The Indians continue to see progress from right Danny Salazar, as ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports. He is readying for a sim game today or tomorrow as he works to return from a forearm strain, after which Cleveland will determine whether he’s ready to work from the bullpen in the upcoming ALCS. That would provide the Indians with a notable boost to a bullpen that figures to be a key to the team’s chances.
Here are a few more injury notes from around the game:
- As they hope for their own trip to the league championship round, the Nationals don’t appear to have quite as much cause for optimism for their own injured starter, Stephen Strasburg, as MLB.com’s Jamal Collier reports. Manager Dusty Baker said that Strasburg, who’s dealing with forearm problems, was throwing well in a pen session but elected to cut it short after experiencing discomfort. Baker did suggest it wasn’t a true setback, and Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post notes on Twitter that Strasburg was tossing from flat ground yesterday. That seems to suggest there’s at least a glimmer of hope that he’d be available if the team reaches the NLCS, though perhaps a hypothetical World Series return would be more plausible.
- The Blue Jays appear set to utilize lefty Francisco Liriano in the ALCS after he reported positive developments after being struck by a liner in the divisional series, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter. Liriano says he’s symptom-free and ready to go this weekend. The 32-year-old pitched well down the stretch while working mostly as a starter, but has been used from the pen thus far in the postseason. He’ll likely factor as an important swingman as the Jays seek to move on to the playoffs’ final round.
- Giants outfielder Angel Pagan was hopeful he’d be able to go for last night’s thrilling NLDS Game 4, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reported. His back spasms had him at day-to-day status, the veteran said. Ultimately, though, Pagan did not appear in the contest, in which San Francisco suffered another stunning bullpen meltdown to end its season. The 35-year-old’s five-year run with the Giants may be over, with the seemingly minor back issue not doing much to damper a nice bounceback campaign. Over 543 plate appearances on the year, he posted a sturdy .277/.331/.418 batting line with 15 steals and a dozen home runs. The switch-hitting Pagan was particularly good against right-handed pitching, and seems likely to draw a fair bit of interest as a center field-capable fourth outfielder on the open market.
- Royals righty Chris Young underwent surgery to what the team described as his “bilateral core and right-sided adductor,” per a club announcement (via MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan; Twitter links). He’s only expected to need eight weeks to recover, meaning that the procedure shouldn’t have much of an impact on his ramp-up next spring.
I’m sorry, but watching Pagan play these last few years has completely convinced me that he is not capable of playing center field anymore. And he has a terrible arm, so his duties are pretty much limited to left field.
Yeah I don’t mean to suggest he’s a regular option there. But teams need a guy who can at least fill in for an emergency, and he’s done it quite a bit.
Not sure you can characterize last night’s Giants bullpen fiasco as stunning. More like expected, really. Their back end has been ineffective all season.
I still found it stunning to watch. Sure, it was a continuation of well-documented past problems, but they had matchups lined up and nothing worked. Even if it felt somehow inevitable, blowing that lead in that park in that situation in that fashion was pretty amazing.
I take your point, but then I was at Dodger Stadium yesterday, to witness virtually the same scenario played out for what could have been the same result. The match-ups in the 7th looked about as right as they could be, but the result was very nearly disastrous, and not entirely surprising to Dodgers watchers because it’s a weakness we’ve seen all season long.
I know that pitching changes after every batter got annoying
Is it just me or is Strasburg always “hurt” when there is a big matchup or the season is on the line????
Good thing right Danny Salazar’s showing progress. Left Danny Salazar’s still got no timetable.