Injury Notes: McCann, Rumbelow, Cardinals

Here’s the latest on some notable injury situations around baseball…

• Tigers catcher James McCann left today’s game with a right ankle sprain, suffered while trying to beat out an infield single in the fifth inning.  Detroit skipper Brad Ausmus told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jason Beck) that “there’s concern” McCann could require a DL stint.  X-rays were negative on the injury but McCann is still to undergo an MRI.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia would become the regular starter if McCann has to miss time.  It was just two weeks ago that Detroit traded backup Bryan Holaday to the Rangers in a trade that brought veteran backstop Bobby Wilson into the fold, though Wilson would need to be added to the 40-man roster if the Tigers used him as a backup; Saltalamacchia and McCann are currently the only catchers on Detroit’s 40-man.
• Yankees righty Nick Rumbelow is in need of Tommy John surgery, Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees blog reports.  Rumbelow was sent to Triple-A to to begin this season.  The 24-year-old Rumbelow made his MLB debut in 2015, posting a 4.02 ERA, 8.6 K/9 and 3.00 K/BB rate over 15 2/3 innings out of the New York bullpen.  Rumbelow averaged 93.4mph on his fastball last year but hit the 98mph plateau when pitching in college at LSU, as per Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel in a breakdown of the Yankees’ farm system from January 2015.  Rumbelow has posted strong relief numbers in his three minor league seasons, though the Yankees experimenting using him as a starter this spring.  As per the usual recovery timeline for Tommy John patients, Rumbelow should be out of action until at least midway through the 2017 season.
• Injuries have done a number on the Cardinals’ minor league pitching depth, Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes, as Marco Gonzales is considering elbow surgery and Tim Cooney has been battling with a sore shoulder.  “When you look at what we have going on at [Triple-A] Memphis, it’s not as strong as we thought we were.  But, that’s not to say we are in a panic mode by any means,” Cards GM John Mozeliak said, noting that top prospect Alex Reyes could be an option in a couple of months.  Reyes is currently serving a 50-game suspension after testing positive for marijuana in November.  Mozeliak also provides updates on a few other injured Cardinals within Frederickson’s piece.