Giants outfielder Hunter Pence is returning to active duty tomorrow, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports on Twitter. Pence has yet to see MLB action this year since suffering a fractured forearm in the spring. The 32-year-old figures to provide a nice boost to the club, which has produced middling results thus far.
Here are some more injury notes from around the game:
- Another important player who received promising injury news is Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka. As Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweets, Tanaka threw 35 pitches in a BP session today and seems to be nearing the start of a rehab stint. Tanaka’s continued progress is obviously welcome, particularly given that swingman Chase Whitley may be headed for season-ending surgery.
- The Blue Jays also have some notable situations to watch, with Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca providing several updates. Outfielder Michael Saunders will miss four to six weeks to rest his knee. And catcher Dioner Navarro still does not have a timetable for a rehab assignment as he rests his hamstring. More positively, shortstop Jose Reyes is nearing his own build-up through the minors. While Saunders and Reyes are important for the team, the Navarro news is most notable from a transactional perspective. Though he has not done much offensively this year, Navarro could be a useful trade piece for a Toronto club that has other needs — if he can reestablish his health and show more promise at the plate.
- The Nationals made the surprising announcement today that righty Doug Fister is heading to the DL with right forearm tightness (via Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com, on Twitter). Young starter A.J. Cole, one of the team’s top prospects, will return to take his spot on the active roster. While hidden somewhat due to the attention given to Stephen Strasburg, there is cause for concern with Fister, whose velocity (86.1 mph average two-seam fastball), K:BB ratio (4.1 K/9 vs. 2.3 BB/9), and groundball rate (40.9%) have suffered in comparison to his usual numbers. Of course, the Nationals are somewhat uniquely suited to weather any extended absence, should that prove necessary. But for the 31-year-old free agent-to-be, the first two months of the season have left him with plenty to prove the rest of the way.
- Hyun-jin Ryu of the Dodgers is still not even scheduled to resume throwing, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group reports on Twitter. The health of the 28-year-old lefty remains a key sub-plot in the development of the summer trade market: L.A. already profiles as a strong buyer for starting pitching, and its needs would be enhanced greatly if Ryu isn’t able to develop an upward trajectory.
Not sure I would say, “.. The first two months of the season have left him with plenty to prove…”. Outside of his last start, which I assume was a result of injury, Fister was his typical self which is pretty good. The injury, if serious, might hurt his stock, but not his performance thus far.
Will Cole step right into the rotation, or will he take Roark’s long relief role?
Now, i think it’s safe to say Seattle won the Happ/Saunders trade.
Jays should be well above .500 with how good their offence has been. Brutal pitching man
Stroman was a big loss for them
I don’t think AA should be criticized for his off season moves. How can one predict freak injuries that happened to Saunders and Stroman in spring training? Both if healthy would have been huge contributors this year.
As Jays fan, lets look at the positives. Colebello has been huge for us, hitting 400. +. Lets hope our pitching can turn it around in the next month or so. Still a lot of baseball to be played, no reason to panic. So our pitching has started off cold; leaving lots of upside for the rest of season. (remember look at overall numbers, not the first 2months of this year)
And I hate to say it, but worse comes to worse 2016 is looking bright for us as contenders. I’m sure that’ll be aa/gibbons final chance though if we can’t contend in 2016.
Put Reyes in LF!