Barring setbacks, Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner and infielder Logan Forsythe are slated to come off the disabled list Tuesday, manager Dave Roberts told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters Saturday. They’re among a host of important Dodgers who have missed time this year during the reigning NL champs’ stunningly awful start (16-22), and Turner’s absence has been especially damaging. The superstar hasn’t played this season on account of the broken left wrist he suffered in late March. Forsythe, meanwhile, has been out since mid-April with right shoulder inflammation. He came out of the gates slowly before then, hitting just .174/.224/.283 in 49 plate appearances.
- Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb will begin a rehab assignment at the Single-A level on Sunday, per an announcement from Arizona. Lamb has missed nearly the entire season to this point, having gone on the DL on April 3 with shoulder and elbow issues. The 24-15 Diamondbacks have still raced to the NL’s best record, though, in part because fill-in third baseman Daniel Descalso has slashed a terrific .263/.357/.516 with four home runs in 115 PAs.
- Astros outfielder George Springer is dealing with a left elbow contusion, which kept him out of the lineup Saturday, but manager A.J. Hinch expects him to avoid a DL stint (via Christian Boutwell of MLB.com). Springer suffered the injury Friday when Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels hit him with a 92 mph fastball. The reigning World Series MVP has perhaps been the Astros’ best offensive player in the early going, having slashed .296/.363/.506 with eight homers in 182 PAs.
- The Giants aren’t going to bring left fielder Hunter Pence off the DL during the upcoming week unless they’re convinced he’ll provide a boost to their offense, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group writes. The 35-year-old Pence was unable to help San Francisco before going on the DL three-plus weeks ago with a thumb issue, as he hit .172/.197/.190 and posted a minus-1 wRC+ across 61 trips to the plate. Now, thanks to his early season woes and manager Bruce Bochy’s desire to carry an extra pitcher, Pence’s return may be delayed.
If Pence is not injured, don’t they have to take him off the DL and either put him on the roster or DFA him? This seems pretty shady to me.
I guess they could put him on the 60 day DL, but that’s only delaying the inevitable. If Bochy/SF FO don’t feel he can contribute (and they’d have to be stoned/severely delusional to think he will), they’d have to DFA him, and when (not if) he clears waivers he can either accept a minors assignment or his unconditional release. SF would be on the hook for his full remaining salary unless a team (insanely) trades for him and takes on that commitment.
It’s certainly shady, but there’s not much that can be done to out it. Either he’s injured and needs to be on the DL, or they have to activate him, and either keep him or DFA him. In a perfect world.
But in reality, his DL stint is dictated to by whether or not Management think he can still produce, rather than his inury.
Teams manipulate DL stints all the time. While technically medical reports have to be presented to the league office to put a guy on the DL, no real mechanism exists to take a guy off the DL. It’s perfectly reasonable to argue he’s “not in game shape yet,” as a nebulous reason to keep him off the active roster. Pence’s style of play was always going to lead to a rapid breakdown of his body, and it’s certainly possible that, at 35, he’s just done as a productive player. He’s in the last year of his substantial contract so I doubt he walks away mid-season, and obviously SF can afford to throw the money away like they often have had to do with their big-contract guys. I doubt we see much more of him in the majors. He was a fun player to watch, though.
Hunter, I love ya man, but you can take the rest of the year off.
The whole article on Pence makes it more clear the Giants believe his timing is off. While this post does paint it more like an abuse of the DL, there is some truth to both views.
The Giants starters have been exiting early so the team has needed an extra reliever. So they might be keeping him down longer while he’s healthy for that reason.
But getting your timing back is a legitimate reasons to stay down in the minors if the player hasn’t been able to swing while hurt. It would sound more hollow is Pence was raking on the farm.
Mostly, I don’t thinks the Giants would give self incriminating quotes to the media if they were doing anything wrong.
Pence is also batting somewhere around .220 at AAA Sacramento right now.
Good points. If it was “illegal” to extend his time on the DL because “they aren’t sure he can contribute”, obviously they wouldn’t release information in that fashion. It sounds like some sort of WH leak as presented, but no doubt more to the story. Naturally why wouldn’t they just release him if they had given up on him? He’s an exuberant fellow, and can’t be the worst guy the Giants have available on their roster.
At this point he’s a better cheerleader in the dugout anyway.
Time for Pence to retire……great guy and teammate…….the game has past him
Eat the contract………bring up Slater……let Gorky go when Williamson returns
Blanco is the better of the two and is the only left hand bat off the bench besides Pablo.
Report a Big Foot sighting in LA because that can’t be Justin Turner
Hey Hunter, I love you man, but with slater, Duggar, hanson, Williamson, Etc. All hitting well, you just don’t have a spot. Maybe retire next year and become a coach? Pence would make an amazing coach I’d feel.