Ryan Doumit Out 8-to-10 Weeks

Bad news coming out of Pittsburgh today for the Pirates. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the CT scan on Ryan Doumit's right wrist (which he injured swinging the bat on Sunday) showed a "minimally displaced fracture of the scaphoid bone." I don't know what that really means, other than that he needs wrist surgery to insert pins and he'll be out 8-to-10 weeks while he heals.

This is just about the worst news possible for the Pirates, who are off to a surprising 7-6 start behind an excellent starting rotation that leads the majors in ERA. After trading Jason Bay and Xavier Nady last year, offense was already a big question for the Bucs. Now they're losing one of the three guys they were really counting on for offense this year. Things could get ugly over the next two months.

Of course, anyone that knows anything about the Pirates and Doumit shouldn't really be surprised by this news. He's never injured his right wrist before, specifically, but he has injured his left wrist, his thumb, ankle, and hamstring in the past (check here for his complete injury history) and it seemed like a major accomplishment when he played 119 games last year. The guy is just incredibly fragile, as baseball players go, and expecting even 130 games out of him is a big stretch.

In his absence, it seems likely that Jason Jaramillo and Robinzon Diaz will split time behind the plate. They're pretty similar players; young guys known for their gloves and not their bats. The Pirates have to be hoping that one of them makes the most of the opportunity that they're about to get.