In his latest column, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer calls it “unlikely” that outfielder Leonys Martin will play with the Indians again this season. A trade deadline pickup, Martin has been on the disabled list for more than a week after being diagnosed with a bacterial infection that, at one point, was considered to be life-threatening in nature. While all of baseball breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Indians announced that Martin was in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery, his absence puts Cleveland back in the same spot it was prior to acquiring him in late July. Michael Brantley is performing well again as the team’s regular left fielder, but the rest of the outfield mix is comprised by struggling rookie Greg Allen and poorly performing veterans Rajai Davis and Melky Cabrera. It seems reasonable to expect that the team will be on the hunt for additional outfield help between now and Aug. 31.
Here are some additional health updates from around the game:
- Indians skipper Terry Francona says the club anticipates that breakout righty Trevor Bauer will be sidelined for four to six weeks with a fibula stress fracture, as T.J. Zuppe of The Athletic was among those to tweet. That’s obviously a huge disappointment for a pitcher who has emerged as one of the best in baseball this year. With the postseason beckoning, it’s also a big concern for the Cleveland ballclub. Of course, the team will not need to worry about the loss down the stretch with the division all but in hand. But it’ll certainly be interesting to see just how Bauer is brought along as the playoffs approach.
- It was a mixed bag of injury news today for the Red Sox, who will send third baseman Rafael Devers to the 10-day disabled list while activating second bagger Ian Kinsler. No further roster moves will be necessary to accommodate the change. Devers is hitting the shelf for the third time in the last six weeks or so and it’s the second occasion as to which the hamstring is to blame. That said, it’s not clear that the organization really believes there’s cause for concern that Devers won’t be at full strength come October.
- Tigers backstop John Hicks likely won’t make it back this year after requiring abdominal surgery, as Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press recently reported. That’s a disappointing turn for a player who has turned in a solid performance in a robust role this year. Hicks, who is nearing his 29th birthday, has hit within range of league average at the MLB level since landing in Detroit. While he has been miscast as a part-time first baseman, his offensive work is more than adequate for a time-sharing catcher.
- The Rangers have placed center fielder Delino DeShields Jr. on the 10-day DL with a finger fracture. He suffered the break to the tip of his right middle finger. Drew Robinson will be recalled to take the roster spot. It has been a tough year at the plate for DeShields, who turned 26 just yesterday. He has swiped 18 bags on the year, but carries only a .204/.303/.272 slash over 348 plate appearances. As the Rangers look ahead to an offseason of uncertainty, they’d surely like to see DeShields in action as much as possible, so the hope will be that he can bounce back relatively quickly.
- Elsewhere in Texas, the slumping Astros were glad today to get some promising injury reports. Outfielder George Springer was activated off of the 10-day DL, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports (Twitter links). Meanwhile, star second bagger Jose Altuve will likely need a rehab stint but seems to be progressing from his knee issues. The ’Stros are trying to hold off a surprisingly strong challenge in the division.
- Nationals righty Jeremy Hellickson is destined for his own DL stint, as Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com was among those to report. Fortunately, he’s dealing with a sprain rather than a break in his wrist, which was injured in a play at the plate. It seems the Nats are hopeful that Stephen Strasburg could be ready to return by Tuesday, when Hellickson was next scheduled to start. Losing Hellickson would only be the latest blow for an organization that has dealt with problem after problem in 2018. While it’s still not impossible to imagine a late surge, the Nats need all hands on deck to make a comeback plausible.
- For the Cardinals, it has been all positives of late. But the team could still stand to get a few pieces back. In particular, righties Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez are on the come back trail. As MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets, Wacha is set to begin a rehab assignment in short order and Martinez is now working in a relief capacity in the minors. In the case of Martinez, the plan is for him to shift to the bullpen when he is ready to roll, which perhaps won’t be far off now that he’s pitching competitively.
Might as well let Devers take 3 weeks to a month to heal the problematic hamstring. Nunez plays a decent defensive 3b and Kinsler can play 2b, then come 9/1, just call up Tzu-Wei Lin when rosters expand to help out Nunez at 3b and rotate holt with Kinsler at 2b.
Agreed for the extra time off for Devers but Ol’ Stonehands Nuñez is a bit shy of decent. Better than most alternatives though soooo…
Get your point. Nunez not as bad at 3B as he is playing middle IF positions and he seems to have the arm enough for it as well from what have seen this and last year in games, can’t be any worse than all the throwing errors Devers has made.
Losing the power seems to be about all with him out really, then when lin comes up and plays.. It’s the opposite by having a solid glove who hasn’t hit at the MLB level, but HAS hit at the miLB one.
When you have to play “stone hands” Nunny every day, you’ll see why he’s a backup….he’s got a 10 cent head when it comes to decision making and frankly his hitting won’t make you forget that in critical situations.
Nunez doesn’t play a decent anything.
Well said Bald Vinny….teams keep trying to move him somewhere safe….there’s nowhere safe when it comes to “stone hands” Nunny!
Great plan. Still hope the Red Sox get a 3B like Beltre to help out in the remaining games. I’m scared to have Devers play 3B in the playoffs.
