It’s early, we’re just in the second week of the Major League season, but we’re already inundated by injuries. Every time you look up, it seems likely someone is being removed from a game with some sort of physical malady. As Jeff Mans pointed out in this tweet, the DL was used nearly 700 times last season, and we sure seem on our way to another obnoxiously huge number in 2019. Ray reviews some of the recent health news on the diamond.
HITTERS
Corey Dickerson has been placed on the DL with a right posterior shoulder strain. Dickerson had a solid season last year hitting .300 with 65 runs scored in his first full year with he Pirates. He’s not great, but he’s certainly a solid fifth outfield option in mixed leagues. J.B. Shuck and Colin Moran figure to battle for work in the outfield as the team wants to leave Adam Frazier at second base.
Edwin Encarnacion hasn’t played since Monday because of a hand issue. Dan Vogelbach continues to fill in, but with each passing hour this looks more and more like an IL stint could be in the offing for EE.
Vlad Guerrero (oblique) began his rehab work Thursday as he went 1-for-4 with a run scored at High-A ball. He should report to Triple-A rather quickly, and then it’s a matter of (A) how he feels, (B) how he looks and (C) service time being factored in before we will see him in the bigs. Think 2-3 weeks, barring a setback, and you likely will be right on it.
Aaron Hicks (back) has been cleared for baseball activities. Still, he’s missed so much time that you have to think that optimistically he will be ready to go in two weeks, but it’s likely to be closer to the end of the month before he is good to go.
Howie Kendrick (hamstring) is back with the Nationals. He will fill a super sub role that will frequently find him playing second and the outfield and maybe even first base. He can still hit with a .311 average, .356 OBP and a .355 wOBA the last two years (494 plate appearances). NL-only is he.
Shohei Ohtani is working his way back from Tommy John surgery and his recovery is right on schedule. Things have gone so well in fact that Ohtani is pushing for the Angels to activate him a bit early, as in late April versus May. “Personally, I feel like I can get back this month, but it’s going to be up to the team.” The 24-year-old, talking to the media for the first time during the regular season, added that he is “satisfied” with the methodical pace of his rehab, “But I do want to get back as soon as possible. As a player, I think it’s natural to try to get back as quickly as possible,” Ohtani said. “That’s how I’m feeling right now. But it’s not up to me; it’s up to the team. I know they’re trying to be very careful with me.” Some folks have forgotten that Ohtani went 20/10 last season with a .925 OPS in just 367 plate appearances. Given that pace, and 550 plate appearances, he would have produced a season of 33 homers and 15 steals.
Marcell Ozuna has a shoulder issue last year that held him back a bit. This season he’s dealing with a side issue. The team ran a bunch of tests and it was determined that he should be able to play through the issue (he is in lineup on Friday).
Nomar Mazara is off to a nice start with a couple of homers and seven RBI, but he sat out Thursday with a quad issue. All signs point to this being a minor issue that is no big deal, and it’s not like he’s a big runner on the base paths.
Steve Pearce has been activated from the DL. The plan is for Pearce to hit third in the powerful Sox lineup against left-handed pitching as the Sox hope to get a .275-30-90 season at first from the combo of Pearce and Mitch Moreland. If that happens, on the days he’s in the lineup, he’s worth a look in a whole ton of formats given his career lefty mashing ways (.501 SLG, .853 OPS).
Dustin Pedroia went 2-for-3 Thursday in his first game at Double-A. Pedroia is trying to come back from a significant knee issue, and the reports are positive to this point. He is expected to play Friday, then take Saturday off, then head back to the field Sunday. He expects/hopes to be back in the lineup for the Red Sox early next week, and the plan is for him to take over the majority of starts at second upon that return.
The Indians are a black hole of offense right now (last in baseball with a pathetic wOBA of .225), and Jose Ramirez keeps getting nicked up. First it was a thigh thing, and then Thursday he was removed from the game with a left foot contusion that he suffered when he fouled a ball off his foot. The removal was called precautionary, and he’s not expected to miss much time, but multiple lower body injuries could certainly curtain his running in the early going as the Indians simply cannot afford to lose Ramirez with Francisco Lindor likely out for most of April with his recent ankle issue.
Andrelton Simmons has some lower back tightness that forced him from the lineup Thursday. As of now we are thinking day-to-day, but it’s something to keep an eye on with the undervalued middle infield asset.
Justin Smoak missed the game Thursday with a neck issue. The real reason I mentioned it is so that I could share with you one of the best back and forth’s on Twitter in the early season.
HURLERS
Clay Buchholz is set to thrown 75 pitches in his next start after throwing 60 pitches in a Tuesday extended spring training outing. The Jays are hoping that CB will be able to join their rotation in about two weeks. CB was fantastic last year with a 7-2 record, a 2.01 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. But, he’s not dependable (120-innings once in five years), doesn’t miss enough bats (6.96 per nine in the K department) and is the very definition of tease.
Alex Cobb (groin) is back from the DL. He allowed two runs over 5.2 innings against the depleted Yankees team. He’s a streaming option in mixed leagues.
Mike Foltynewicz threw five scoreless innings at Triple-A Thursday, as he works his way back from a wonky elbow. He only struck out two while throwing 56 pitches, and his fastball was about 2-3 mph below his norm. He’s likely to make one more start before being activated.
Clayton Kershaw was set to throw 60 pitches in an outing Thursday at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He ended up throwing 61 pitches over 4.1 innings as he allowed four hits and two runs. He also struck out six batters, while walking two, and looked a bit rusty. His velocity was 2-3 mph below where he sat in 2018, and it seems likely that he will make one more minor league start before returning to the Dodgers starting rotation.
Ervin Santana was signed late by the White Sox, and though he’s not really hurt, he’s been working on building up his stamina. Sounds like that work has gone well as Ervin appears likely to make his debut next Tuesday for the Sox. He’s a streaming option in mixed leagues at this point.
