RENTON — The injury bug has once again bitten the Seattle Sounders. The latest victim is Paul Rothrock, who broke his hand after taking a nasty fall in training on Wednesday.
This one, however, comes with a bit of a silver lining as the midfielder will likely only miss the Atlanta United match on Saturday. After undergoing surgery on Thursday to have a metal pin inserted, Seattle Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said he expected Rothrock to be available in time for Leagues Cup next week.
“It’s just pain tolerance,” Schmetzer said.
Rothrock has been one of Sounders’ most consistent wingers this year, accruing three goals and six assists in a little less than 1,500 minutes and starting 19 of 23 MLS matches.
The Sounders seem to have a ready-made replacement, though. Rothrock’s injury comes immediately after what seems like a breakout performance by Pedro de la Vega, who had a goal and an assist while getting a rare start on the left side in a 3-2 win over over the San Jose Earthquakes.
Schmetzer was quick to point out that de la Vega earned that opportunity through weeks of good training sessions.
Even if Rothrock hadn’t gotten hurt, there’s a good chance that de la Vega would have been given another look this week.
“We tried to raise the level of intensity in training so that when you get your opportunity you’ll be prepared to make an impact and that’s exactly what Pedro did,” Schmetzer said.
Obed Vargas will meet Sounders in Atlanta
After playing 30 minutes for the MLS All-Stars in their 3-1 win over the Liga MX All-Stars on Wednesday, Obed Vargas will meet the Sounders in Atlanta and train with the team on Friday. Schmetzer said the expectation is Vargas will be available to start.
“The game wasn’t too fast,” Schmetzer said. “We were all worried about injuries and stuff like that. It was good. It looked like he was having fun.”
Other notes
- Stefan Frei has slowly started to re-integrate into training, and while he still must go through the concussion protocol, is progressing toward a return.
- Yeimar Gomez Andrade was not at training on Thursday after being given a “pro day”, but traveled with the team to Atlanta.
