Royals’ Mike Moustakas misses another start while dealing with swollen thumb

Third baseman Mike Moustakas was out of the Royals’ lineup for the second straight day Tuesday while nursing a swollen left thumb.

Royals manager Ned Yost revealed that Moustakas injured the thumb last Tuesday during a 9-4 loss in Anaheim. He re-aggravated it Sunday during his first at-bat in the Royals’ 4-1 victory over Seattle.

“He jammed it real bad on a pitch in Seattle, so it’s just puffed up,” Yost said. “You’re better off giving it time now than just re-aggravating it.”

Moustakas also missed Monday’s series opener against Washington.

Yost said Moustakas likely could have played on Tuesday, but he elected to let the swelling go down for another day.

Moustakas is batting .258 with a team-leading seven homers in 23 games this season.

“It’s just a day-to-day thing,” Yost said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow. If the swelling was gonna go down, I was going to play him today. It’s still puffy.”

The initial injury, Yost said, came on a play during the seventh inning last Tuesday. The Angels’ C.J. Cron attempted to steal third base after going to second on a sacrifice. Moustakas jammed his thumb while applying the tag.

“Could he play today? Yeah, absolutely,” Yost said. “But one jam shot and he aggravates it again.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Royals’ Mike Moustakas misses another start while dealing with swollen thumb."