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It has been reported in several places that Yulieski Gurriel has a left hand injury, going back to four days ago, but only in the last 24 hours or so has it become publicly apparent that the injury might be slightly more severe than was previously thought. And then, today, Yuli “La Pina” Gurriel posted a picture of himself in a hospital gown laying in a hospital bed on his Instagram page, which fueled some accelerated rumors on Astros-centric web spaces Tuesday morning.
Yuli Gurriel's Instagram pic.twitter.com/YaqOUr6vl4
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 28, 2018
The fears proved founded, as it has now been announced that Yuli Gurriel will undergo hamate surgery on his left hand. The surgery will keep him out of commission for between five and six weeks, per Jeff Luhnow:
Astros GM Jeff Luhnow says Yuli Gurriel is out of surgery. The recovery is 5 to 6 weeks, so he will start the year on the DL. pic.twitter.com/Etffl5abt1
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 28, 2018
While he’s out, it would appear an ideal time for J.D. Davis or Tyler White or (most likely, in this writer’s estimation) AJ Reed to step up into a greater role in the offense.
Here are some compiled tweets from with information that we know at the time of this writing:
Yuli Gurriel is out of surgery. It went as expected, Jeff Luhnow said. It’s typically a five-to-six week recovery time, according to the Astros’ GM.
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) February 28, 2018
The fracture in Gurriel’s hamate bone was pre-existing, according to Luhnow. “It was not something that happened in the last few days,” Luhnow said. "It’s something that has been there for a few years, but it was non-symptomatic until recently."
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) February 28, 2018
#Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told the media at camp Yuli Gurriel had surgery on his left hand, recovery time is about 6 weeks. Will open the season on the DL. Said it was a preexisting injury that just became an issue.
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) February 28, 2018
Often takes longer than that for a player's power to return post injury. https://t.co/MMQtyyIrhw
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) February 28, 2018
From everyone at the Crawfish Boxes, we wish a speedy recovery to our favorite pineapple.