Two oft-injured outfielders, Carl Crawford of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers, suffered setbacks in spring training.
Crawford, was signed to a seven-year $142 million deal by the Boston Red Sox in the 2011 offseason along with Adrian Gonzalez, began slowly and never found his Tampa Bay Rays form, finishing the year with a meek .255 batting average, middling power, and just 18 stolen bases. He injured his wrist in the offseason, and played just 31 games in 2012 for the Red Sox. In those 31 games Crawford hit .282 with three home runs and five stolen bases, which showed a vast improvement over the previous year but did not justify his superstar contract. He then suffered an elbow injury that required season-ending Tommy John surgery. As the Red Sox sank further and further in the standings, they blew up the team, shipping Crawford, Gonzalez and pitcher Josh Beckett to the Dodgers.
Crawford has yet to play a regular season game with the Dodgers, and was shut down today because of "nerve irritation" in his elbow, according to MLB.com. The Dodgers said that the nerve irritation is not uncommon in players who have undergone Tommy John surgery and that his ligament is not affected. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said he is not going to overreact about Crawford's elbow issues. "There doesn't seem to be any panic," said Mattingly. "We're still being cautious. I look at this as more of a setback than I did the last couple of days. He can't throw and hit. He can still track [pitches], do base running, fly balls. He can still do work. But this pushes it back a bit." He admitted that Crawford's availability for Opening Day is in question.
In Rangers camp, Cruz felt pain in his chest Friday morning according to ESPN.com, and was sent to a local hospital where he was diagnosed with a muscle strain. Tests showed nothing serious going on, and Cruz could resume baseball activities as soon as Saturday.
Crawford is expected to join Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier in one of the most star-studded outfields in baseball, while Cruz will be counted on to help replace the 43 home runs and 128 RBI that went to Los Angeles with departed outfielder Josh Hamilton.
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