San Diego Padres center fielder Jon Jay left Sunday evening’s game against the Washington Nationals after suffering a right forearm contusion, the team announced.
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Jay’s Status Unknown
Sunday, June 19
Jay was hit by a pitch from Washington’s Gio Gonzalez in the fourth inning but managed to stay in the game for two more innings before exiting.
The team has not disclosed the severity of the contusion or a timetable for his return.
Jay was enjoying a solid start to his tenure with the Padres after six seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. Entering Sunday’s game, Jay was batting .299 while leading the National League with 24 doubles and the Padres with 80 hits.
He doesn’t hold an abundance of power, with just two home runs this season, but he is able to make contact and drive the ball to all corners of the field, which has made him a solid contributor toward the top of San Diego’s lineup.
The Padres and Jay will hope the injury doesn’t keep him out for a considerable amount of time. Last season with the Cardinals, he missed all of July and August after suffering an injury to his surgically repaired left wrist.
Travis Jankowski stepped in for Jay after he left Sunday’s game and will most likely take over center field duties if Jay misses more time.
Jankowski had appeared in 45 games prior to Sunday’s contest and was batting .241 with a home run and three RBI this season, so he’s hardly the kind of replacement the Padres can rely on in a long-term scenario.
The Padres headed into Sunday’s contest 16 games behind the National League West-leading San Francisco Giants. If they lose Jay for an extended period of time, that deficit might worsen.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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