Despite a report that Andrew Lambo had started taking ground balls last week, he has still yet to rejoin the lineup.
In fact, Indianapolis hitting coach Mike Pagliarulo said that Lambo is having “some specialists” look at his right thumb currently, in hopes of getting Lambo back on the field soon. However, Pagliarulo has not heard anything as far as setbacks. He also does not know how the injury occurred.
“I wasn’t around (when the injury happened),” Pagliarulo said. “I just showed up one day and he had a swollen thumb.”
In 93 at bats this season, Lambo is hitting .344 with 13 doubles and a pair of home runs before he was placed on the disabled list, retroactive May 5. Lambo’s OPS was 1.000 prior to the injury.
“We need him,” Pagliarulo said. “He leads our team in hard hit balls. We need his bat.”
It will be interesting to see how long it takes Lambo to get back into rhythm as it could impact his trade value or future promotions to Pittsburgh.
Another interesting topic is Lambo’s position when he returns. After he played primarily at first base to start the season, he only played one game there after the Ike Davis trade.
Though no break was reported, the length of the DL stint is surprising for Lambo. While the report that he began taking ground balls was uplifting, visiting a specialist is rarely good news.
Update 8:25pm: It was reported on the Indianapolis game broadcast Thursday that Lambo has recently traveled back to Pittsburgh for re-evaluation for the thumb injury, as it did not respond well after taking ground balls and some batting practice in Indianapolis.
