Zach Plesac Injury: Right-Hander Heads to IL With Boxer's Fracture

Guardians’ starting pitcher Zach Plesac was placed on the 15-day IL with a fractured fifth metacarpal in his right hand, also known as a boxer’s fracture. 

Zach Plesac Injury Update

Manager Terry Franco said that the best-case scenario has Plesac back on the field after the 15-day minimum with a right hand splint. 

The 27-year-old suffered the right hand fracture on August 27 when he punched the field in frustration after giving up a home run with two outs in the seventh inning. 

The next pitch was a wild fastball and Plesac flexed his hand during the at-bat, which was his last of the night. 

Plesac picked up the win after the Guardians scored three runs in the eighth, moving his record to 3-11 on the season with a 4.39 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 23 starts, 11 of them quality.

The right-hander had been 0-7 in his last 12 starts since his last win on June 5. 

Plesac missed time in May and June 2021 after he suffered a right thumb fracture after hitting his hand on a chair while “aggressively” taking his shirt off. 

Absences for hand fractures can vary greatly depending on the location and the severity.

Francisco Lindor has played through a fractured right middle finger without issue since early June while Trevor Story missed over six weeks with a right hand hairline fracture and Jean Segura missed nine weeks with a broken right index finger.