Yasiel Puig to get MRI on thumb
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig was held out of the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the San Francisco Giants while the team awaited MRI results on his injured left thumb.
Puig jammed his thumb sliding headfirst into first base on an infield single in the third inning of Saturday's loss to the Giants. He was able to stay in and finish Saturday's game after being examined by the Dodgers trainers.
He had X-rays after the game, but when the thumb swelled up overnight, the Dodgers decided to get an MRI as well.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he did not believe the injury was "anything major" and that he wouldn't hesitate to use Puig as a pinch hitter Sunday if the MRI came back clean.
"I don't know if it's going to end up being something bigger than what we think, but it's definitely sore," Mattingly said. "Probably if it was a different time of year he'd say, 'I can play.'
"So I'm hoping for the best, that he would maybe be able to pinch hit tonight. I'm not sure if that's going to happen. The second scenario is that he gets today off, tomorrow off and then almost the next full day. ... So hopefully he'll be ready for that one [Tuesday against Detroit]."
Mattingly said Puig normally wears a protective wrap on his thumb to protect against this very injury, but he wasn't wearing it on the play where he got injured because he doesn't wear it while hitting, and it was a headfirst slide into first base.
Mattingly said the Dodgers have tried to caution Puig and all their players against sliding headfirst into first base -- something utilityman Nick Punto did often last season -- but "it's hard to stop guys from doing what they do kind of naturally."
