Jeremy Lane Jersey
The Orioles didn’t expect the news on J.J. Hardy to be good, and those fears were confirmed Monday.
The veteran shortstop told reporters a CT scan confirmed a non-displaced fracture in his right wrist and said he won’t be able to resume baseball activities for about four to six weeks. That could put him on the shelf for about two months with rehab time.
Anthony Rizzo Jersey
Hardy was hit by a 93-mph Lance Lynn fastball Sunday, and manager Buck Showalter said after the game that the initial X-rays weren’t promising.
It’s the second consecutive season Hardy will miss extended time due to a freak broken bone. He was sidelined nearly two months last year after fouling a ball off his foot.
Ruben Tejada replaced Hardy on Sunday and figures to be in line for regular playing time at short in the coming weeks.
Arizona’s Kobi Simmons, a former top-30 recruit, was this year’s Derrick Jones Jr. 鈥?a top prospect who declared after his freshman year only to go undrafted. South Carolina’s P.J. Dozier, Maryland’s Melo Trimble, Nevada’s Cameron Oliver and Kentucky’s Isaiah Briscoe also surrendered their remaining college eligibility to enter this year’s draft, which came and went without their names being called.
Maybe they were viewed by NBA personnel as too small, too old or positional tweeners at the next level. Others may have declined the opportunity to get drafted in the second round, like Baker, VanVleet and Jones Jr. did last year, in favor of pursuing the flexibility and negotiating leverage provided by free agency.
Some fans and media members will question why certain players declared for the draft as early entrants, forgoing their remaining college eligibility, only to go undrafted. But that doesn’t mean a player’s dream of playing in the NBA is over. For some, it’s just the beginning.