BOSTON – Not even 24 hours after Sean Murphy’s injury scare, the Braves saw Jarred Kelenic dive for a ball and roll his wrist as he caught it. It did not look good.
It seems the Braves can breathe a sigh of relief: Though he eventually exited the game, Kelenic is OK. X-rays on his wrist were negative, he said after the Braves lost to the Red Sox 9-0 on Wednesday at Fenway Park.
“I think I got lucky,” Kelenic said. “I just kind of jammed my wrist a little bit. Didn’t feel anything crazy, but passed all the tests. Just a little stiff right now, but I should be fine.”
Head athletic trainer George Poulis taped up Kelenic’s wrist – the tape went from the wrist up toward the middle of his forearm – and Kelenic played left field in the bottom of the seventh inning. But manager Brian Snitker did not deem it necessary for Kelenic to take another at-bat at that point. (The Braves trailed 8-0 at that point.) J.P Martinez hit for Kelenic and replaced him in left field, but Kelenic said he could’ve hit if necessary.
This is the best news possible after it looked like Kelenic might have sustained a serious injury in the bottom of the sixth inning. In reality, it seems the play simply looked worse than it turned out to be because Kelenic’s glove hand bent back awkwardly as he rolled on the grass after his catch.
“Yeah, I thought I was gonna go back out there,” Kelenic said.
Poulis put Kelenic through the full range of tests. Kelenic passed.
The Braves appear to have avoided the worst-case scenario – just as they did with Sean Murphy on Tuesday night.
In that bottom of the sixth inning Wednesday, Kelenic charged a sinking line drive to left field and dove forward to catch it. He snagged it, but rolled over that wrist in the process. He stayed there and held his wrist until Poulis and manager Snitker went out to evaluate him.
“I had a good jump on it, and first it was my wrist, and then I was trying to feel for the ball at the same time,” Kelenic said of his play, which ended the inning. “But it was just a tough situation, it happened so fast. I’m just happy that I’m feeling good.”
Because of the fact that Kelenic could’ve hit, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he’ll be in Thursday’s lineup for the series opener in Washington. But it’ll depend on how he feels when he wakes up Thursday, and it’s possible that he still might be stiff. The Braves could opt to sit him as a precaution.
Asked how concerned he was when he saw how the play looked, Snitker began his answer with: “Very much so.”
Luckily, it doesn’t seem Kelenic’s ailment is serious.
“Any time they leave their feet like that – I didn’t know if it was a wrist, shoulder or whatever,” Snitker said. “He’s a very aggressive, really good outfielder, and he’s on the attack when he’s out there. I feel like we probably dodged a bullet right here.”
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