The Cleveland Indians can breathe a sigh of relief after All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez was confirmed to have only a knee contusion after fouling a pitch off his left knee on Sunday.
The switch-hitter was batting right-handed in the third inning of an exhibition game against the Chicago White Sox in Goodyear, Ariz.
Ramirez immediately dropped to the dirt and remained down for several minutes before being assisted to the medical cart.
Ramirez was taken for X-rays afterward, which came back negative for any fractures.
He’ll stay in Goodyear, Ariz. for treatment while the Indians play their final exhibition games on Monday and Tuesday, then join the team in Minnesota for the season opener.
“I mean, he’s day-to-day,” Indians manager Terry Francona said, per MLB.com. “He has a bruise. Obviously, he had a pretty good bruise. You could tell by the way he reacted. So, I think the trainers feel like if we can get ahead of this thing the first 24 hours, rather than having him jump on a flight, we can maybe, like I said, get ahead of it a little bit.”
Ramirez, 26, entered the game batting .240 with one homer and six RBIs in 19 spring training games.
Regardless of Ramirez’s status, Cleveland will be short-handed when it opens the season Thursday at Minnesota. Second baseman Jason Kipnis and shortstop Francisco Lindor will begin the campaign on the injured list.
Ramirez was third in the American League Most Valuable Player voting in each of the past two seasons.
He batted .318 with a league-leading 56 doubles in 2017 and batted .270 with 39 homers and 105 RBIs — both career highs — in 2018. He has played at least 152 games in each of the past three seasons.