Blue Jays lose top prospect Alford to broken hamate bone

The injury bug has once again struck the Toronto Blue Jays as outfielder Anthony Alford has been placed on the 10-day DL with a left wrist fracture in the hamate bone.

The injury comes less than a week after Anthony Alford, who was hitting .325/.411/.455 in 33 games with Double-A New Hampshire this season, was called up to the Blue Jays following the announcement of Kevin Pillar‘s two-game suspension.

The 22-year-old, who is currently ranked by MLBPipeline.com as the Blue Jays’ No. 3 prospect and the No. 62 prospect in baseball, lasted just eight at-bats into his first stint in the major leagues before sustaining the injury last night in Milwaukee. A game, coincidentally enough, where Alford secured his first major league hit.

The Blue Jays PR department is calling the injury a left hamate bone fracture, a diagnosis that his proved troublesome in the past when it comes to estimating recovery time.

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The most notable comparable for such an injury occurred to Giancarlo Stanton in June 2015, who wound up missing the remainder of the season after an initial diagnosis of 4-6 weeks. Hopefully it won’t be as severe in Alford’s case, but the injury can be a tricky one, especially when swinging the bat.

Alford joins a long list of injured Blue Jays this year, including Josh Donaldson (calf), Troy Tulowitzki, (hamstring), Steve Pearce (calf), Daryl Cecilliani (shoulder), Aaron Sanchez (finger), Francisco Liriano (&&), as well as those who have returned including Russell Martin, Kendrys Morales, and more.

In a corresponding move the Blue Jays have called up left fielder Dwight Smith Jr. from triple-A Buffalo. Smith Jr. is listed as a bench option today in the second game of the series against the Brewers.

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