PHOENIX — After a clubbing a 423-foot home run in Saturday night’s win over the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo revealed he has been battling through some discomfort in his hand.
Perdomo said he has been playing through a bone bruise on his left hand for “months” but that he can manage the pain and push through the rest of the season.
“I remember I made a diving catch out here, and my hand was in a really weird spot,” Perdomo said. “But like I said, it’s just something that I can handle playing like this, so nothing to worry to about.”
Perdomo has been a lineup staple, having played 129 of 130 games this season. He leads the Diamondbacks in games, at-bats, hits, doubles, stolen bases and walks.
The switch-hitter said his hand bothers him against left-handed pitching, in particular. When asked whether it has started to feel better over time, he said it hasn’t.
“ I can handle it, I just need to battle,” Perdomo said.
There is a difference between an ailment bothering a player and it having an impact.
Perdomo crushed that home run off Cincinnati Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott on Saturday, joking that maybe he got a boost since it was his mother’s birthday. He is batting .336 versus lefties this season and .328 against them over the past two months.
He has been one of the best players in baseball this season, and his August has been next level. Perdomo’s 1.030 OPS in August is 10th in Major League Baseball, as he is fifth in the league with 28 hits this month.
This has been a painful year for the Diamondbacks in terms of injuries and ailments. Corbin Carroll missed a few weeks with a broken wrist, which had not fully healed by the time he returned but healed enough that he could manage the pain.
Gabriel Moreno (finger fracture) just got back from a two-month injured list absence, while Ketel Marte missed nearly a month (hamstring) earlier this year.
Pitching injuries have received a spotlight given the absurd number of them, notably season-ending injuries to Corbin Burnes, A.J. Puk, Justin Martinez and more recently Kevin Ginkel.
Despite all of that and a 5.5-game deficit in the NL Wild Card race, the club has been playing well since the trade deadline (13-8) with no stated intention of easing up with 32 games left to play.
