Injury Notes: Hill, Ethier, AGon, Bailey, Melancon, Mariners, Kluber, Gray

Here’s the latest on some notable health situations from around the game:

• The Dodgers have updates on a number of players. Lefty Rich Hill is going to return as a starter, but if his blister issue recurs then the team will consider moving him into some kind of relief role, manager Dave Roberts tells MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link). The timeline remains a ways off for outfielder Andre Ethier, meanwhile. He’s still not able to run without feeling pain in his back, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports, making it seem unlikely he’d be able to return early July. Finally, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is expected to begin a rehab assignment next week, Alanna Rizzo of Sportsnet LA tweets. He may only require two or three games before returning.
• On the other side of the city, the Angels are sending righty Andrew Bailey for a visit with Dr. David Altchek, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The reliever “felt something” in his shoulder during a recent throwing session. Shoulder issues have kept him on the DL all year.
• Further north, the Giants have cause for hope that closer Mark Melancon will require only the brief DL timeline the club had charted when he was taken off the active roster. As Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter, Melancon is reporting reduced symptoms in his forearm. The righty will test things out by playing catch tomorrow.
• Continuing up the coast, the Mariners also have a smattering of health updates of note, as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. Key young talents James Paxton and Mitch Haniger are moving in the right direction, with the hope still being that they’ll return before the month is out. Reliever Steve Cishek is also close. But Felix Hernandez is going to rest his ailing shoulder a bit more, leaving his timeline somewhat cloudy, and it’s still not clear what to expect from Hisashi Iwakuma.
• Indians righty Corey Kluber is moving slowly in his rehab, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal reports. Out with lower back issues, Kluber has begun throwing from flat ground but still hasn’t taken the hill. Manager Terry Francona did say that the team is seeing progress, though perhaps the biggest test is yet to come.
• Rockies staff ace Jon Gray is also taking longer than had been hoped, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes. Gray is still in a walking boot while his broken left foot heals, though the hope seems to be he’ll be ready to shed that soon. While Gray has been able to continue throwing, he’ll obviously need to boost his conditioning and ensure his foot is at full health before undertaking at least some kind of rehab assignment.