Cade Kurland battling through a fractured bone in his hand
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Hitting a baseball is arguably the toughest thing to do in all of sports. Try doing it with only eight fingers. That’s what Florida Gators starting second baseman Cade Kurland has been playing through for the last five weeks.
Kurland was hit on the hand in his second at-bat against Columbia in the second week of the season. He left the game and the initial diagnosis was a bone bruise. Kurland sat out just four games before returning when the Gators traveled to Coral Gables for a series with the Miami Hurricanes. With his hand still bothering him five weeks after returning to the lineup, he went back in to get it rechecked, revealing a fracture rather than a bone bruise.
“I’ve been playing with a fractured hand. It’s been hard but I’ve kind of just been doing the best I can to play through it and here we are,” Kurland said after hitting a walk-off single to beat No. 21 Mississippi State on Friday night.
The injury is something that Kurland is having to manage. He’s had to change the way he trains and practices between games.
“The way I work, I hit and I hit and I hit. That’s my routine. That alone, my routine has changed. I’ve had to be much more conservative with my routine, which obviously isn’t favorable to me. There’s pictures of it, but for the first three weeks, I was hitting with eight fingers (two off the bat). I started hitting with nine again (this week). It’s been hard but it’s one of those things where you put the team first and I’m just doing the best I can.”
Cade Kurland trying to adjust in real time
That new reality has taken a toll on Kurland’s stats. There was a stretch from March 3 through March 26 where he hit just .238 (10-42) and his 33 strikeouts are not only uncharacteristic of his ability but lead the team. It’s not just offense either. Gripping a baseball is tough. Kurland has had a couple of throwing errors this season and Friday he revealed due to his injury that he’s having to hold the ball in his palm, making it much more difficult to throw accurately.
“It’s definitely hard. It’s easy to let it seep into your head,” Kurland said. “I think what’s so important is once you step out on the field to really separate yourself and once you get in the box It’s you vs the pitcher and everything else has to go out the window, especially when you’re banged up.”
Kurland is coming off of a freshman season where he set the record for most home runs (17) than any second baseman in school history and the second-most for any freshman in Florida history. Kurland is an integral piece to the Gators’ and he’s adjusting to his new reality while trying to do the best he can and put the team first.
“It’s part of it like any kind of change. I’m doing the best I can,” he said. “Learning and adapting and I feel confident with where I’m at.”
