Here’s the latest injury news from around the baseball world…
- The Blue Jays placed southpaw J.P. Howell on the 10-day DL with a sore shoulder, with righty Dominic Leone recalled from Triple-A to take Howell’s place on the roster. (Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi was among those to report the news.) Signed to a one-year, $3MM deal in the offseason, Howell has a 54.00 ERA over one-third of an inning in his brief Jays tenure, thanks to an ugly outing on Friday that saw him allow two runs without recording an out. Howell underwent labrum surgery in 2010 but his shoulder hasn’t had any issues since; the durable reliever has averaged 64 games per season from 2012-16. With Howell sidelined, Aaron Loup is the only left-hander in the Toronto bullpen. [Updated Blue Jays roster at Roster Resource]
- Adrian Beltre is eligible to return from the 10-day DL today but the Rangers have decided against activating the star third baseman, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Beltre has been out of action due to a right calf strain and isn’t quite ready to play, though he has participated in batting practice and some running drills. Joey Gallo has been filling in at third in Beltre’s absence.
- Orioles outfielder Joey Rickard is headed to the 10-day DL due to a sprained left middle finger, manager Buck Showalter told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters. Rickard suffered the injury sliding into second base yesterday. The O’s had a ready-made replacement for Rickard on the 25-man roster, as Wade Miley was activated from the 10-day DL for his scheduled start this afternoon against the Yankees. There was some question over how Baltimore would find a 25-man roster spot for Miley upon his return, and according to Showalter, Rickard wouldn’t have been optioned had he been healthy. With Rickard out, Trey Mancini and Craig Gentry will be the right-handed hitting sides of Baltimore’s corner outfield platoons, with Hyun Soo Kim and Seth Smith providing the lefty bats. [Updated Orioles roster at Roster Resource]
- Showalter also told media that Chris Johnson suffered a broken bone in his forearm after being hit by a pitch during a Triple-A game yesterday. Johnson is expected to miss six to eight weeks. The Orioles signed Johnson to a minor league deal this winter, and then released and re-signed the veteran to a fresh contract at the end of Spring Training. The opt-out dates within Johnson’s contract (if any) aren’t known, though this lengthy absence could likely impact his decision about staying in Baltimore’s organization.
- In notable international injury news, Shohei Otani will miss approximately six weeks due to a strain in his left thigh muscle, The Associated Press reports. Otani suffered the injury trying to beat out an infield single, and as the AP piece notes, “the injury will add further debate to Otani’s insistence on batting as well as pitching.” The two-way star is both Japan’s best pitcher and a very promising hitter, posting a 1.004 OPS with 22 homers over 382 PA last season for the Nippon Ham Fighters and is off to a blistering start in his first eight games this season. (Otani has yet to pitch in 2017.) Otani’s professional future is the subject of wide interest on both sides of the Pacific, as the 22-year-old is reportedly planning to come to the Major League Baseball in 2018.
Otani just sign with the cubs. We will take care of you.
…by having Heyward run for him?
Everyone always taking shots at Heyward…. He’ll have the last laugh this season, already off to a great start and swing looks much better
And Cubs fans try and justify that contract..his bank and agent will have the last laugh!
Jason Heyward that name has a nice (World Series) ring too it.
I bet you’re hoping that he will have the last laugh so he will opt out from that $106 million on the table.
Don’t get so defensive about Heyward, he’s a good base runner.
To be fair, despite his terrible hitting last season, he was still worth positive value just on his defense and baserunning. And the Cubs never really benched him despite how poorly he was hitting, which speaks volumes about how the team values him. And he was the starting right-fielder on a World Series winning team.
Scouts who watched him hit think he was injured last season. He did suffer some wrist injury early in the year and wrists have a way of really lingering. He wouldn’t be the first guy to have a bad year because of injury. But he also wouldn’t be the first guy to just fall off a cliff offensively relatively early in his career. Since he was a sunk cost the day he was signed, I doubt the Cubs can be too worried about the money owed him. They were going to owe him that money no matter what.
Cubs have won 100% of World Series with Heyward on the roster. If they keep winning fans won’t give two shi** to how much he gets paid…
We could always use another left fielder!
There should be no debate. Otani is just as good of a hitter. He suffered this injury trying to make an offensive play. It happens. Really, the debate should be whether or not he should give 100% on the basepaths knowing his importance. I know many will disagree but I’m all about maximizing his value. Let the guy hit. If he were strictly a hitter there wouldn’t even be a discussion.
He’s not “just as good” of a hitter and that’s why this IS a discussion.
Curious..how do you know about his hitting?
link to minorleagueball.com
link to fangraphs.com
Just needs to get here.
Lots of American scouts doubt he’s a great hitter. Keith Law of ESPN also chimed in on this just the other day, as well as the above links. His season in 2016 was truly outstanding, but was also an outlier in his brief career and certainly lots of Japanes hitting stats don’t translate as well here. Add to that the injury risk and it’s reasonable that most teams see him as a pitcher-first guy that they might let pinch-hit or DH occasionally.
davidcoonce..the point I was trying to make was their league doesn’t necessarily translate to MLB.
How is what you said supposed to be interpreted as making that point?
The NBP stats almost always translate to be worse than what they would be in MLB and scouts are still able to see what a player’s tools look like. Just because the NBP isn’t the MLB does not mean that people don’t have opinions on how they will play.
If you’re gonna take the “it doesn’t translate” stance, then I suppose you do not care about amateur scouting or minor league either, since those don’t necessarily translate to mlb success.
The point I was trying to make is that of the people who have actually scouted Otani – you know, scouts – none of them think he’s as good a hitter as people who just look at the stat line do. Since I’m not a scout, I trust their opinions more than the statistics. The part about statistics not translating is just an extension of that idea – minor league stats don’t translate directly to major league stats either, which is why teams have scouts and why you often read ffrom scouts to “avoid scouting the stat line”
Do us all a favor, and scout or offer your opinions on the west coast teams like your home town Padres rather than the rest of the league. Your opinions on all else you don’t know don’t make much sense.
I hope Howell gets better, but when the Jays signed him, the question for me was why? my opinion is that he cannot get out Al East hitters in small ball parks. Move him to the 60 day DL and trade a boatload of prospects for an allstar setup guy,.
Giants need an LF and a reliever