Cubs News: Joc Pederson leaves game due to injury |
SAN FRANCISCO — Chicago Cubs left fielder Joc Pederson has already spent time on the injured list this season due to left wrist tendinitis, and he suffered another injury on Saturday, causing him to leave the Cubs' contest at Oracle Park versus the San Francisco Giants in the fifth inning. Pulled because of lower back tightness on his right side, Pederson was replaced in the lineup by Rafael Ortega.
Kris Bryant moved from center field to left field, and Ortega, who took Pederson's spot in the batting order, served as the Cubs' new center fielder. Pederson was replaced in the field prior to the bottom of the fifth, and the injury announcement was made by the Cubs in the sixth inning. Cubs: Joc Pederson exited the game with right low-back tightness.
The injury likely occurred when Pederson jumped into the outfield wall in an attempt at robbing a third-inning home run hit by left fielder Alex Dickerson. After missing over two weeks of action due to a left hamstring strain, Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward returned from an IL stint and suited up for the first time since May 19 on Saturday. However, the Cubs lost the services of a separate starting outfielder in the same game. On the board, courtesy of Alex Dickerson ?? pic.twitter.com/BtfWXJioE0 UPDATE: Cubs manager David Ross confirmed in his postgame press conference that Pederson was injured by colliding with the wall in the bottom of the third. "He was kind of dealing with it when he ran into that wall," Ross said. "[That] just messed up his back a little bit. I think he hit that wall pretty hard or awkwardly. [It] felt like his back just kept stiffening up. I kept seeing him pushing it there."
