SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Giants believe right fielder Hunter Pence has a broken left forearm after getting hit by a pitch in the sixth inning Thursday. Pence was getting X-rays in the late innings of a game against the Chicago Cubs, but a team doctor’s initial diagnosis was a break.
“It doesn’t look good,” manager Bruce Bochy said.
Pence was facing the Cubs' Corey Black when a pitch rode in on his hands and struck him squarely in the forearm. The right fielder usually sprints down to first regardless of how hard he gets hit by a pitch, but he stayed down for about 10 seconds before slowly walking to first base, holding his hands together. Trainer Anthony Reyes immediately removed Pence from the game. Bochy went back into the trainer’s room to see Pence and said the star slugger was trying to be positive.
“You know Hunter,” Bochy said. “He’s always upbeat and optimistic. He said he was trying to move out of the way and it ran in and caught him there. He said, ‘Hey, it happened.’ If it’s broken, the silver lining is that it’s early in spring and gives him a month for the healing process.”
The season opener is April 6 in Phoenix against the Diamondbacks. Pence was the Giant most likely to be in the lineup that day. He was one of four Major Leaguers to play all 162 games last season, starting 161 of them.
Pence played all but 23 defensive innings during the regular season and has appeared in 383 consecutive games, the third-longest streak in franchise history. He had started an MLB-leading 331 consecutive games before sitting out of the starting lineup on the second-to-last day of the regular season.
Bochy has mentioned a couple of times this spring that he wants to rest Pence more often this season. This isn’t what he had in mind.
"You hate to see it," Bochy said. "Unfortunately these things happen. We're still hoping for the best. We're hoping maybe we were wrong on this call."
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