Seiya Suzuki Getting X-Rays Following HBP, Update Expected Friday

Seiya Suzuki stayed in Wednesday’s game after being hit on the left hand/wrist area by a 94 mph Mychal Givens fastball in the top of the 9th, then escaped another injury scare in the bottom of the inning when he nearly collided with Michael Hermosillo at the wall. The right fielder was all smiles while dusting himself off, allaying any concerns about either the near-miss or the HBP, but subsequent reports have dampened optimism a bit.

With the off day tomorrow, any updates on Suzuki expected Friday. Suzuki was in the process of getting the imaging done postgame before Cubs fly back to Chicago tonight. https://t.co/KtjfHZGT1N

— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) September 15, 2022

In the wake of the sweep, David Ross told reporters that Suzuki would be getting x-rays just to make certain everything was okay. Cubs fans should know full well that remaining in the game or on the active roster isn’t an indicator that a player suffered no ill effects from ball or fall. Mike Olt took a pitch to the wrist on April 11, 2015 and actually made three plate appearances in the next two games before hitting the IL with a fracture.

Ed. note: This led to me watching a Cubs game with Olt, along with Tommy La Stella and Logan Watkins, at a bar in Tempe a little more than a week later.

As fate would have it, the man who effectively replaced Olt would eventually try to play through a fractured left wrist as well. Kris Bryant suffered his injury — which also included torn ligaments in his ring finger — on a diving play in left against Cleveland on August 12, 2020, yet he stayed in the game and even homered in his next at-bat. Bryant remained active for four more games before eventually being placed on the IL.

My sincere hope is that Suzuki is perfectly healthy, maybe a bruise at worst, but the Cubs sure do seem to have a history of being a little less than diligent with this stuff. With less than a month to go in the season and Suzuki really settling in and swinging a hot bat, it would behoove everyone involved to be extra cautious. We probably won’t know more until Friday due to the Cubs having Thursday off, so keep those good vibes flowing in the meantime.