The San Francisco Giants’ defense of their 2014 World Championship got off to a tough start on Thursday after right fielder Hunter Pence was hit in the left forearm in the sixth inning. A later diagnosis confirmed that the arm was broken, and that Pence would be out 6-8 weeks.
The Giants website officially called the diagnosis a “non-displaced fracture of the ulna bone in his left forearm”.
If there *is* a bright side to this injury for the defending champs, it’s that the injury happened so early in the spring. Even at an eight week recovery time, Pence would miss just a month of regular season games. That’s a much better situation than if the injury occurred in three weeks, which could have taken Pence out of action until the beginning of June.
I doubt that San Francisco will go on the hunt for an outfielder to replace Pence, because Gregor Blanco should be able to cope just fine with Pence on the bench. If the team does look for a replacement, I highly doubt a player signed for multiple years at a high salary, like Allen Craig or Andre Ethier, will be an option.
Well, I guess it’s time to give the Red Sox a call about Shane Victorino – he’s only signed through 2015.
