After just one inning of work in a rehab start on Sunday, Corey Kluber was removed from the game due to left abdominal tightness. (Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga was among those to report the news.) Kluber is expected to receive further tests on Monday, though the early word is that Kluber was simply removed as a precaution. While the Indians and their fans won’t fully exhale until those tests come back clean, it’s at least some measure of good news that Kluber didn’t have a setback involving his forearm, which was fractured back on May 1. Sunday’s start could potentially have served as Kluber’s final rehab outing before being activated from the injured list, and now it seems as if he’ll likely have to get one more minor league start under his belt before the Tribe can be fully prepared to bring him back to the 25-man roster.
Some more on injury situations from around baseball…
- Rangers slugger Joey Gallo is targeting a mid-September return from hamate bone surgery, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. The procedure back on July 25 was expected to keep Gallo out for four-to-six weeks, though since he only just started taking light swings off a tee, his recovery will be at the long end of that projected timeline. “I don’t want any setbacks, but I think I’m going to be able to play before the season is over. That’s the hope,” Gallo said.
- Two injured Reds are working their way back to the club, as manager David Bell told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that Derek Dietrich will begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Monday, while catcher Curt Casali starts a rehab assignment of his own on Tuesday. Both players could be back in time for the Reds’ series against the Pirates that begins on Friday. Dietrich hit the IL due to left shoulder inflammation on August 5, while this will actually be Casali’s second rehab stint since first being placed on the IL on July 18 with a right knee sprain. Casali’s previous assignment was halted after two games due to soreness in his left hamstring.
- Cardinals utilityman Drew Robinson recently underwent a season-ending, “progressive” version of Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters. The surgery was only a partial version of the normal Tommy John procedure and it was on Robinson’s non-throwing arm, so Shildt believes Robinson will be ready for Spring Training. Acquired in the trade that sent Patrick Wisdom to the Rangers last December, Robinson appeared in five MLB games for the Cardinals and hit .265/.385/.423 over 234 PA for Triple-A Memphis this season before hitting the injured list on June 24. Robinson has some very solid minor league numbers over his ten pro seasons, though he hasn’t hit much over 253 Major League plate appearances with Texas and St. Louis from 2016-18.
Dietrich back just in time to get thrown at against Pittsburgh again
What makes Drew Robinson’s minor league track record prompt the phrase “has some very solid minor league numbers” whereas guys with similar statlines often times get described as “struggled to produce” or “never put up strong numbers” — like I’m not saying he’s been one thing or another — it just seems like there’s an odd double standard for certain guys who IMO have produced just the Same or better as Robinson but get called “unproductive” or similar things. Maybe this is a pointless rant but it started for me yesterday when there was a comparison or wRC+ saying some guy hitting .275 with 18 HRs was just as good as another hitting .308 with 28 HRs. It just feels to me like there’s a massive discrepancy in how certain guys stat lines are described vs others when in looking at them they appear to be similar or superior/inferior. Idk (and it’s nothing personal to the author of the post — I’m saying this more generally to all baseball writers/fans) that sometimes it seems guys who put up decent numbers are getting written off because of misleading wRC+ numbers or some other odd/outlier statistic when others are being heralded for the same type of stats. (and yes I know wRC wasn’t part of this post — I just feel like all in all there’s such a huge discrepancy of how certain players are judged yet I can’t really see a ryhme or reason to it at times)
I think just looking solely at OPS+ or wRC+ and seeing the one sum number can be a little misleading in terms of a player’s overall skillset, but is Robinson’s walk rate really not doing anything for you? He has great plate discipline and a nice blend of power/speed. That’s a pretty good slash no matter how you slice it.
Great plate discipline? He strikes out more than twice as much as he walks.
After 2015 his obp stands outs…just sayimg
How does Robinson need TJ surgery on his non throwing arm!!?? I mean, does anybody see anything wrong here?
Thoughts?
gleyber Torres needed it a couple years ago in the mimors after he got hurt sliding head first into home
jorge78…….
When a pitcher or even a position player for that matter tears the UCL in their throwing arm it is almost always due to wear and tear…..years and years of throwing overhand ( the human body is not design to throw overhand so hard… TJS is very common with Javelin throwers as well as pitchers) at max velo. The UCL doesn’t just snap (unless there is a catastrophic impact) which is why it’s ridiculous when posters blame a manager/coach etc for a new pitcher’s TJS.
A UCL can snap if someone is to fall and catches themselves by extending their arms out. If the elbow bends too far the wrong way…SNAP. Same thing with sliding head first, running into an outfield wall and bracing and on and on. Sometimes a fall etc can stretch the UCL just to the edge of snapping and all it takes is one more minor incident ;like jamming a hand sliding head first.
This post is underrated
I didn’t know Dr Andrews was on this forum!