San Diego Padres star shortstop Xander Bogaerts is expected to get some time off because of his nagging left wrist injury but hopes to avoid a trip to the injured list.
Bogaerts, who left Saturday’s victory over the Chicago Cubs in the eighth inning, played through wrist discomfort earlier in his career. The four-time All-Star told reporters that he doesn’t think he needs to go in the IL, but also said “enough is enough” when asked about the injury after the game.
Bogaerts has been playing through the injury since early May but said he wanted to stay in the lineup while fellow Padres star Manny Machado was out. Machado returned to the lineup Friday after missing nearly three weeks with a hand injury.
“I probably haven’t played this long with it,” Bogaerts told reporters, according to MLB.com. “I knew Manny was hurt and I felt like I want to go out there, and I want to be there. Obviously, now he’s back. … Let’s see how it is. Then once it’s feeling right, all we’ve got to work on is getting rid of the bad habits you created with that.”
Padres manager Bob Melvin said Bogaerts will undergo further examination and likely miss Sunday’s game against the Cubs.
“He was feeling it — it looked like the last couple at-bats almost on every swing,” Melvin said, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “We’ll take a look at him tomorrow, probably end up giving him an off day. We’ll see how he responds.”
Bogaerts, 30, is batting .252 with seven home runs and 21 RBI in 57 games this season, the first of his 11-year, $280 million deal with the Padres. The five-time Silver Slugger got off to a hot start this season but is batting just .195 over his last 32 games and has only one home run since May 1.