Carlos Gonzalez Avoids DL, But Finger Still Hurts

Carlos Gonzalez avoided the disabled list, but his finger still bothers him. Image: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

While Carlos Gonzalez will not head to the disabled list, he will continue to deal with lingering pain in the middle finger of his right hand. It recently caused him to miss three days, and presumably will force him to take additional days off moving forward.

One might presume that a stint on the DL would rest the finger and set him up for the long haul, but such is not the case. According to Gonzalez (courtesy of the Denver Post):

"We have thought about a cortisone shot, but (doctors) said it would make my tendon more fragile and it might break. And then they thought about putting me on the DL. But they said that going on the DL for 15 days, (I’m) just going to come back and feel the same way.”"

CarGo has been the most consistent power threat for the Rockies all year, leading the National League in home runs for an extended period of time. He has also torn the cover off the ball on the road (.324/.379/.620), making him an exception to the unfortunate rule when it comes to the franchise’s history.

My biggest fear would be the loss of that power with a bum finger. To date there has been murmurs about CarGo’s high strikeout total (114), but the obvious trade-off has been his power production. If that falls off and he continues to strike out so frequently, we might be having a different conversation.

Nevertheless, a partially healthy CarGo is better than a full healthy most-anybody-else, so it is a plus that CarGo was able to avoid the DL.