Written by Andrew Marchand at ESPN.com
New York Yankees rookie outfielder Dustin Fowler suffered an open rupture of the patellar tendon in his right knee crashing into the first-base-line rail at the White Sox’s Guaranteed Rate Field in the first inning of his MLB debut Thursday night.
The Yankees said he would undergo surgery later in the evening at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center.
Fowler stayed on the ground for several minutes before medics stabilized his knee. He was eventually hoisted onto a cart and driven off the field. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he was rushed to the hospital because doctors were worried about an infection.
Girardi said Fowler’s season is over and the manager thought the recovery time would be at least six months and possibly longer.
Fowler was due to lead off the second inning. It would have been his first major league at-bat.
Girardi put his hands over his face as team trainer Steve Donohue attended to Fowler down the right-field line.
“I was in tears, actually,” Girardi said. “Because I know what it takes to get here and how hard he has worked and what is supposed to be a really exciting day for him turns into a really bad day. I’m still disbelief. I’m in tears for the kid.”
Fowler’s teammates on the field and in the dugout all watched with concerned looks on their faces
“I was sick to my stomach,” the Yankees’ regular right fielder Aaron Judge, who DHed on Thursday.
Fowler initially tried to regain his footing, but collapsed to the ground. He showed little emotion.
“It is one of the worst things I’ve seen on a baseball field,” Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner said.
Girardi blamed what he described as an electrical box that was at the top of the short wall for the severity of the injury.
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