Francisco Rodriguez suffers foot injury by stepping on cactus

Francisco Rodriguez was set to make his spring training debut with the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, but that may not be happening anymore because he plays baseball. What do we mean by that? Baseball has to be the only sport where a player could suffer a foot injury by stepping on a prickly plant.

According to Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel, K-Rod accidentally stepped on a cactus Tuesday with his bare foot.

“They took out a lot of the thorns but there’s still some in there,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke explained. “I don’t think it’s that big of a setback but I imagine he’s pretty sore today. You know how little some of the thorns are and they break off in there. So, I don’t know. But that’s what’s going on.”

Rodriguez was already a few weeks behind the other Brewers pitchers as he was waiting for a work visa in Venezuela.

“He may still say he wants to pitch (Thursday),” Roenicke added. “It’ll be tough to keep him back, the way he is. I just have to talk to him and see how he’s doing.”

Note to Frankie — wear shoes when you’re in Arizona from now on.

We already saw one MLB pitcher get scratched from his spring training debut after he lost a battle with a fishing knife. It wouldn’t be spring training without pitchers accidentally slicing their hands or stepping on dangerous plants.

H/T Deadspin