Jackie Bradley Jr. headed back to Boston for an MRI on his thumb Wednesday after injuring it in Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Indians, and the Red Sox center fielder explained how it happened.
Bradley slid awkwardly into home plate in the seventh inning of the Red Sox’s 9-1 win and was shaking his left hand as he stood up. The 27-year-old told reporters in Cleveland that he had to readjust because of Indians catcher Yan Gomes’ positioning.
“As I was coming around third, a few steps before home plate, I wanted to slide head-first because I could control it,” Bradley said. “I wasn’t going to slide anywhere near (Gomes). I was going to slide head-first and just have my hand just kind of reach around, but as I was approaching, I could kind of see him gathering and he started coming to kind of block off the plate, so I kind of had to redirect my slide and I actually slid feet-first, but I also slid to the outside part of the plate, tried to avoid the tag, and then slapped my hand at the back of the plate.”
Hear more from Bradley in the video from “NESN Sports Today,” presented by People’s United Bank, above.
