Pirates prospect Austin Meadows had surgery to fix an orbital fracture, Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. He will return to action in an estimated six to eight weeks. The injury occurred earlier this spring, when Meadows got hit by a ball while playing catch. MLB.com currently ranks Meadows the Pirates’ second-best prospect. After batting .307/.357/.407 for Class A+ Bradenton last year, Meadows will likely begin his 2016 season at Double-A Altoona, at least after he’s finished with any rehab assignments. Here are more quick injury notes.
- Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen was examined earlier this week by Dr. Timothy Kremchek earlier this week, and he will not throw for “another couple of weeks,” MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets. Lorenzen was previously diagnosed with a mild UCL sprain. He had been set to compete for a job in the Reds’ currently injury-riddled rotation. The 24-year-old Lorenzen posted a 5.40 ERA, 6.6 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 113 1/3 innings in his rookie season with the Reds last year.
- Red Sox prospect Michael Kopech had a screw inserted into his right hand Tuesday to stabilize a fracture he suffered while fighting with a teammate, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes. He will be out about six weeks, at which point he will begin getting ready for the season. As Speier notes, 2016 will be the second straight shortened season for Kopech, who served a 50-game suspension last year for use of the stimulant Oxilofrine. The 2014 first-round pick posted a 2.63 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 65 innings with Class A Greenville last year. He’s currently ranked the Red Sox’ fifth-best prospect.
- Another Red Sock, outfielder Brennan Boesch, broke his wrist while attempting to make a catch on Friday, John Tomase of WEEI.com writes. Boesch’s return date is unknown. The Red Sox signed Boesch to a minor-league deal in January after he split the 2015 season between Cincinnati and Triple-A Louisville, hitting well in the minors but batting .146/.191/.202 in 94 plate appearances in the big leagues. The 30-year-old is best known for his three years of semi-regular duty with the Tigers from 2010-2012.
Great post Charlie, nice work!
Michael Kopech has got to get his crap together. This guy has ace potential and the only thing that is holding him up are some dumb decisions. If by chance you read this Mr Kopech, you need to do some growing up fast so you can help my Sox win some more championships! Price/Espinoza/Kopech is going to be one hell of a triple ace trio one day.
Boesch news doesn’t really matter. My Sox have so much outfield depth he’ll never get a chance to play for our big club anyway.
Go Sox!
Pitching well at the Single A level with the help of PEDs is hardly indicative of ace material. By the time he reaches the majors, Price will have left.
The stimulant he got caught for helps you lose weight. The scouts say based on his raw stuff he has ace potential as long as he fills out and keeps getting stronger. So I wouldn’t quite say PEDs, he’s just an idiot who took a supplement he shouldn’t have.
Regarding Price though I agree, he will either have opted out due to his great performance or if he’s still there it means he already started a steep decline.
I’m a little concerned about Austin Meadows. His ability to hit is impeccable, but it seems like he has a long way to go if he can’t even play catch. Looks like Austin is a future “Pedro Alvarez of the Outfield.”
He has an ability to hit but is compared to strikeout king, Pedro Alvarez. Is Adam Dunn Tony Gwynn in your world?
Its a good thing none of this bush league fighting things happen in the Jays organization between players. We’ll leave that to the teams that clearly dont care about chemistry and working as a team, just about themselves.
Because Mr. Jay himself cares so much about the chemistry and team that he gave that ultimatum…