A slew of injury notes from around baseball:
- There’s yet another problem for Reds lefty Brandon Finnegan. Already on the DL with ongoing problems in the teres major muscle in his left back/shoulder, Finnegan is now recovering from surgery to repair a tear to the labrum in his right shoulder, the team announced. Obviously, it’s a relief that the new injury isn’t on the throwing side, but it’s a significant issue for any athlete. (Finnegan suffered the tear in an off-field incident, manager Bryan Price told reporters including Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer, via Twitter.)
- Veteran Twins first baseman Joe Mauer is heading to the 10-day DL to rest his strained lower back, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger was among those to report on Twitter. Minnesota recalled Kennys Vargas to take the place of Mauer, who hasn’t played since the Fourth of July.
- The Mets activated big-hitting outfielder Michael Conforto from the disabled list on Saturday and sent fellow outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the DL in a corresponding move. Nimmo is dealing with a fairly serious issue, a collapsed lung, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. The 24-year-old began experiencing shortness of breath on July 4 and notified the Mets’ medical staff on Friday when the discomfort hadn’t subsided. Nimmo, who was in and out of a New York hospital Friday, has been prescribed rest. Both the cause of his collapsed lung and a potential return date are unclear.
- It has been a bumpy road of late for Padres lefty Christian Friedrich. Now, after experiencing elbow discomfort, Friedrich has been shut down again, as MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell reports. While a variety of issues have cropped up for the southpaw, the elbow problems seems to be the most serious; indeed, it could even force him to sit out the remainder of the season, per the report.
- Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart is on the shelf at Triple-A Pawtucket with inflammation in his left ankle, on which he underwent surgery last August. His current troubles aren’t in the exact spot, per the Providence Journal’s Brian MacPherson, though he suggests that Swihart’s problems are likely related to last year’s injury and surgery. Swihart suffered the injury while playing left field for Boston last June. He’s back behind the plate on a full-time basis this year, but all of his work has come in the minors and he has only hit .213/.265/.327 across 163 plate appearances.
Damn, hope Nimmo is okay. Collapsed lungs are scary.
“Swihart isn’t worth (insert actually good MLB player here)” – written in the comments sections of this site, 10000 times. smh yall need to chill out with overvaluing prospects, they really arent that valuable to MLB front offices than many think they are.
Been holding that in a while? What a contribution. Chill out, He’s 25 and just suffered a slew of injuries. No fan, owner, manager, etc. ever undersells their players talents. So why does it bother you so much that someone is “overhyped”? Anyone who doesn’t “overhype” their team, player, etc is a loser and not a very good fan.
Travis Shaw(27) just broke out a year ago. Someone rarely spoken of. He’s now having a borderline allstar season. But yea..build teams around against veterans for their past accomplishments. Overvaluing prospects. What?
Amazing..a Sox fan who doesn’t look at a whole year of their spawn or accept criticism..go figure.
Cherry picking is fun. I just did it too!
Swihart is probably going to go to another team in a trade at some time. I don’t want to see that but I think it’s reality. The problem is he is going to blossom when given another opportunity. I know that tv with the Arizona Diamondbacks tried real hard to pry Swihart in the offseason and its no secret he likes him. It appears the Red Sox have there catchers and no room at the inn for Swihart. I do believe he will blossom when he goes to another team they just don’t seem to have room for him anymore they have made there decision.
Mets get the weirdest injury issues. Amazes me. Hope the kid is ok but so strange.
Let’s consider a Profar for Swihart trade. Once you decide why that won’t be enough, please realize the flaws in what you are receiving are the same flaws that what you’re giving has. Injury prone. Hasn’t refound his swing. Options are limited/gone. Current team won’t give you ab’s. Not a whole lot of trade value in either.
I don’t know enough about Profar to really comment on him other then he is a former top prospect that is now really struggling. I can talk about Swihart he hit really well in spring training and started off well in AAA but Injured his hand. Hand injuries can be really rough on players really effects their hitting. More importantly now he is dealing with soreness in the surgically repaired ankle. I think DD should wait until he is better before any evaluation hope he doesn’t sell low on Swihart.