Though a few notable players went on the disabled list earlier today, some even more notable names are making progress in their returns. Here are the details…
- Shohei Ohtani is nearing a return to the mound, and his rehab seems to be going even better than expected (per Trent Rush of Angels Radio Network). The Angels double-threat reportedly threw from 120 feet “with aggression”. Ohtani, the club’s headliner offseason acquisition, is already back to doing damage at the plate, but the club would surely be glad to see him return with rest and rehab after suffering a grade 2 UCL sprain earlier this season; the alternative would of course be the feared Tommy John surgery which would keep him off the field until the beginning of the 2020 season.
- It would appear that Giants hurler Jeff Samardzija is even closer to a return, as the 33-year-old threw 30 pitches off a bullpen mound on Monday (h/t Chris Haft of MLB.com). “Shark” has been trudging through an injury-plagued 2018 season that’s seen him make just ten starts and average fewer than five innings across them. His hideous 6.25 ERA would be a career-worst by far, and his 5.44 FIP doesn’t paint a much kinder picture. The 57-58 Giants will surely be hoping he can provide a boost to their rotation after they opted not to sell off any assets at the trade deadline in overly-optimistic hopes of contending for an NL Wild Card.
- The outlook isn’t as optimistic for former wunderkind Julio Urias of the Dodgers. The 21-year-old lefty blew away the competition at every level of the minors en route to a 1.8 fWAR showing in his first taste of major-league action back in 2016, when he pitched to a 3.39 ERA in 77 innings. But he followed that up with a rough 2017 showing that saw him post a bloated 5.40 ERA and ultimately cede the season to an anterior capsule injury that required surgery. Now, according to Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs, Urias’ velocity is down to 88-91 MPH after sitting closer to the mid-90’s for the majority of his pro career. Longenhagen also reports that the youngster’s secondary pitches are less “crisp” than they were pre-injury, leading to questions about whether Urias will ever be the same pitcher again.
- “I’m not going to get ahead of myself,” says Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant in reference to his latest attempt to return from a shoulder injury. In a video interview with Mark Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribute, the former NL MVP details his patient approach to injury rehab (though it’s disappointing that the interview is largely inaudible). Bryant’s 2018 season has been marred by shoulder troubles, though he’s still managed an impressive .276/.380/.474 performance across 358 plate appearances while healthy. On the other hand, that’s not quite to the level of his career numbers (.286/.387/.519).
God I miss Kris
Why? Bote has been tearing the cover off the ball. Bryant disappears in the playoffs, anyway. I honestly don’t miss him at all.
you know you do get to keep Bote when Bryant returns right? And Bryant won the golden spike award, ROY, and NL MVP from college to his 1st 2 years in the big leagues
Good comes out of bad sometimes. Cubs wouldn’t know just how good #13 is if Bryant wasn’t hurt. They have something special in Bote.
You are a joke
Why is he a joke, because Bryant looks better on paper? Bote is doing a great job
Bryant disappears in the playoffs? You somehow forget the home run that kept the Cubs alive in-game five of the World Series when they were down 3 games to 1. Did you forgot the bomb in game six of the World Series? Did you forgot the huge game seven of the World Series he had when his baserunning alone was a contributing factor to the win? He the best player on the team. Don’t let 25+ games of part time Bote make you form any type of opinion.
Bote is a heck of a player, watched him grow in Myrtle Beach, glad he is getting a chance to play in Majors
Kind of agree. All I can say is it’s a small sample size. Bryant has proven he’s great. Could become a good problem to have ?
We’ll take him. I know some of us tend to fall in love with guys who have had a good quarter or half a season but this is Kris Freaking Bryant we’re talking about. By all means ride the hot hand while he’s hurt and if he keeps it up put him somewhere but when he’s healthy move over. If you can put Schwarber in the outfield you can find a place to put him that has nothing to do with the stud Kris Bryant
Yeah keep Bote at third put Bryant in left. Move Heyward to center. Get Harper for right. Trade Happ and Almore and Schwarber, before the drunk Maddon ruins them all ! He is more interested in his liquor commercials than being Manager !
I’d say the outlook of Urias impacting the Dodgers is far more optimistic than Samardzija impacting the Giants.
I agree
I’d disagree. There’s a chance “Shark” returns to past form. Urias might never. Shoulder problems are serious!
Maybe you’re just being extremely optimistic but I can’t think of a single pitcher that came back from an anterior capsule injury and were even a shadow of their former self.
Its more about how bad Samardzija is.
Adrian Beltre to the Cubs.
No thank you
Cardinals need Beltre more for this season. However, the Cardinals have John Mozeliak who only goes dumpster diving. Now the owners won’t spend any more money because of the extremely bad contracts Mozeliak has given. The owners are going to have to eat around $50 in dumpster diving contracts of Mozeliak. Looks like they’d let him go to insure there aren’t any more $50 million luncheons.
Can he pitch?
That really sucks for Urias. I hope with time him velo returns. I hate when talented young players get hurt.
