After dealing with pain for what may have been the better part of a calendar year, struggling Texas Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder has been diagnosed with a herniated disk in his neck, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.
Prince Fielder sidelined with herniated disk in neck
Texas Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder will miss time with a herniated disk in his neck, ending his consecutive games streak at 546 in the process.
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
While the injury doesn't look like it will keep the five-time All-Star out of action for an extended period of time, the Rangers felt it was important for Fielder to take time off -- starting with Saturday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays -- to heal the injury. He'll be treated with a nerve-blocking injection and hopes to be back in the lineup by Tuesday.
The two games between then and now will be the first Fielder has missed since 2010. That will conclude his current consecutive games played streak at 546, which was the longest active streak in the majors. In fact, in his eight full years in MLB, he’s missed just 13 games total before Saturday. That’s possibly why he waited over a month after telling the team that he was in pain -- and using oral anti-inflammatory medicine -- before taking time off. It might also be why this is the first we’ve heard of it, despite the pain potentially going back as far as his last season with the Tigers in 2013.
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At least, that’s what Texas general manager Jon Daniels believes, telling reporters, “He takes a lot of pride in being there for his teammates. We told him that he is not letting anybody down, we’ve just got to get this right.”
Daniels also believes that the injury -- which Fielder didn’t tell the team about until after the season started -- may help explain his .247 batting average and .360 slugging percentage. The latter is 160 points below Prince’s career average.
“It’s hard to say exactly, but it makes some sense,” Daniels told reporters regarding whatever effect the injury may have had on Fielder’s normally prodigious production. “If you put two and two together, it stands to reason it affected him some. He said there was a lack of strength in his left arm that may have impacted his ability to hit for power.”
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