Braves southpaw Max Fried exited his start Monday with a blister on his left index finger, David O’Brien of The Athletic writes (subscription link). The Braves will re-evaluate Fried on Tuesday, per O’Brien, who points out blister issues have “plagued” the 25-year-old in the past. Blisters can be serious enough to lead to injury list stints, though Fried is optimistic he’ll avoid an IL placement. The Braves’ 58-37 record and 7 1/2-game lead in the National League East have come thanks in part to Fried. He turned in five shutout innings in a victory over Milwaukee on Monday, giving him a 4.08 ERA/3.86 FIP in 103 2/3 frames on the season.
The latest on a few other hurlers…
- Red Sox soon-to-be closer Nathan Eovaldi will embark on a rehab stint Wednesday or Thursday, likely with Triple-A Pawtucket, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Saturday that Eovaldi could rejoin Boston’s staff sometime this week. Eovaldi, who has been out since late April because of right elbow surgery, will be pitching in a full-time relief role for the first time in his career when he returns. The 29-year-old has started in 152 of 160 appearances thus far.
- Reds lefty Alex Wood will make his third Triple-A rehab appearance Wednesday, when he’ll throw four innings and 60 to 65 pitches, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. It’s a good sign for Wood, whom back problems have stopped from pitching in in the majors in 2019. His return, if it comes, could be a boon for a Cincinnati team that isn’t waving the white flag on a playoff push despite a 43-48 record.
- The Brewers placed right-hander Corbin Burnes on the injured list Monday because of shoulder irritation, recalling fellow righty Burch Smith from Triple-A San Antonio to take his place. The club put Burnes on the shelf in the wake of his most recent blowup Sunday, when he allowed four earned runs on four straight hits and failed to retire a batter in a loss to the Giants. Even though the 24-year-old Burnes has struck out just better than 13 batters per nine innings this season, struggles preventing home have led to an ineffectual 9.00 ERA/6.12 FIP across 46 frames. Burnes didn’t give up any homers Sunday, but he has allowed HRs on an astounding 39 percent of fly balls this season.
- Rangers pitching prospect Yerry Rodriguez is done for the season because of a UCL sprain in his right elbow, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News relays. The club will shut Rodriguez down for six to eight weeks and then re-evaluate him. Rodriguez, who entered the season as FanGraphs’ 14th-ranked Rangers prospect, notched a brilliant 2.08 ERA/3.16 FIP with 10.38 K/9 against 2.57 BB/9 in 73 2/3 Single-A innings this season.
Add braves to the list of teams needing a pitcher if they didn’t already.
crazy how many playoff teams with a need for a starting pitcher and tradable SP’s are getting hurt even if it’s a probable minor injury
The Braves have Gausman making rehab starts, Foltynewicz working on some things in the minors and Newcomb in the bullpen. If they don’t add a starter at the deadline, it’s not the end of the world.
Bumgarner or fail!
Yeah, it’s not like there are 3-5 pitchers who are just as good as Bumgarner out there, oh wait.
Most of those pitchers will also cost a hefty prospect haul, unlike Bumgarner, a pending free agent.
Red Sox future closer is coming off elbow surgery in April?!
They better have a “plan B”….
They don’t even have a Plan Z!!
Wait they got pregnant????
I see what you did there
Sports fan, Nate IS plan B! We live Nate n we’ll be rooting for him! Forget my Redsox, they’ll do nothing unless they go on a tear which won’t be. So well happy just to see Nate healthy n happy.
Workman is just fine as the closer
When he doesn’t walk the bases loaded
I have a feeling Dave D will make another deal for a reliever before the deadline and is just :playing poker” with the other GMs and the Media right now.
No way can he rely on a guy coming off a serious injury to close games in a pennant race…?!
Oh Wait, he skimped on the Tigers bullpen that cost them a few WS titles…
So if Dombrowski has not learned his lesson, then the season could fizzle,,
We’ll see if Andrew Cashner can bring some help as the #5 starter tonight against the Jay’s.
This has been a weird season for the Sox.–they can’t have a clean game. The Jay’s and O’s are exhausting what little pen they have..
I thought it was a good move letting Kimbrel go and give Barnes and Brasier a shot to close. They started well when the starters were terrible. Then when the starters improved the pen disappeared.
Eovaldi has the tools to be a good closer for the balance of the season.
There’s still time to inch closer to the 2 nd WC without giving up the fair talent that’s a year away,
It is very hard to repeat.with MLB parity and so many very talented teams. RS have come “back to the pack” from their incredible run last year..