When the Baltimore Orioles suited up for their first official team workout, J.J. Hardy was noticeably absent from the field. Many offered an explanations as to why Hardy wasn’t running drills with his teammates.
Was Hardy sick? Did he have a family emergency?
No, and no.
As it turns out, Hardy was suffering back issues and underwent an MRI yesterday. He’s scheduled to undergo a CT Scan today.
Once the Orioles get the results, they can assess just how serious Hardy’s injury is. But as it turns out, asking Manny Machado to work out at shortstop wasn’t just because of the World Baseball Classic.