DENVER — Philadelphia Phillies All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto left Friday's game in Denver against the Colorado Rockies with a finger injury. Will it keep him from playing on Saturday?
Realmuto slid awkwardly into third base in the top of the fifth inning, with his hand actually going under the base as he tried to avoid the tag being applied by Colorado third baseman Ryan McMahon. Watch the video below and you can see Realmuto's reaction to what was described later as a sprained right pinkie finger.
Realmuto said that the finger became "stiffer and stiffer" in the frames after the slide, adding that he could feel the effects of it when trying to throw the ball.
"Every throw just felt a little worse and worse," he said. "Then I tried to swing under the tunnel and it just didn't feel great. It felt stiff."
Phillies give JT Realmuto injury update
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that he would likely give Realmuto a day off on Saturday in order to heal the finger.
"He's a little bit sore, but he's a lot less sore than he was when he came out of the game, so that's a good sign," Thomson said. "I would think that I'll give him the day tomorrow and then he'll be ready to go the next day."
Realmuto said that the original plan for the coming days was to have a day off on Wednesday, but that would just be moved up to tomorrow in order to give him time to heal and recover.
"I jammed it into the bag and then the bag popped up and landed on my finger and bent it backwards, so I don't know if the sprain came from when I jammed it or when it landed on my finger. It happened so fast," Realmuto said.
