The Baltimore Orioles may soon be slipping down the American League East standings after news that Matt Wieters may be on the shelf for a while:
Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan reported that the All-Star catcher will see renowned orthopedic surgeon James Andrews on Wednesday. There is a chance that Wieters has a torn UCL, which would likely end his 2014 season:
The club later confirmed that he would be seeing Dr. Andrews.
However, the injury isn't serious enough to keep him out of the lineup on Tuesday night. Manager Buck Showalter slotted him in at designated hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays, per Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun:
MASN's Roch Kubatko also notes that he plans on playing Wednesday:
Bleacher Report injury expert Will Carroll presented a few of the scenarios that Wieters may be facing:
As CBSSports.com's Chris Towers pointed out, the problem couldn't come at a worse time for Wieters. This was the first year in which he truly looked to be following through on the promise he showed at Georgia Tech and then in the minor leagues:
Through the first 22 games of 2014, Wieters had a slash line of .337/.372/.570, up from his career averages of .257/.321/.425. He's also bashed five home runs and driven in 18 runs, which are both second on the team behind veteran slugger Nelson Cruz.
Taking his bat out of the lineup would undoubtedly hurt the Orioles offensively, and that could adversely affect their hopes of remaining atop what is a congested AL East.
This injury could also hurt Wieters in a big way, if he does in fact miss major time. With the way he's hitting the ball, missing games may mean failing to replicate his hot start once he returns.
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