Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner thinks he’ll be ready before the early June target time frame set by the club, he tells reporters including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Calling the estimate “conservative” for a pinky fracture, Bumgarner noted that he’s due for a check-up in a few weeks’ time. If he is ready to ramp back up earlier than had been expected, that’d be most welcome for an organization that has had to scramble a bit after suffering some health troubles late in camp. Fellow starter Jeff Samardzija seems to be well on his way to a return after throwing a thirty-pitch pen session today, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic also notes via Twitter.
Here’s more injury news from San Francisco and elsewhere…
- Meanwhile, Giants southpaw Will Smith is readying to pitch competitively next Monday, Crowley adds on Twitter. He could soon begin an official rehab assignment, which would start the thirty-day clock on his return to the majors. The 28-year-old, who was picked up in a 2016 deadline deal, missed all of 2017 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s just now past the one-year anniversary of the procedure, so he has largely progressed on a typical timeline to this point.
- Right-hander Matt Shoemaker has been placed on the 10-day DL by the Angels due to a strained right forearm, the team announced tonight. Anaheim has called righty Parker Bridwell up to take his spot in the rotation for now. Obviously, it’s a concern for Shoemaker, who had two separate forearm-related injuries in 2017 before ending his season to undergo surgery which repositioned the radial nerve in his forearm. The Angels didn’t give a timetable for Shoemaker’s return to action.
- The D-backs announced tonight that third baseman Jake Lamb is hitting the disabled list with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder, though manager Torey Lovullo tells reporters that he’s hopeful the young slugger can return to the lineup after the minimum 10-day allotment (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan). Righty Matt Koch has been called up to take Lamb’s spot on the roster for the time being, which will give Arizona some additional depth in the bullpen on the heels of a 15-inning game. The D-backs are well covered in terms of depth around the infield. Deven Marrero got the start at the hot corner tonight, though Daniel Descalso and Chris Owings also seem like possible options there.
- The Mariners have placed slugger Nelson Cruz on the 10-day DL with an ankle sprain, the club announced. The move was backdated to April 1st. As Ryan Divish of the Seattle notes (links to Twitter), with two upcoming tilts with National League foes, it was fairly painless for the team to put Cruz on the shelf for a bit. And manager Scott Servais believes Cruz won’t miss more than the minimum, if that. Clearly, the M’s can ill afford any kind of extended absence from Cruz, who has raked since coming to the club on a four-year deal that expires after the present season. In other M’s news, Mike Zunino could be headed in the other direction, as Servais says his top catcher isn’t likely to require an extended absence for his oblique strain (also via Divish, on Twitter). Indeed, the skipper indicated that he believes Zunino will be ready to join the team at some point during its eight-game road swing.
- Also heading to the DL is Cardinals infielder Jedd Gyorko, as Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. His hamstring issue is not believed to be a serious one, but the team may need to make the move to bolster the bench in the meantime. For now, then, it seems likely just to be a temporary blip for a player who’ll likely take the lion’s share of the time at third this year in St. Louis. Outfielder Harrison Bader has been recalled to take the open roster spot.
- Already on the DL with an oblique issue, Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury has now been set back by a hip injury, as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweets. While it seems there’s not a lot of concern with this new malady, it only adds to the laundry list of aches and pains that have plagued Ellsbury of late. While his contract is obviously under water, Ellsbury remains a useful MLB asset and is in greater need than anticipated due to the Yanks’ other outfield injuries. At this point, it seems, fellow outfielder Aaron Hicks will likely be activated first from his own DL placement for an intercostal strain.
“Ellsbury remains a useful MLB asset…” #FakeNews
Well Mr. President you obviously don’t know much about baseball.
Yea, Ellsbury can still be used for bat boy duties…..
Him & Choo, nothing but anchors dragging teams down. And the players wonder why front offices have wised up?
Yea one game from another World Series,plenty of options,great fan base,deep pockets,young stars,pretty new stadium with great facilities,great minor league system,great TV deal…Ellsbury is certainly dragging the Yankees down.
He limits their future spending abilities due to luxury tax implications. Can you imagine if they had money to spend?!
Have you even looked at choos 2017 numbers?
Do really think the Yankees will stay under the threshold once they get a reset? I have this nice bridge I have to sell.
We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Trolling Programming to Bring You Shohei Ohtani update:
Ohtani 2-2 with 3R HR off Josh Tomlin, giving them a 6-2 lead.
Now batting .429 BA (3-for-7) 3 RBI for the season.
I’m not even an Angels fan, I just want 2-way-players to succeed in MLB..
Sucks apparently a wild pitch brought a guy home during his at bat otherwise it would have been a grand salami
The Angels are about the most neutral team for me but they are must watch ball with him and Trout.
Shohei Ohtani finished the game 3-for-4 and is now batting .444 BA (4-for-9) 3 RBI for the season.
Just like you always do take a small sample size like your bro here. So over at the other article you were again busy bashing a Yankees player. Then of course here talking up another player from a different team. Don’t play the “I’m just a baseball fan” card cause if it doesn’t work for your supposed favorite team then WTF.
Imagine having to like all the players on the team you cheer for. Get a grip man, you honestly only comment on this guys which are usually pretty true.
If you’re still mad about Wade, get over yourself. He’s not that good of a player.
It’s actually hilarious how mad online you got over that Ellsbury comment
It’s not just this. How about reading his drivel on just about every article. You never see him on a Yankees article unless he has negative things to say or uses selective small sample sizes on things. No it’s not just the way he bashed Tyler Wade. You clearly have no idea how good Wade is since he’s barely been up to the show,how about watching a Yankees game the kids doing good..he might just win ROY. Why start a post with “we interrupt your regularly scheduled trolling programming” how is that or Ohtani relevant?
So your just going to ignore Wades entire minor league career?
Seriously, who exactly has this guy hated on?
AAA 85 games .310 BA .382 OBP 26 SB 22 doubles
Now that’s more than a small sample size..oh how is that ignoring anything?
4th round pick good speed,versatile,excellent defense. That’s Tyler Wade Bro…
Go back!
In 5 minor league seasons he’s had 1 good one, one mediocre one, and three bad ones. And the mediocre and good one came in half a seasons worth of games. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a roster casualty this year, he is not that good
Like you literally did ignore his whole minor league career
I’m a Yankee fan, lets cool it with over-hyping Wade. He could end up being great, but Rob Refsynder had some good minor league #s as well.
I’m a Yankee fan also and Boone does speak really highly of Wade. Let’s also cool it on begrudging the guy all the hard work he put in. He worked with Pujols during the offseason on his plate discipline which looks to be paying off so far. Hope to God we never experience another Refsnyder.
Tomlin is the perfect guy to break out of any slump.
Small sample size of course but the Mariners lineup looks legit even with 3 of their starters currently injured. Mitch Haniger batting .462 w 2 HRs and 6 RBIs, 1.563 OPS- what!?! Hanny looking comfortable in the 4 hole during Cruz’s absence. By mid April this lineup will rival any top team in the AL- I think we’re going to surprise a lot of ppl this yr
Mariners front office needed to go hard for a starting pitcher to put themselves over the top after the Gordon trade. Seattle’s hitting is deep. Really deep. And if they can hit in Seattle they can hit anywhere in the AL. That starting pitcher must be a priority if they are contending at the All Star break.