Kris Bryant suffers sprained pinkie on headfirst slide
Kris Bryant left the Chicago Cubs' game at Atlanta in the first inning after suffering a sprained left pinkie on an awkward headfirst slide into third base during a stolen-base attempt.
X-rays on his hand were negative, the Cubs announced, and listed their star third baseman as day to day.
"I think he's doing fine," said manager Joe Maddon. "... I don't have any final conclusions but I think we really kind of dodged the bullet right there."
It appears to be another bullet dodged for the Cubs, coming just as the defending World Series champions began to right themselves. They took a five-game winning streak into Wednesday's game and had pulled within 2 1/2 games of the MIlwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.
Bryant, the reigning NL MVP, leads the Cubs in both OPS (.923) and WAR (3.3), suffered another injury scare last month when he was carried off the field in Washington after suffering an ankle injury. He only missed two games.