Sunday’s collision between Oneil Cruz and Seby Zavala was enough to make more than one shudder, and with good reason since the Pittsburgh Pirates player had knee surgery and will have to miss four months of activity.
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Coming to the plate at full speed in a game against the Chicago White Sox, Cruz came into contact with the catcher, Zavala. However, his leg bent at an unpleasant angle and the Dominican let out a loud cry of pain.
The Pirates confirmed on Monday that Cruz suffered a fractured fibula and that it was the syndesmosis, the joint connecting this bone to the tibia, that was affected.
Zavala, meanwhile, taunted his opponent on the ground and insulted him, which caused the benches on either side to empty. The receiver tried to explain himself in the scrum after the meeting.
“It was a baseball game. I was not very happy with the slip so late and spoke to [Carlos] Santa. He said something I didn’t like or he didn’t like what I said. I believe that in a few days, everyone will have forgotten it,” said Zavala.
“I didn’t want anyone getting hurt or it getting out of hand like that,” he concluded.
Cruz, a sophomore, is one of major league baseball’s most promising shortstops. In 32 batting appearances this season, he had seven hits and four RBIs.