Mariners' 2016 top pick suffers ‘heartbreaking' knee injury

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The Seattle Mariners announced Wednesday that minor league outfielder Kyle Lewis, the team's first-round draft pick in 2016, injured his knee and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Lewis, 21, a two-time Southern Conference player of the year at Mercer, was the 11th overall pick in last month's draft.

He was injured Tuesday in a collision at home plate while playing for the Class-A Everett Aqua Sox and tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), as well as a medial and lateral meniscus in his right knee.

"It's a heartbreaking injury for a guy that just signed and was cresting. He was having the year of his life, winner of the Golden Spikes. He was off to a tremendous start, north of a .900 OPS for Everett and giving us every reason to believe he was exactly the player we thought when we drafted him," Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto told reporters, according to MLB.com.

Lewis was hitting .299 with three homers, eight doubles, five triples and 26 RBIs in 30 games with Everett in the Northwest League.

"He will heal and get better, we'll just have to give him the time to do that," said Dipoto told MLB.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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