Loperfido leaves game after taking fastball off knee, X-rays negative for fracture

DENVER -- Joey Loperfido left Tuesday night’s game in the 6th inning at Coors Field in considerable pain, arms draped over manager John Schneider and the Blue Jays’ trainer, after taking a 98.2-mph fastball to his right knee.

The early diagnosis is a right knee contusion, but it’s easy to assume at this point that Loperfido will take at least Wednesday’s finale against the Rockies off and use the Thursday off-day.

“He did do X-rays for a fracture, which were negative,” said manager John Schneider after the 10-4 win. “We’re assuming he’s going to be pretty sore tomorrow, but we’ll see how he is.”

The pitch from Rockies reliever Angel Chivilli hit Loperfido on the outside of his knee, and with his lead foot already planted in the dirt, there was little he could do to dodge it. Loperfido immediately went down as Schneider bolted from the dugout.

There’s obviously concern for Loperfido, who has been one of the best stories of the past month for the Blue Jays. The 26-year-old spent the first half of the season down in Triple-A and it often looked like he’d be stuck on the outside looking in, but since he’s gotten his shot, Loperfido has forced his way into the lineup on a regular basis and reemerged as a legitimate contributor in this postseason run.

Entering play Tuesday, Loperfido was batting .386 with a .970 OPS and three home runs in 23 games and had singled earlier in the game.

If the outfielder needs to miss any more than a couple of days with this injury, George Springer’s return from the concussion IL -- potentially as early as Thursday -- could potentially line up and Myles Straw could be in line to see more playing time.