Rays sullen as Kiermaier awaits timetable on broken hand

The pain was obvious in Kevin Kiermaier's eyes as he spoke with reporters Saturday evening inside the visitor's clubhouse at Comerica Park, where his season was derailed hours earlier when he suffered two metacarpal fractures in his left hand diving for a ball in the fifth inning.

"I was in a lot of pain, obviously, and I knew something was broken right away," said Kiermaier, the Tampa Bay Rays' decorated center fielder who earned his first career Gold Glove award in 2015. "I love playing this game and I love playing with these guys and it's just a little emotional for me right now."

With no timetable for his return yet, Kiermaier's teammates and coaches were pretty distraught, as well, after their 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

"Just kind of quieted our whole dugout," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "I think everyone knows the kind of energy he brings to the team on a daily basis, so we'll kind of have to work together to get through that a little bit."

Kiermaier, a 31st-round pick in the 2010 draft, has established himself as the game's foremost defensive center fielder since breaking in with Tampa Bay two years ago, compiling the third-most defensive runs saved (52) in baseball since 2014 despite logging considerably fewer innings than the two players ahead of him (Andrelton Simmons and Jason Heyward).

Through the first seven weeks of 2016, the 26-year-old continued his excellent work in center field, but also started showing unprecedented pop at the plate, smacking five homers with a career-best .211 ISO in 38 games that contributed to a .754 OPS (109 OPS+).

Evan Longoria, the Rays' longest-tenured player and a three-time All-Star, called Kiermaier's injury a "pretty big blow" for a team that, at 20-20, has held their own so far in 2016 despite mixed expectations from pundits this winter.

"The guy led the league by a ton in WAR last year," Longoria said. "A huge part of our team. A huge part of the clubhouse morale and everything. Losing Logan (Forsythe) was big, and now this."

Even Tigers manager Brad Ausmus couldn't help but feel for Kiermaier, who will fly back to St. Petersburg and be re-evaluated Monday by Dr. Douglas Carlan, the Rays' hand and wrist consultant.

"It was awful," Ausmus said. "He plays the game the right way. You could tell as soon as he dove for the ball that something bad happened. He's the type of guy, because of the way he plays, you want to see him succeed."