Sounders’ Pedro de la Vega suffers new injury, resetting timeline for return

A promising week turned to disappointment Friday. Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer confirmed young designated player Pedro de la Vega suffered a new injury in his right hamstring, this time farther down his leg.

The midfielder participated in full-field training Wednesday. Midway through he walked off on his own, looking distressed as he walked to the main building at the team’s facility in Renton. Schmetzer hoped de la Vega could play when the Sounders host Vancouver on Saturday.

“He’s super down,” Schmetzer said. “He came here to help the team win and hasn’t been able to do that. That’s tough on a young man that’s come here from [Argentina] and his family and everybody is down there. We’re thinking about ways to maybe bring some people up to get him through these tough times.”

De la Vega, 23, had a right hamstring injury when he signed with Seattle in January. The incident occurred while training with his Argentine U23 national team. Once recovered, de la Vega injured his left hamstring when he joined the Sounders in Marbella, Spain, for preseason training camp.

But de la Vega was able to make his debut as a sub in the season-opener against Los Angeles FC in February, scoring his first MLS career goal from the spot in the 2-1 loss. He made his first league start the following week, subbing off in the 63^rd minute of a draw against Austin FC with the apparent injury.

De la Vega has totaled 89 minutes of play this season.

Schmetzer wanted to give the team a chance to perform with the intended first-choice starters before seeing if changes are needed to spark consistent goal-scoring and wins. While midfielders Joao Paulo (hip) and Albert Rusnak (ankle) are back from injuries, Schmetzer likely can’t wait for de la Vega.

A new timeline for de la Vega’s recovery is expected next week.

“We need to play with what we have and make the best of it,” said Sounders keeper Stefan Frei, who missed the opening four matches with a hamstring injury. “We have the depth for it, to be honest. It sure is going to get tested for the next month and change with eight games. There’s no sticking around and making excuses and waiting for the perfect XI to put on the field because it just never really happens. If you do that, you’ll be waiting until it’s too late.”

The details

Sounders (1-3-3) vs. Vancouver (4-2-1)

Time/place: 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Lumen Field in Seattle.

TV: Apple TV+.

Radio: 93.3 KJR FM in English and El Rey 1360 AM in Spanish.

Series history: Seattle leads the all-time series 73-52-26 since 1974.

Here are the storylines:

Cascadia shift?

Vancouver is second in the Western Conference standings and the reigning Cascadia Cup winners — which is awarded to the points leader in MLS matches among the Whitecaps, Sounders and Portland Timbers. The Whitecaps don’t compare in terms of number of trophies but could be trending to surpass Seattle as the new era’s top team in the Pacific Northwest.

The rivals could show that by getting their first win at Lumen Field since 2016. Seattle, which is 12^th in conference standings, is holding onto an 8-0-2 record against Vancouver during that time and has outscored the Whitecaps 22-4.

Goals like that

Vancouver hasn’t had trouble netting goals to open the season. The side has 15 after seven matches. Nine players from the Whitecaps have scored with forward Brian White and Fafa Picault leading with three goals apiece.

Picault is unavailable for selection Saturday due to a back injury.

The Sounders have back-to-back shutouts but a 5-0 win against CF Montreal earlier this month at Lumen and a 3-2 road loss to San Jose in March are the only times this season they’ve had multiple goals in a match.

Quotable

“These kinds of moments could define him in terms of going forward,” Rusnak said of de la Vega. “Maybe in five, six years’ time, he’ll be healthy and playing for many, many years, he’ll look back and learn. It’ll make him tougher, but it’s not what he wanted.”