Injury Updates: Sabathia, Gregorius, Peralta, Smith

The latest on some injured list situations from around baseball…

• C.C. Sabathia is lined up to start for the Yankees on Sunday, manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link) and other reporters.  Sabathia was placed on the IL on May 23 due to right knee inflammation, and it ended up being both a short absence, and a fairly standard one for a veteran player with a long history of knee surgeries.  Boone noted that Sabathia threw a bullpen session today, so all systems seem to be a go for the left-hander’s 547th career start.  Sabathia has a 3.48 ERA, 7.4 K/9, and 2.00 K/BB rate over 41 1/3 innings for New York this season.
• Boone also gave Hoch and other media members an update on Didi Gregorius, saying that the shortstop could return during the Yankees’ upcoming road trip to Toronto and Cleveland from June 4th-9th.  Gregorius has yet to play a full nine innings at shortstop in consecutive games, which Boone noted is an important step in his Tommy John rehab process.
• Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta hit the IL on May 24 with shoulder inflammation, and manager Torey Lovullo implied to reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) that Peralta is likely to miss more than the minimum 10 days.  While an early return isn’t totally out of the question, Lovullo said Peralta has yet to begin baseball activities.  The struggling D’Backs are certainly hoping Peralta is able to get back to action as soon as possible, given his .309/.357/.524 slash line through 207 PA this season.
• Kevan Smith is also looking at a lengthier stay on the injured list, as the Angels catcher had some concussion symptoms return this week, Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times tweets.  Smith was placed on the seven-day concussion IL on May 22 and had begun to take part in baseball activities, though he had been shut down for the last few days.  DiGiovanna notes that Smith will be sidelined at least until June 4, when the Angels begin an eight-game homestand, though that timeline is far from certain given the unpredictable nature of concussions.