season — the seventh time he has hit at least 30 homers across the past eight full campaigns.
“He’s very tough, and he never even winces,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “When he reacts like that, you know it isn’t good.”
Lovullo said he didn’t blame Vest.
“I don’t think there was any intent there,” Lovullo said. “He’s one of the most impressive hitters in MLB, and you don’t want to take those type of players off the field.”
The Diamondbacks are 51-56 and already have signaled they will be unloading players at the deadline. One of the teams believed to be interested in Suárez is the Tigers. The Venezuelan was signed by Detroit at age 17 and made his debut for the club in 2014, before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds after that season.
