Nico Hoerner Says He’s Available Tuesday as Hand Feels ‘Pretty Good’

Looks like Nico Hoerner won’t need an IL stint to rest his fractured right hand and that Luis Vázquez being in St. Petersburg was just a precaution after all. As Hoerner told 670 The Score’s Parkins & Spiegel Show, he will be out of the lineup but could still play in the series opener against the Rays.

“The term broken hand has a wide range of things within it, and mine is, fortunately, while still classified as that, is not as limiting as some others, I guess,” Hoerner explained. “I’m feeling pretty good. I’ll be available off the bench today and hopefully in there soon. I guess I was fortunate on that end. I thought it would just be bone bruising, but there was small fracture in there.”

He hasn’t played the field or batted — he pinch-ran on Friday — since being hit in the hand by a pitch on Thursday against the Reds, but doctors have assured him it’s unlikely he can injure it further by playing. Unless, of course, he’s hit by another pitch.

“Sometimes, like the word ‘fracture’ is very scary and not what you want to hear,” Hoerner admitted. “But you also get confidence from the doctor saying things like, ‘It’s as you can tolerate’ and we go from there. “We’ve got ways to take care of swelling and pain, so I feel pretty good about it.”