Local media reports that Urias is throwing at 93, and the Dodgers are still looking at him as a September call-up for the bullpen. That kind of velocity for pitcher who hasn’t pitched for more than year isn’t bad at all. They will take him slowly through the process of building up his arm strength but that doesn’t mean he won’t get there.
Of course local media is reporting that. Hollywood, the epicenter of fake news and propaganda. Why would LA admit failure?
You should’ve dodged responding to his comment
But consider the entertainment value. Where else are we going to get wacko conspiracy theories in baseball?
This coming from a SAN FRANCISCO fan is laughable.
Not sure why you need to be such a tool, but you do you.
That’s really a shame to read about Urias. If he can’t return to his prior levels, hopefully he can still find success even with diminished stuff because it would suck to see such a talented pitcher go down so soon.
Only the Angels would bring Ohtani back to pitch this year…. The season is over and they look to have their typical 20 games out, under .500, and not even close to making the playoffs kinda year again.
There is no reason whatsoever to have him throw even one pitch. They should have made an organizational decision a month ago to keep him off the mound until next spring.
I concur Solaris601. Just not a smart organization, and it shows year after year.
Good thing you ya’ll were runners-up for the GM job. It makes a TON of sense.
The idea that his rehab worked better than TJ surgery can now be tested for 6-8 weeks. If it turns out that he in fact needs the surgery he’ll get two offseasons and all the 2019 season to rehab.
TL;DR: The cost is the same, opening day 2020, but at least now they can see what they have. Also, whats wrong with HaloShane, he used to love the team.
Exactly. If rest and rehab work the Angels saved Ohtani in 2019. If not he was out anyway.
Literally no downside to this path.
And on the flip side it kind of reveals the intelligence of those who are disagreeing the move by pitching ohtani
The reason is because you literally have no better form of test run for next year than to actually get him in a game and see how the elbow responds. If the worse case scenario would happen then he would have enough time perhaps to get TJ and be back late in the season next year as a DH only.
If it does respond well then there is some encouraging signs for next year per the direction of medical experts..
Simply stating to shut him down shows ignorance of basic timetables and decision making
unfortunately you are correct. that said, hopefully they let him DH the rest of the year if he blows out his elbow anyway. It wouldn’t really effect his timetable and I could win my fantasy baseball title
“[T]ypical 20 games out, under .500, and not even close to making the playoffs kinda year again.”
I wonder what fake news you consulted here.
Urias to the pen
Ohtani is already showing signs of damaged MLB goods. I wish him the best, but DH might be his best spot.
He’s not DHing because he can’t field. He’s DHing because he wants to pitch.
If they don’t let him pitch he’ll probably play in the outfield/1B
Can anyone tell me why the Angels are even considering Ohtani to pitch again this season? They dodged the ultimate bullet of TJ surgery, and now they’re staring him again? Serious question!!!
If the rest and rehab work, Ohtani can pitch in 2019. The only way to tell if it really worked is to have him pitch full velo, full break, game speed.
Plus none of the medical staff recommended TJ at the time of injury.
The thing about pitchers is, they don’t need to be in a game to test that out. Resting and rehabbing his arm for the rest of the season would mean less wear and tear and stress, and trying to come back too soon from an injury always results in re-injury. Bringing him back when the season is already over for them makes zero sense. He can throw simulated games to test his arm in a controlled environment.
Simulated games, bullpens, mound throwing, soft toss, any warm up all cannot match the actual game intensity and prolonged game of being up and down during the game pitching 100 pitches ask anyone who knows baseball or played, plus maybe if he’s pitching without using the splitter he’ll have better odds and overall he’s only going to pitch maybe 4 games at the max so RELAX
Remember before the season when everyone said that Ohtanis hitting wouldn’t translate to the MLB and that he should give it up
Hey Cubs fans. Remember when Samardzija didn’t want to pitch for you guys because you weren’t winning then? What a train wreck he’s become.
He’s always been below average. The Cubs were so bad he was their “ace” on 29 other teams right now he would be the emergency backup spot starter. And maybe go 2 2/3 innings with 8 ER. And because the bullpen would be shot he would have to stay out there. If he’s around another 3 to 5 years I can see him giving up 3 grand slams in the same inning.
Rick Ankiel has better stuff than him at 39 years old.
Other recent reports say Urias is back up to 94, looking good in rehab.
I’m surprised the giants havent dfa’d Samardzija yet. He’s been awful since he signed with them. Unfortunately he’s too old to go back to football. He’s never been that good of a pitcher. If he was put on waivers no one would claim him. Not even the worst teams like San Diego or kansas city or Baltimore would claim him.
Funny you say worst teams but the Yankees and Dodgers are mysteriously absent from your list….
it all went downhill for Samardzija when he collided with Michael Morse in the brawl with the Nats last year. it finished Morse’s career. Samardzija has been awful ever since.
I’m a die hard giants fan, so believe me when I tell you samardjiza has been awful for the giants. He seems to keep getting paid for “potential”, yet he’s already established what he is. A back of the rotation innings eater. In my eyes the giants should of cur ties and given his starts to minor leaguers until they found one that can provide the same production for pennies on the dollar.
Giants as a whole are awful!