Updating Crawford

Updating Carl Crawford's situation. Rays' trainer Ron Porterfield extrapolated a bit on what was said before Sunday's game.

From the TampaBay.com Rays blog "The Heater":

The Rays are officially calling Crawford's injury "right middle finger tendon subluxation'' and head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield said to was too early to predict how much beyond the 15-day DL period Crawford will be out until he sees team hand specialist Dr. Doug Carlan today in St. Petersburg. "I wouldn't even put a timeframe on it right now until our doctor sees him,'' Porterfield said.

Crawford, who was to fly back to Tampa Sunday afternoon, said he was hurt on his final at-bat Saturday, checking his swing on a 3-1 pitch before a 10th-inning walk.

"I felt my hand pop," Crawford said."I don't really know yet (what's wrong) I just know it's real sore. ... I felt it last night and I thought it was something I could just shake off, but when I got to the outfield and tried to play catch and I knew it was worse.''

Porterfield said Crawford told him after playing the field it "felt like a rubberband snap" and that his "finger locks."

The problem, Porterfield said, is that the tendon that runs the length of the finger is "out of the groove" and slides over to the side of the third and largest knuckle, which is a sign of damage to the tissue that holds it in place. "More than likely he's disrupted that,'' Porterfield said, "so it's not holding that tendon in the proper grove." Crawford is "point tender" on the spot. The finger can be manipulated back into place and it feels fine, but as soon as it is flexed the problem reoccurs.

Porterfield stressed that there was no way to predict how long Crawford will be out until further diagnosis, but said in general the problem could be fixed by putting the finger in a split and resting it, or it could have to be repaired surgically, with the tissue reconstructed."

At this point in time, with our situation, we're going to do whatever we can to get him back on the field as soon as possible,'' Porterfield said. "So whether that's splinting it and trying to let it heal or whether it's intervention at some point in time, I wouldn't even be able to tell you until he sees that specialist.''

Since the injury on his non-throwing hand, the bigger concern is Crawford's ability to grip and swing the bat.

Crawford's absence would be a significant blow to the Rays' hopes to make the postseason for the first time as he is is one of their top overall players, hitting .273 with 8 homers and 57 RBIs and leading the team with 69 runs.

"Carl's been one of our best clutch hitters recently, specifically, and obviously everything else that he brings, his defense in the outfield, his speed on the bases, his veteranship, all that stuff's going to be missed,'' manager Joe Maddon said.

Doesn't sound very promising, does it?