Mallex Smith hospitalized with viral infection

Posted by parceline on

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Rays outfielder Mallex Smith has been hospitalized with a viral infection, the team announced Friday night. While the precise nature of the infection has not been reported, manager Kevin Cash told reporters that he doesn’t believe it’s indicative of anything serious — that is, anything severe enough to be deemed life-threatening or season-ending.

Still, the fact that Smith landed in the hospital at all is cause for some alarm, and the Rays swiftly reassigned him to the 10-day disabled list for a still-to-be-determined recovery period. The 25-year-old outfielder is in the middle of his best season to date after slashing .307/.377/.433 at the plate with 27 stolen bases and 3.1 fWAR through 426 plate appearances. This figures to be his first stint on the DL all year.

A corresponding move won’t be announced until Saturday, though Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times speculates that either right-handed reliever Andrew Kittredge or outfield prospect Austin Meadows could get the nod in Smith’s place. Kittredge, 28, posted an impressive 2.74 ERA, 1.5 BB/9 and 11.2 SO/9 through 46 innings in Triple-A Durham this season. Meadows, meanwhile, is chugging along with a .316/.369/.671 batting line and six home runs since he came over from the Pirates at the trade deadline.

Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong made an early exit from Saturday’s game against the Rockies after sustaining a left hamstring strain, per a team announcement. It’s not yet known exactly how long he’ll be sidelined with the injury, but he’s expected to be day-to-day for the time being.

Wong was pulled in the second inning after popping a ground ball up the middle and hustling to beat the throw to first base. He immediately began to limp after crossing the bag and was attended to by a team trainer before leaving the game. Following the incident, he was replaced on the field by Greg Garcia, who shifted over from short to cover second base. Yairo Muñoz took over at short and assumed Wong’s spot in the lineup.

The 27-year-old second baseman has made it through the 2018 season relatively injury-free so far, save for a couple days missed with elbow and hamstring contusions and the two weeks he spent rehabbing a bout of knee inflammation in late July. Prior to Saturday’s injury, he went 0-for-1 against the Rockies’ German Marquez to bring his season totals to .244/.326/.386 with eight home runs, a .712 OPS and 2.3 fWAR in 349 PA.

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Labels: Viral Today

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