The Los Angeles Angels could be without first baseman C.J. Cron until September, as the 26-year-old will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair his fractured left hand and is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks, the team announced.
Placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday, two days after an errant pitch from Mike Wright fractured his wrist at Camden Yards, Cron's surgery will be performed by Dr. Steven Shin, a hand specialist at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic.
"It sucks, but it is what it is," Cron told MLB.com's Todd Karpovich on Saturday. "You never want to get hurt, especially under these circumstances when we are finally putting together some wins. It's bad timing for sure."
Before landing on the disabled list, Cron was enjoying the finest season of his young MLB career, with an .808 OPS and 11 homers through 77 games. In his final 20 contests before fracturing his wrist, Cron hit .351/.402/.689 with six homers and seven doubles.
"It's a blow to us and to C.J., who really picked it up," manager Mike Scioscia said. "He really started to become productive in a way we know he can. We're going to have to keep going. We'll have to get some other bats in the lineup and hopefully remain productive."
