KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City’s Omar Infante has a sprained jaw and needed six stitches to close a cut opened when he was hit by a Heath Bell pitch.
Infante was injured during the seventh inning of Monday’s 4-2 win over Tampa Bay and was sent to the University of Kansas Medical Center.
The Royals said Tuesday that the second baseman did not sustain a concussion. The team said he will be evaluated over the following two days and he was not likely to miss a significant amount of playing time.
"It was great news, no fracture," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "I just saw him in the training room. He looks good. He just ate something, so he was able to chew. He was smiling. He was talking. It could have been a lot worse, so we really dodged a bullet there."
Infante left Detroit during the off-season and signed a $30.25 million, four-year contract with the Royals.
Danny Valencia replaced Infante at second base on Tuesday, leaving the Royals had no backup infielder. Yost said the Royals aren’t sure whether they will make any roster moves before a six-game trip to Minnesota and Houston that starts Friday.
Yost said for the rest of the Tampa Bay series he can rely on backup catcher Brett Hayes and left fielder Alex Gordon as emergency infielders.