Tovar lands on 10-day IL after being slowed by left hip pain
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DENVER -- Believing shortstop Ezequiel Tovar's play has been compromised by a left hip contusion, the Rockies placed him on the 10-day injured list on Saturday morning.
Tovar, 23, who won his first Gold Glove Award last season, has been playing with pain in the hip since attempting a diving play during the team¡¯s first series of the season at the Rays. He landed on the hip multiple times attempting diving plays, yet he played all 96 of the team¡¯s defensive innings over the first nine games until sitting out on April 10.
The condition didn¡¯t improve, and Tovar was scratched from Wednesday night¡¯s game at Dodger Stadium.
As a result, Colorado placed Tovar on the IL (retroactive to Wednesday) for the first time since his debut in September 2022. Tovar played 153 games in ¡®23 and 157 games last season. Infielder Aaron Schunk was selected from Triple-A Albuquerque and lefty pitcher Austin Gomber (left shoulder soreness) was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.
The injuries are an added setback for the Rockies, who entered Saturday afternoon¡¯s game against the Nationals holding the Majors¡¯ worst record at 3-15. The team changed hitting coaches on Thursday, from Hensley Meulens to Clint Hurdle, but Colorado will have to begin the new era without one of its best players.
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¡°He¡¯s played through some of this over the last couple of weeks, and it got to the point where he wasn¡¯t able to withstand that and it was taking away from his game,¡± manager Bud Black said of Tovar. ¡°So the medical team recommended that he go on the injured list.
¡°We think it¡¯s just going to be a 10-day period. It¡¯s inflamed. It has to calm down, which it will, and we think he¡¯s going to be just fine. There might be some lingering effects as we go through the season, but we¡¯ve got to get this initially calmed down so it feels better.¡±
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In 16 games this season, Tovar is batting .212. He was at .277 before going 1-for-19 in five games of the team¡¯s 0-6 road trip to San Diego and Los Angeles, but he spent much of that trip batting leadoff because center fielder Brenton Doyle was battling a left quad injury.
Doyle, who had one at-bat during the road trip, was placed on the bereavement list on Thursday, and replaced by outfielder Jordan Beck (recalled from Albuquerque).