Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya returned from the 60-day injured list on Wednesday after suffering an oblique strain that kept him out of game action since May 24. Amaya got the start at catcher and batted ninth against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
And in the top of the eighth, Amaya was carted off the field with a leg injury after beating out a groundball for an infield single. Amaya landed on first base awkwardly and fell to the ground in pain.
“Safe at first, and let’s see if Amaya’s okay. Oh boy,” Jon “Boog” Sciambi of Marquee Sports Network said as Amaya went to the ground.
“Not good at all,” Cubs color commentator Jim Deshaies said. “He just got back. First day back. And this is not good.”
A lengthy rehab from one injury only to exit with a leg injury that doesn’t look good in the first game back. Awful.
“You think about all the hours, all the time he put in rehabbing the oblique injury, and how frustrating it must have been to miss so much of the season,” Deshaies said. “To finally make it back, and the first game back. And you can see, he’s just heartbroken. We’ve seen this scene play out in sports so many times. You know, it’s a head injury, or something really, really scary. I mean, this isn’t that, but this is just, just an awful break.”
“Miguel Amaya is certainly in pain, but also, you know the emotion as well,” Sciambi said.
And then Deshaies summarized the scene well as Amaya was being carted off the field.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever wanted to cry for a guy more than I want to cry for Miguel Amaya right now,” Deshaies said, and Sciambi agreed. “So disappointing.”
After the game, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that the injury is a left ankle sprain and x-rays were negative. Amaya will go on the injured list.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.