Through June, the left-fielder sat atop the leaderboard in RBIs with 69 and owned a .267 batting average with 19 home runs — but once July came around, he experienced an alarming drop-off. In 25 games, he batted just .192 with a single home run and five RBIs. In the first three months of the season, he slugged .545; in July, he slugged .295.
And you thought J.D. Drew‘s numbers were bad.
Bay was held out of the lineup for parts of last weekend’s sweep of Baltimore, and when he didn’t pinch-hit during Tuesday’s 13-inning loss to Tampa, fans grew concerned about his health — and it seems they had grounds for worry. After Tuesday’s game, Bay told NESN’s Heidi Watney he’s been having leg cramps, but he downplayed the injury.
“A leg cramp and a mild strain are basically the same thing. Your leg cramps up and everything gets tight in there,” he said.
Still, he insists that it’s nothing he can’t quickly recover from, and he fully expects to be back in action soon.
“I don’t particularly enjoy [missing games], and I hate the saying, but it is what it is,” he said. “But I was a little banged up, and this might be a little breather. It doesn’t make it any easier, but hopefully, I’m back out there [Wednesday] and things are back to normal.”
You can watch Bay’s full post-game interview here:
