(Busch Stadium) At the time, it appeared that Dexter Fowler’s departure from last night’s game was more a reflection of a sizeable lead than an injury situation. But it was the latter, as the St. Louis Cardinals today announced the outfielder has been placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left forearm strain.
“Last night it was swollen, swelled up again,” said Fowler before tonight’s game. “Probably stupid of me to try battle through, but that’s just in my DNA.”
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There is no one specific play or incident that stands out as Fowler is not sure how he sustained the injury.
“It was probably about a week and a half, a week ago,” he estimated. “It just flared up, a pretty unusual injury.”
Fowler underwent an MRI after last night’s game as the pain and swelling affected his swing from both sides of the plate.
“Trying to get through a ball left-handed, right-handed you try to pull down so don’t get the ball as quick or you get up under balls,” he said.
The forearm strain, which is at the base of his wrist, follows issues with his Achilles, shoulder/lat, and a bone spur in his heel. He acknowledged with the bone spur that going on the DL sooner may have been the best choice, but that didn’t make the decision this time any easier.
“No, because that would’ve probably been a week ago,” said Fowler with a smile. “It’s tough because you’re looking at it hindsight. It’s tough to get me out of the game because I want to play. I want to be around the guys. I want to play and it sucks being hurt.”
There have not been many days this season where Fowler has been unaffected by some kind of ailment.
“Talking with everybody, you play in the World Series and you look at how late you played and how early you got started back,” Fowler said. “You look over there at the Cubs, talking to Rizz and them, he said that Joe was giving them so many days and it felt weird cause they kept getting days off and days off but you’ve got to listen to your body. I’ve never played that long. It’s almost like year-long baseball.”
Asked if he had been afforded opportunities to rest and did not want to…
“I don’t know,” downplayed Fowler. “You never want to pull yourself out of anything. But like I said, sometimes you’ve just got to–when stuff peaks up, you’ve just got to take a step back.”
On a more positive note, Fowler was excited by the dedication of Dexter Fowler Field at Hess Park in Decatur, Illinois this morning.
“It’s awesome–that’s the highlight of my day,” said Fowler. “It was a surprise. They let me know probably a month ago…I got some letters from the kids. It was awesome to do. Anytime you can put a smile on kids faces, that’s definitely a plus.”
Dexter Fowler Field is the 23rd field dedicated by Cardinals Care since its inception in 1997. Most recently, the Cardinals dedicated Adam Wainwright Field in August, 2016, at Bob Russell Park in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Mo. Earlier this season, Fowler and his wife, Aliya, supported the Cardinals charitable foundation by making a personal financial donation of $100,000 to Cardinals Care in support of the Redbird Rookies program.
photo credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports, Bill Greenblatt/UPI
