What in the name of Kendrys Morales is going on here?
Rays catcher Curt Casali was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the team on Wednesday with a hamstring strain. How was the injury suffered, you ask? Apparently, Casali tweaked the hammy rounding the bases after hitting a home run on Tuesday night against the Twins.
Here is footage of the trot in question as Casali can clearly be seen moving gingerly upon rounding first base after clubbing the fifth-inning solo shot off Minnesota lefty Neal Cotts.
“It was weird, it was really weird,” Casali told Bill Chastain of MLB.com after the game. “I felt fine going to first base. I was going pretty fast and it just started getting tight on me as soon as I hit the bag it didn’t go very good going around the bases.”
“I didn’t want to injure it worse than it already was,” he continued. “I tried to take it as slow as I could. I knew I had to get around the bases somehow. Just unfortunate timing.”
Unfortunate timing indeed as Casali was one of Tampa Bay’s hottest hitters post-All-Star break. In the second half, the 26-year-old has ripped nine home runs and posted a .662 slugging percentage with an unfathomable 165 wRC+. But in a Twilight Zone-level of irony, his torrid hitting actually wound up being his downfall when he pulled up lame during a seemingly innocuous home-run trot.
We know quite a few athletes who might feel compelled to send Casali a fruit basket of empathy.
H/T CBS Sports
Image Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
*Stats courtesy of FanGraphs*
