Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer has been diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and a lower leg contusion, and he likely will be out six weeks, the team said Monday.
The Pirates said in a statement that "a combination of rest, treatment and rehabilitation are the standard course of action for this type of injury."
Mercer was carted off the field Sunday after a collision with the Milwaukee Brewers' Carlos Gomez, who was attempting to break up a double play.
The Pirates placed Mercer on the 15-day disabled list and called up infielder Brent Morel from Triple-A Indianapolis. To make room for Morel on the 40-man roster, first baseman/outfielder Corey Hart was transferred to the 60-day DL.
Mercer and Gomez collided in the second inning when Mercer was in front of the second-base bag attempting to tag Gomez, whose right knee appeared to make contact with Mercer's left knee.
Following the Brewers' 6-1 win, Gomez tweeted that his thoughts were with Mercer. He clarified that he never meant to put the Pirates' shortstop at risk for injury.
Want to take a moment to send my thoughts and prayers to Jordy_Mercer his family and the @Pirates organization.
— Carlos Gomez (@C_Gomez27) July 20, 2015It was never my intention to hurt him or take him out of the game. Hope you have a speedy recovery and are out on the field soon.
— Carlos Gomez (@C_Gomez27) July 20, 2015Pirates manager Clint Hurdle called the injury "misfortunate."
"I think if he's [Gomez] on your team, it's an aggressive slide," he said Sunday. "If not, you know, he was straight into the basepath with a sideways slide. It's a baseball play. It's not a gentleman's game, but it's a baseball play."
Mercer is hitting .242 with two home runs and nine RBIs in 79 games this season.
Jung Ho Kang replaced Mercer on Sunday and will likely take over in the interim. Pittsburgh also is missing third baseman Josh Harrison, out until the end of August with a thumb injury.
"It's a challenge," Hurdle said. "The beautiful thing about this game is no other team really cares. So we're going to play on, opportunities to bring next man up or put a new man in. That's what we'll continue to do."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.