INDIANAPOLIS — Frank Duncan allowed a single, double, and a walk to open the first inning of his most recent start.
Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor noticed Duncan shake his throwing hand at one point, and he asked early in the game if Duncan was completely healthy. Something just seemed off.
That assessment was correct: Duncan has a slight injury at the base of his thumb on his throwing hand. The Triple-A All-Star has been placed on the 7-day disabled list, retroactive to July 18.
Duncan said the injury is a little strain in a muscle in his hand, pointing toward the area at the base of the thumb. He labels the injury as “minor” and doesn’t expect to be out long, with the initial thought being he will miss just one start.
“That’s my hope at least,” Duncan said.
Duncan allowed two runs in the first inning against Louisville, but remained in the game and pitched five innings. He allowed two earned runs on six hits.
“It wasn’t him,” Treanor said. “Instead of him trying to rush back and all of that stuff, we put him on the DL so we can take the seven days or longer. I really believe it will only be one start.”
Duncan didn’t want to blame his last start on his thumb injury.
“I definitely didn’t have my best stuff,” Duncan said. “I don’t know if it was from my thumb being what it is or anything like that. I’m not going to make excuses for myself. I wasn’t making pitches earlier in that game. I settled down in that game and actually finished stronger than I started, even with my thumb bugging me.”
Duncan tried throwing on Monday but the injury didn’t feel much better, so the decision was made to put him on the disabled list.
“It would be hard to pitch through because it’s such a feel sport,” Duncan said.
Duncan has a 2.58 ERA over 12 starts with the Indians, allowing 63 hits in 66.1 innings. He’s struck out 54 and walked just 10.
