Kelvin Herrera exited ALDS Game 1 with forearm tightness
Royals relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera was forced from Game 1 of the ALDS against the Angels due to right forearm tightness.
By
Matt Snyder
•
1 min read
The Royals topped the Angels in 11 innings Thursday night, 3-2, to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series, but it wasn't all good news for the visitors. Excellent young reliever Kelvin Herrera was forced from the game after facing just one batter -- a walk -- in the seventh.
On his last pitch, Herrera seems to favor his throwing arm a bit and catcher Salvador Perez immediately noticed something was wrong and signaled to bench personnel. Herrera was removed immediately. He has right forearm tightness and will have an MRI Friday, the club has announced.
This induces a bit of an ominous feeling, because pitchers often describe tightness in their forearm and move their hand the way Herrera did when there's a torn ulnar-collateral ligament, which leads to Tommy John surgery. Of course, it would be folly to take that leap now. Herrera could very well be fine come Friday afternoon. All we know for sure is there was tightness on a pitch Thursday.
The 24-year-old right-hander had a 1.41 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 59 strikeouts in 70 innings of relief this season for the Royals. They have bullpen depth -- and it's been on display of late -- but Herrera would be a tough blow to absorb if he misses any time.