The Rockies should trade Gerardo Parra to the Indians. Even though the Rox are still in the race, Parra is complete excess right now with Dahl, Blackmon, and CarGo starting and plenty of depth in the minors. He won’t be back next season, so get a cheap prospect for him. Better than nothing.
Agreed
They need a RH bat, not another lefty, and he’s a – value.
For Red Sox followers: Former 1 st draft pick, in 2008, Casey Kelly has resurrected his career with the SF Giants. He started last night and threw 4.1 innings . He’s still only 28 with perhaps an opportunity ahead of him.
Nunez would be my choice @ 3B. Devers is very undisciplined at bat and in the field he could be a serious liability in the playoffs.
Bruh, that is such a small sample size…
Wow, if you think Devers is undisciplined, what until you play Nunny every day! He gets wilder and wilder as he tries to make everyone forget about his defense.
Phillips called up?
Devers’ erratic play at 3B could pose a problem for the Red Sox in the playoffs. His current fielding is downright sloppy at times and his potentially wild throws contain a recipe for disaster that his bat doesn’t make up for. He could use some re-calibration, possibly in AAA.
Seems like the Red Sox are guilty of the same thing my Yankees are at 3rd base…..sacrificing defense for offense at third base, and making it all sound as if it will work itself out. The fact is, players today are brought up early because of their bat with their defense usually far behind…forced to learn on the job.
During the season this doesn’t hurt as much as when it counts in the hunt for the trophy starting in Oct. Then it KILLS!
Prime example with Andujar’s defense, the throw in that final game against the Sox. Lets be totally transparent though, Bird (who’s defense is nothing spectacular) should of dug that out.
Bauer says he will miss 2 maybe 3 starts cause apparently he knows more than the doctors know.
It’s just like Judge saying 3 weeks. These players can be so competitive and try to be optimistic about their timeline, but it usually doesn’t work out the way they want
He is brilliant. Just ask him.
He knows his body better than the doctors. And maybe they’re shutting him down that long to save him from himself, see the Sox and how they shut down Sale on the DL just to rest him.
Well then he needs to shut his mouth cause the team makes those decisions not him
Fake news genius.
@BauerOutage
For anyone who thinks this is actually true, it’s not. Saw this on the crawl of espn. Couldn’t hear the audio so not sure how they’re presenting it but it is not true at all. @espn
Michael Baumann
✔
@MJ_Baumann
Trevor Bauer says that the doctors’ timeline for his return is based on outdated mainstream medicine and he’s begun a course of blood transfusions and colloidal silver to rid his body of CIA nanites. He anticipates missing two starts, three tops.
12:41 PM – Aug 18, 2018 · Cleveland, OH
@BauerOutage
A teammate actually informed me about it and asked where I was getting my blood transfusions. Completely took me by surprise and took us 5 minutes to figure out why neither of us knew what the other was talking about.
12:45 PM – Aug 18, 2018 · Cleveland, OH
Bauer asked for a retraction:
Hey @MLBNetwork and @espn I would like public statements on social media and on your networks clarifying that the information you wrongly reported as fact earlier regarding my recovery timetable and process is false and not a quote from me. The report is damaging and absurd.
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) August 18, 2018
Baumann later tweeted:
I’ve had more than one person react like this is real and I kinda feel bad but I also kinda feel like it proves the point I was trying to make about Trevor Bauer. Poe’s Law is a fickle mistress. https://t.co/avDgACM39v
— Michael Baumann (@MJ_Baumann) August 17, 2018
He knows his own body better.
He’s going to build himself a new fibula.
Probably cut his finger off while doing it
3B – RED SOX
Nunez: 2 errors in 200 innings
Devers: 21 errors in 900 innings
I think Nunez will be just fine covering 3B. Can’t be worse.
Nunez is like a -100drs fielder. He doesnt play any position well and he’s we’ll into his 30s so the room for improvement with the glove probably ended a few years ago.
Astros trembling A’s coming back at them! Watch out Yankees and…
And, and who you say?
Actually, I think the Cardinals are putting Martinez back in a role he was always comfortable. The Less mental stress pitching wise that’s put on Martinez, the better he pitches. Good move Cards!!
Stros so no burning desire. Fire is out. Complacent. Real shame.
Even though they are the “front runners” in their division, they have allowed some notable inferior teams take them out recently. We can say they have suffered a few set backs injury wise, but the team is “loaded” with talent top to bottom in their system. Hard to feel sorry for a team that is a defending champ of the 2017 WS.
Had some high hope for Delino DeShields to reflect his “old man” from bygone years. But it seems he has struggled against major league pitching. In a perfect world, he would look like the ideal “leadoff” hitter on any ballclub. He looks ‘overwhelmed” most of the time, and that is unfortunate. I don’t know, if it is just me, but I think he has lost a tad of his once superlative speed on the base paths. Seems he isn’t as dominating on bases stolen anymore.
On what planet is Greg Allen struggling? He’s in the midst of a 13 game hitting streak, cranked a 2 run HR last night to beat Boston, and is killing it both in the field and on the basepaths. Come on!