Britton wept after rupturing Achilles: 'It takes a toll on you and your family'
As they made their way home from the doctor's office on Tuesday, Zach Britton and his wife, Courtney, "cried the whole time," he said, over his newly ruptured Achilles tendon - an injury that could derail the future of the Baltimore Orioles' star closer.
"I don't know if I've ever been that mad or sad over something like that in baseball before," Britton told Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com. "I mean, I've never been seriously injured before, never anything I couldn't get back from pretty quickly."
Britton, who spent roughly two months on the disabled list in 2017 due to a forearm strain, is now expected to miss a minimum of four-to-six months. A clearer recovery timetable will be determined after he undergoes surgery on Thursday.
As an impending free agent, though, the injury casts a pall over Britton's future in Baltimore, as the Orioles won't be able to trade him now - his name had surfaced in rumors since before last year's trade deadline - and may even be inclined to release him given his projected arbitration salary ($12.2 million) and lengthy recovery window.
"It's so frustrating," Britton said. "You spend so much time getting back and then there's another thing. It takes a toll on you and your family."
Last year, after earning All-Star berths in each of the previous two seasons and finishing fourth in American League Cy Young voting in 2016, Britton appeared in only 38 games, managing a 2.89 ERA and 1.53 WHIP while notching 15 saves in 17 opportunities. His strikeout rate dropped off markedly, too, and he accrued just 0.6 WAR, making him only the Orioles' fourth-most valuable reliever.
Britton, who has more saves since 2014 (135) than every reliever in the majors except Kenley Jansen, Craig Kimbrel, and Mark Melancon, turns 30 on Friday.
"My 29th year hasn’t treated me real well," he added. "Maybe 30 will be better. Gotta hope."