Aaron Sanchez won’t resume throwing until the blister/fingernail issues that have plagued him this season have completely subsided, reports Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The Blue Jays ace and 2016 American League ERA champ has already had three separate 10-day DL stints due to the issue, and at this point, he’s not even going to play catch until his finger is fully healthy. “I can’t keep having this issue every inning and have to go check,” Sanchez tells Nicholson-Smith. “This game’s already hard enough to have to go out there and compete. I’m beating myself up trying to go in there and pitch through it. It’s not doing me any good, it’s not doing the team any good.” There’s no timetable on his return at this point, though Sanchez says that if he needs to wait “30 days to find an answer for the rest of my career, then so be it.”
A few other notable injury scenarios from around the league…
- Marlins manager Don Mattingly told reporters today that left-hander Wei-Yin Chen has undergone another platelet-rich plasma injection in his ailing left elbow (Twitter link via the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Tim Healey). Chen had a PRP in that same elbow last summer and was able to return after an absence of about two months. At this point, however, the Marlins still don’t have any idea when the southpaw will be cleared to rejoin the rotation. As I noted yesterday when running down the various opt-out decisions that will impact the upcoming class of free agents, Chen’s injury makes it nearly impossible to fathom a scenario where he opts out of the remaining three years on his five-year, $80MM contract.
- The Padres sent Trevor Cahill for an MRI on his injured right shoulder, but the test revealed no structural damage, tweets MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. Cahill will nonetheless be shut down from throwing for the next 10 to 14 days, though, after experiencing continued discomfort in a weekend throwing session. Getting Cahill back to full health will be critical for a rebuilding Padres club that could look to cash in on his perhaps surprisingly excellent start to the season. The 29-year-old’s return to a starting role has yielded a 3.27 ERA with 11.1 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 60.2 percent ground-ball rate through 41 1/3 innings this season. Between that spike in strikeouts and Cahill’s modest $1.75MM salary, he’d generate plenty of interest if healthy.
- Twins right-hander Phil Hughes also underwent an MRI to have his right shoulder checked out, but GM Thad Levine tells Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that doctors are still evaluating the results (Twitter link). Hughes is slated to undergo further testing tomorrow, Miller adds. Hughes saw his 2016 season end early due to shoulder troubles that led to surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome, but he hasn’t regained his velocity thus far in 2017. The 30-year-old has demonstrated his characteristically excellent control (2.1 BB/9), but his 5.7 K/9 rate is a far cry from the 8.0 mark Hughes turned in during his stellar first year with Minnesota.
- MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets that Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre could head to extended Spring Training this weekend to begin taking some at-bats in games. If that goes well, Beltre will still need a minor league rehab stint to ramp up after missing the entire season to date, though it’s a positive sign that he’s progressed to the point of getting in some extended spring work. It would seem that an early June return for Beltre is possible, barring any further setbacks in his recovery from a calf injury.
Will Beltre be a first ballot HOFer when he finally hangs up his spikes?
He should be.
Oh definitely. 3000 hits is pretty much an automatic pass into the Hall. Plus he has 400+ homers, plus the defense, and there are very few third basemen in the Hall anyway; less than any other position.
I hope so. Guys been a amazing player for what seems like 20 yrs. That kind of consistently needs to be rewarded
I would hope he is a no doubt, 1st ballot inductee. Beltre has been a starter for 19 years, has played some of the best defense at 3B for a generation, and will have 3000 hits and 450 plus hr by the time he hangs up his spikes. Great, great player.
There’s an argument to be made against him. But it’s a pretty crappy argument. So I’d answer yes.
What might the argument look like?
Peak performance argument: has he ever been the best player in the league or at his position? Lot of nos there. But again, it becomes a poor argument. The things he did best didn’t always fill accumulating columns. He’s a no-doubter.
…. great to see Beltre on his way back.
Steroids!!!
I kind of wish these comments would be removed; whenever any player is doing well some chucklehead writes “steroids!” It gets old. Beltre, like all players, is tested a bunch of times every year. Over it.
The worst consequence of the steroid era is that anyone who hit more than 10 home runs before 2007 gets accused of juicing.
RenoChris Check back when you have something intelligent to say
Bad news for Hughes and Twins fans. Evaluating the results usually means will he have shoulder surgery and be out for a year or will he only be down 2-3 months to try to rehab the injury and avoid surgery. Neither are good.
While it’s not good news, he hasn’t been the same pitcher since the first year of this contract. This extension is looking worse and worse each day.
He wasn’t really the same pitcher before his first year in MIN either.
Yea but he was not a junk baller back then. He is throwing in the the 80s at best right now
If he comes back healthy, I would love to see the O’s trade for Cahill. He would be a big improvement over what the O’s are getting from Jimenez. Jimenez is being paid $13.5 million for that 7.00 ERA, 6 K/9 and 5 BB/9.
Sanchez has a good mindset. Not a fan of the team, but the man himself is worth admiring.
Competitor, he’s a real bulldog.
As an Angels fan I respect him and appreciate what he has done and how he has carried himself. He was another missed opportunity for the Angels. He wanted to play for the Angels and the team didn’t give a good enough contract so he chose the Rangers instead. Wasted money on so many others. Everytime I see him make a diving stop or his do hid trademark one knee on the ground swing I think about what could have been. 3rd base is still a black hole for the team (almost as bad as LF has been)
Everytime I think about Beltre the first thing that comes to mind is his “OUCH MOMENTS” you know the line drive or wicked bounce that has the ball find his family jewels instead of a cup that he doesn’t like playing with. Makes him uncomfortable he says. Those jewels took a hit a few times and he kept playing with them broken and all. That says first ballot hof to me.
Beltre has had several excellent seasons and a long career full of good to very good seasons, with only a couple disappointing years tossed in, and negligible DL time overall. Oh, and he plays great D.
About the only thing I don’t like about him is that he saved Bautista from Odor. But I guess that’s a good thing.
What’s not to like?
According to Jay Jaffe’s JAWS metric, which takes into account peak WAR and overall WAR relative to era and position, Beltre is the 5th best third baseman of all time. Looking at the list, it makes sense. The top four are pretty obvious – Schmidt, Brett, Boggs, Matthews. Just below Beltre are Santo Chipper, Brooks and Molitor. I would absolutely agree with that ranking. So, yeah, the 5th best third baseman of all time should probably be in the Hall of Fame.