Kevin Kiermaier Reportedly out 2 Months After Hip Injury Revealed to Be Fracture

Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier is reportedly set to miss at least two months of action after being diagnosed with a fractured hip.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times provided the latest update on the outfielder's status Friday.

Kiermaier suffered the injury Thursday night during the Rays' 7-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox. He was racing first baseman Jose Abreu to the bag and attempted an awkward feet-first slide into first and immediately clutched his hip.

After the contest, Connor Mount of MLB.com passed along Kiermaier's comments about his decision to slide in that situation.

"The thing about it is, when you're running down to first base, I can't run through the bag, or else I'm going to collide with Jose Abreu, who's a big dude," he said. "I made the decision to try to slide right there."

The 27-year-old Indiana native has a .329 on-base percentage with 10 stolen bases and seven home runs through 62 games this season after signing a six-year, $53.5 million contract extension.

While Kiermaier has developed into a well-rounded offensive contributor, he's best known for his defense. His 76 Defensive Runs Saved figure since the start of the 2015 season is 23 runs higher than any other player in the majors, according to Fangraphs.

The speedy Mallex Smith will likely see the lion's share of the starts in center field for the next couple months. It could also lead to an uptick in playing time for Peter Bourjos, who just returned from his own DL stint for an elbow injury.