Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel narrowly avoided a serious knee injury on Saturday after being struck by a comebacker in the sixth inning of a 10-5 win against the New York Mets.
Ginkel, a right-hander, was hit on his left knee by a hard-hit comebacker from Brandon Nimmo. He remained on the ground for about two minutes while trainers attended to him before he walked off the field and exited the game.
X-rays revealed a contusion, as reported by manager Torey Lovullo, who mentioned that Ginkel’s status is day-to-day.
“Hopefully, he’ll be available tomorrow,” Lovullo said.
Nimmo was out on the play when the ball deflected to catcher Gabriel Moreno, who threw to first base to complete the out.
Ginkel, 30, retired all three batters he faced and earned the win. His season record stands at 3-1 with a 4.09 ERA and five saves in 23 appearances.
Ginkel had an impressive postseason last year, making 10 scoreless appearances with 15 strikeouts, allowing eight hits and five walks in 11 2/3 innings, as the Diamondbacks reached the World Series before losing to the Texas Rangers.
In his career, Ginkel is 16-6 with a 3.64 ERA in 189 regular-season relief appearances since debuting with Arizona in 2019.