USC junior outfielder Omar Cotto Lozada is expected to be out six weeks after having surgery last Friday on his right wrist after fracturing his hamate bone.
The injury occurred on the follow through of a swing, according to USC. The 5-foot-11, 190 pound Puerto Rican speedster was competing for playing time in the outfield with freshmen Timmy Robinson and Vahn Bozoian, sophomore Dante Flores and redshirt senior transfer Greg Zebrack.
If Cotto Lozada returns exactly six weeks after the day of his surgery, he would return on March 15 when USC opens Pac-12 conference play with Oregon visiting Dedeaux Field. The Trojans play 16 games, including the USC/UCLA co-hosted Dodgertown Classic, prior to March 15.
Cotto Lozada struggled mightily his freshman and sophomore years, collecting only six hits in 80 career at bats (.086 average). He has started 23 games, but the diminutive switch hitter has safely reached base only 14 times.
While he wasn’t expected to win a starting spot, Cotto Lozada has previously been used as a late inning defensive substitution and pinch runner thanks to his lighting-quick speed. He ran track in high school and has been timed at 6.29 seconds in the 60-yard dash. His speed helped Cotto Lozada become a 12th round draft selection by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010.
