Rockies outfielder Sean Bouchard has been diagnosed with a left distal biceps rupture that’ll require surgery, tweets Thomas Harding of MLB.com. He and the team are both hoping that the injury won’t end his season, but a timeline for his recovery has not yet been provided. Bouchard left yesterday’s Cactus League game with an arm injury, and an MRI performed earlier this morning revealed the rupture.
Bouchard, 26, made his big league debut in 2022 and posted a huge .297/.454/.500 batting line in 97 plate appearances. The 2017 ninth-rounder swatted three homers, six doubles and piled up a massive 21 walks (21.6%) against 25 punchouts (25.8%). That eye-opening debut came on the heels of a sensational .300/.404/.635 breakout in Triple-A, where he added another 20 homers, 15 doubles six triples and 12 steals to go along with a 14.1% walk rate and 22.4% strikeout rate.
Bouchard played exclusively in left field during his big league call-up — a spot that’s ideally slated to be occupied by a healthy Kris Bryant in 2023. However, he’s also spent substantial time at first base in his minor league career, and he has 400-plus innings both at third base and in right field as well. Between his familiarity with the four corner positions, plus some potential for reps at designated hitter, Bouchard looked to have a clear path to making his first Opening Day roster in 2023.
That clearly won’t be the case now, as he’ll instead become a 60-day IL candidate for Colorado. The silver lining there would be that he’d accrue Major League service time and pay after spending a half decade in the minors, but it’s nonetheless a brutal injury for both player and team. Bouchard’s injury could open the door for outfielder Brenton Doyle and first baseman/outfielder Michael Toglia to make the roster — both 24-year-olds are already on the 40-man — and it could create a stronger opportunity for non-roster invitee Harold Castro, as well.
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