NEW YORK — Yankees third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera made his first public comments on his horrific injury by posting a two heartfelt Instagram posts after midnight Thursday.
Included was an update on his left ankle, which was fractured Tuesday night when he tripped while scoring a run in the ninth inning of a Yankees’ win in Seattle:
Cabrera underwent surgery on Thursday and now will focus on rehabbing his way back to playing.
There was no indication if returning this season is a possibility in Cabrera’s social media posts, which focused on thanking his many well-wishers.
Here is Cabrera’s announcement:
After such a sad night for me, having so many negative thoughts after twisting my ankle so brutally, in so much pain, I went to try to sleep so I wouldn’t give in to more bad thoughts. When I woke up, one of the first things I did was grab my phone. I didn’t have hundreds, I had THOUSANDS of messages from my family, friends, fans, agents, coaches, teammates…—I simply had messages from EVERYONE.
“I dropped the phone on the bed and with a big SMILE on my face, the first thing I could say was “God, how blessed I am.” Maybe it’s because it’s only after going through something like this that you realize the love that surrounds us. And TODAY, after a successful surgery with an excellent medical team and God, with my parents, my fiancée and my agent, my heart full of love, I want to THANK YOU ALL.
“Thank you for worrying about me, for every message, for keeping me in your prayers, for making me feel so supported. This is something that my family and I will never forget!”
“My return to the field begins today. Thanks to you, I feel more motivated than ever. So, with the strength I’ve always had and all this beautiful energy that you all give to me, I tell you that I will return, and I will return even stronger to continue giving my best every day. I LOVE U ALL❤️
Cabrera posted a second message right after to single out Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, his teammates, head athletic trainer Tim Lentych and his loved ones.
Yankees captain Aaron Judge and several other teammates visited him in the hospital immediately after the Yankees’ game on Tuesday night. Lentych rushed to his assistance at home plate and then rode with him to a Seattle hospital in an ambulance. Cabrera returned to New York on Wednesday in Steinbrenner’s private jet.
Here is Cabrera’s follow-up post:
Couple more beautiful things I didn’t mention about all this.
1- I know all my teammates would have loved to come see me that same night, but access to the hospital was restricted. Also, as soon as the game ended, besides the coaches and trainers (people I love very much, by the way), my captain Aaron Judge and another of my favorite people, Anthony Volpe, were there. They didn’t have to be there, but they still went without even having anything in their stomachs.
2- Tim, thank you, men. All the Yankees’ trainers, but you, Tim, were like my angel when I was at home plate, calming me down and grabbing me like a child. You made all that (tough) moment a little better with everything you did.
3- Yankees Organization and Steinbrenner family, you guys take care of me in the best way, and me and my family are so grateful for that, and we can’t thank you enough!
4- My fiancée, my mom and dad, my agent they took a fly right after everything happened, just to take care of me and make sure that I’m safe, I can’t be more grateful for having all you guys in my life, Los amo mucho.”
Here are other recent NJ Advance Media Yankees posts to check out:
-- How Yankees, Bleacher Creatures are treating Juan Soto’s Bronx return with Mets
-- How Yankees’ short-time cult hero prepared Paul Goldschmidt for latest heroics
-- Oswaldo Cabrera shows true colors on stretcher with horrific injury
-- Yankees injuries: Latest on Oswaldo Cabrera; Luis Gil, Jazz Chisholm, Giancarlo Stanton progress
-- Oswaldo Cabrera suffers gruesome injury in win over Mariners
-- Aaron Judge makes shocking declaration after raising average to .409
-- How Yankees addressed Anthony Volpe breaking cardinal rule
-- Amazing off-field story on Yankees’ Aaron Judge comes out of A’s clubhouse
-- After losing dad to cancer, Yankees’ veteran beat it, then chose not to play God with son’s fate
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.