Blackmon lands on IL with broken hand

June 11th, 2023

DENVER – The Rockies placed veteran on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a right hand fracture. More specifically, it’s a fracture of the fifth metacarpal. He is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks.

The injury stems from Colorado’s series in Kansas City last weekend, when Blackmon was hit by a Daniel Lynch pitch on June 3.

Blackmon felt well enough to play in each of the Rockies’ games this week. The designated hitter/right fielder started all three games against the Giants and the first game of the weekend series against the Padres, and he pinch-hit Saturday.

“We’ve been monitoring it the whole time, and it hasn’t felt great,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “A couple different X-rays showed no fracture, and then based on how he’s felt the last couple days, we X-rayed him again last night, and it showed the fracture.”

Blackmon picked up a hit in each of the three games against San Francisco despite batting with the injured hand.

“He was getting treatment every day,” Black said. “When he got in the batter’s box, he felt competitive. Charlie’s a gamer. Nobody loves to play more than him.”

Over his 13-year Major League career, Blackmon has been fairly durable after being injury-prone during his first few seasons. Although he missed significant time last year, playing in 135 games, he has played in 150 or more games in five of his eight full MLB seasons since 2014 (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign) and 140 or more in two others.