Updates on some injury situations around baseball….
- Mike Trout sprained his left thumb while sliding into second base in today’s game against the Marlins, which led to the Angels superstar to leave the game an inning later. (Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register was one of many with the details.) X-rays were negative on the injury, though more will be known once Trout undergoes an MRI tomorrow. Trout has never been on the disabled list in his career, though he did miss a few games earlier this month with a hamstring issue. Needless to say, losing Trout would be an enormous blow to an Angels team that is hanging in in the AL wild card race despite a plethora of pitching injuries and a lack of team hitting, Trout’s incredible .337/.461/.742 slash line notwithstanding.
- Howie Kendrick is expected to be activated from the DL tomorrow, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki tweets. The veteran was off to a good start in his first 10 games with the Phillies before hitting the DL in mid-April with an oblique strain. He was the starting left fielder in all 10 of his games, though one might expect the versatile Kendrick to be moved around the diamond since Aaron Altherr has broken out since taking over in left.
- The Blue Jays could get both J.A. Happ and Francisco Liriano back from the DL this week, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi writes. Happ could be activated as early as Tuesday for a start against the Reds, as though he may be limited to 65-70 pitches, the Jays bullpen could pick up the slack (assuming Marcus Stroman doesn’t have an abbreviated start on Monday, of course). Happ has been sidelined since mid-April due to elbow inflammation, while Liriano hit the DL earlier this month due to shoulder inflammation. Liriano is scheduled for a rehab start tonight and is tentatively slated to return to the Jays for a start against the Yankees on Friday.
- Rockies righty Jon Gray threw a bullpen session today as he continues his recovery from a fractured left foot. Manager Bud Black told the Denver Post’s Nick Groke and other reporters that Gray will undergo leg-strengthening exercises this week in order to allow for fielding practice, and then Gray will embark on a rehab assignment. Despite this rough outline, there is “no timetable for when he returns to a game,” Black said. Gray made only three starts before suffering his stress fracture, though his absence hasn’t stopped the surprising Rockies from posting the National League’s best record.
Come on Angels send Pennington to the Phillies for Howie
Why would the Phils want Penny?
A 4 month rental of Howie would cost the Angels top prospect lil..
Pennington would help Phili have the worst record. And save them money.
The Angels need pitching before they do anything else.
Not really. Their bullpen has been very good but they could use a starter to get more innings. Plus they have an excellent catcher and might have stumbled upon a very good pitching coach. Defense is great. Their problem is they’re not hitting for enough power and have left the second most runners on base on base. They need Kole Calhoun and Danny Espinosa to break out of their funk.
… I don’t understand why guys slide hands first, rarely does it provide a significant advantage – risky. Here’s hoping Trout is okay.
It feels more natural running the bases to slide headfirst.
A base runner can be a bit more strategic with their slide head first and reach around the bag.
Lastly, sliding feet first often busts up a runners knees and rear end with bruises and breaks the skin almost every time too mixing and open cut with a dirty sweaty mixture of blood, mud and uniform.
That is still far more preferable to getting a concussion, facial lacerations, broken digits or dust in the eyes & mouth.
How is dust in the eyes & mouth worse than any of what was listed above? Assuming there isn’t a freak incident that leaves the player blinded, all he’d have to do is rinse out his eyes and/or mouth with water, and then he’s back to 100%…
osha is forcing mlb to install eye wash stations ot all three bases and behind home plate.
Thanks for concentrating on just one of many reasons I pointed out, thanks. Let’s try reading on a whole next time, hmm?
… generally, people reading MLBTR are knowledgable baseball fans. I’m not ignorant as to the extremely basic reasons you just explained, I’m interested on a team policy/risk of injury front. I see no advantage to sliding head first.
It’s more dangerous to stand in the batters box than it is to slide head first. You’re overreacting quite a bit to a pretty insignificant injury
Overreacting? No. It’s an observation from an informed baseball fan. Poor strategy, in my opinion. Again, I see no advantage to sliding headfirst. Sliding feet first is more aggressive, less prone to causing injury, and, arguably, more efficient.
Extremely basic or not that are reasons why runners prefer to slide headfirst and the advantages of doing so (its natural, easy to slide around the tag and doesn’t leave your lower half banged up). This are the reasons why to slide headfirst.
There is certainly no “team policy” against sliding headfirst. Players are out there to do work.
They are NEVER coached to slide headfirst. That should tell you something.
Looking at it from a physics stand point. Sliding head first better maintains momentum more than sliding feet first. Youre pushing yourself head first as opposed to losing when you slide feet first.
Also, if you slide head first into second and there is an errant throw easier to get up and go to 3rd than had you slid feet first into 2nd.
Also, in a game of inches head first is the lowest a player can go as they are directly on top of the ground. Feet first slide puts majority of your mass above you which can be rasier to tag. You dont slide feet first on your back.
Have you not heard of the pop-up slide?
Penny’s not THAT bad. He’s 2 times better then Danny Espinosa. But yeah, I do want Howie back.