The Cardinals’ sudden decision to transfer Adam Wainwright to the 60-day disabled list today means the Cardinals will be without him for a notable portion of the summer, but the exact cause of his elbow pain remains unclear, as Joe Trezza of MLB.com writes. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak said that there’s “nothing that really stood out as a smoking gun” after the first wave of tests, which included an MRI and a bone scan, but he’ll undergo a further series of evaluations tomorrow. “We don’t know what that is right now, other than he has discomfort,” said Mozeliak. While the club obviously has no defined timetable for Wainwright’s return, Mozeliak spoke with some cautious optimism: “He knows he might be part of that second-half push. …. I would guess he’ll pitch again.”
Some more injury news from around the league…
- The Brewers announced that Ryan Braun has been placed on the 10-day DL, retroactive to Monday, with tightness in his back. They’ll announce a corresponding move tomorrow. The injury doesn’t sound to be especially serious at present, but Braun has been battling the discomfort for some time now and performing poorly as a result, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes. Taking even the minimum 10 days off could help to get him back on track. The 34-year-old Braun hit .258/.304/.473 in April, but his bat cratered with a .121/.167/.242 slash thus far in the month of May.
- In addition to a sprain in his left thumb, Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu has a small fracture, he told reporters on Thursday (link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). While it’s not great news for the Rockies or LeMahieu, it’s hardly a worst-case scenario, either. LeMahieu is likely to miss at least three weeks or so with the injury, though the infielder explained that an exact timetable will be difficult to pin down before the swelling in his thumb subsides. On the plus side, doctors have told LeMahieu that he’ll avoid surgery and needs only rest to let the injury heal. He’s hoping to swing a bat as early as next week.
- Mark Melancon threw 20 pitches to live hitters today and could begin a rehab assignment as soon as Sunday, tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. He’ll likely need about two weeks’ worth of rehab games, putting him on target for a return to the Giants in early June if all goes well. Meanwhile, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets that Madison Bumgarner could make his first rehab start on May 26.
- Athletics right-hander Andrew Triggs exited tonight’s start in Toronto after just 2 1/3 innings due to what the team is calling nerve discomfort in his right forearm, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Presumably, he’ll head for further testing following the game, though the early diagnosis doesn’t sound especially promising. In the event of a DL trip for Triggs, the A’s could turn to righty Kendall Graveman, who is trying to get back on track in Triple-A after a rough start to the season. Right-hander Daniel Gossett has posted terrific numbers since being sent down to Nashville as well, while hard-throwing prospect Frankie Montas is also delivering solid production in Triple-A.
The A’s should drop Anderson and bring up both Graveman and Montas
I’m in this line
Looks like you will get your wish!
Generic Athletics right handed. I know it’s Andrew Triggs but forgot to input his name
Triggs boson particle
I forgot about Adam Wainwright for a while
Since the Brewers are going to be in Minnesota I hope they DFA Bandy and then bring both Nottingham and Betancourt with Braun on the DL.
I’ve been reading that Nottingham is injured as well. Not sure what we have for depth beyond he and Bethancourt, so it could be tough to make a change there right now.
Thanks for the info. I see that Susac got brought up for Baltimore. Sounds like he has been hitting pretty decent. I think we may regret releasing him over Bandy definitely in the long run. Well if Nottingham is hurt hopefully we will bring up Betancourt and Phillips then
Hitting just shy of .300 in a meager 16 games in AAA. bandy had better numbers in AAA and arguably the bigs, they have 0 regrets on tossing Susac to the curb.
Susac is better but he cannot stay healthy for a sustained period of time, its hampered him even before his professional days at Oregon St.
No loss for the brew crew here, except that theyve got virtually nothing to this point for a useful, controllable LH reliever in Will Smith
They both suck lol
And we still have Bickford.
As much as I would love to see Bandy gone, not sure if Nottingham is ready yet. He really looked over matched when he was up earlier in April. I’ve been looking forward to Choi getting another chance, a couple days DHing and once at 1st with Aguilar DHing would work.
The St Louis Front Office knows something that they aren’t saying. They can be trusted. They’ve been lying to the Fan base for years now…….and the Fans keep filling the stadium.
DeWitt and Mo are “partners in crime”…….Waino probably needs surgery, but the FO doesn’t want that to be known yet. There’s something “very very wrong” with that whole situation….the FO, the team, the new Ballpark Village being built…..It all reeks of deception.
What the hell are you talking about? The fans keep showing up because they consistently put a winning team on the field. How is a pitcher with an injury history being injured after pitching for over a decade suddenly some great conspiracy?
You’re certifiable…
You’re being nice Cereal.
He is one of the unfortunately many St. Louis “expert” fans. There are many good fans there, but its people like him that give a bad rep.
Hopefully he never comments again.
What’s wrong is that he’s a 36 year old pitcher with a lot of wear and tear. Wainwright is done, but he’s trying to go out gracefully. Great pitcher and even greater human being. Hopefully he’ll pitch again, but this is his swan song.
Completely agree… It’s a damn shame to see Waino go out this way but it is the wear and tear if everyday ball that finally catches up. And not to change the subject but this team is in real trouble on the offensive side of the ball. The FO really needs to man up and make a move before things get real ugly quick. Sad thing is that we all know how this will turn out….
“Lying for years” – actually, they can lie when they have more titles than the Yankees do in the 2000’s. Whatever theyre doing, be it lying or taking advantage of MLB’s ludicrous “market share” where they somehow come off as a small market team but one that can throw $100M deals around like no other small market can, but thats besides the point that they know how to put a winning team on the field year in and out, and for that, you need to STFU
ORDERLIES! You have an escapee from the crazy ward again!
Giants announcer said today that Melancon is scheduled for six MiLB appearances, including consecutive days. My first guess is that he’ll get lit up badly, with a decent likelihood of getting reinjured before completing the rehab assignment. Here’s hoping he never takes the mound again for the SFG.
Have some dignity, Melancon: retire. Same goes for Pence.
And get off my lawn, ya damn kids!!!!!!!
They will retire… after their contracts are up. 🙁
I really hope melancon is good but I am not holding my breath – I feel like the more realistic hope is that the bullpen gets bolstered by blach or stratton when bumgarner gets back, they have been generally holding on but it feels like there are a lot of 1 inning guys there and when they have to go more than that you get results like last night where johnson dominated the first inning but had no idea were the ball was going the second.
I kinda think Melancon was injured when the Giants signed him and he hid it. He has never been healthy and I don’t think he ever will be. Just another bad signing. Move on and whatever they get from him will just be a ‘bonus.’
You do know he passed a physical by the Giants before they signed him right?
No team signs any player to any kind of long-term contract without performing an extensive physical first.
I’m guessing Suarez goes back to AAA when Bum is activated. It’s the Giants way
I think they move valdez or one of the other guys and move blach to the pen honestly