Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Mike Leake’s status for Opening Day 2020 is in question after he suffered a fractured left wrist during a non-baseball activity.
Leake, who is projected to be one of the main members of Arizona’s deep starting pitching rotation, suffered the fracture after falling while chasing his dog.
While the fracture was triggered by this incident, it was aggravated by the fact that Leake had a previous fracture of the same wrist that was never diagnosed and did not heal properly. The cause of this fracture is unknown and could date back to his childhood, according to Leake.
The fortunate news for Arizona and the 32-year-old California native is that he is a right-handed pitcher, which should allow for a quicker return to the mound.
The durable and reliable righty was acquired by the Diamondbacks at the Trade Deadline last season from the Seattle Mariners. He had a solid 2019 season, accumulating a 12-11 record with a 4.29 ERA between the two squads in 32 games started.
Leake is in the final year of a 5-year, $80 million deal that he signed back in 2016 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is expected to slot next to Madison Bumgarner and Robbie Ray as a key member of the playoff aspirants’ rotation.
For now, however, he will simply have to focus on trying to recover in time for the beginning of the season.
