John Means left his start today in the first inning with what’s currently being identified as “left shoulder fatigue,” per Rich Dubroff of Baltimorebaseball.com. Said Means after the game, “This is something I’ve been battling the last few weeks. Not really during the games, but after games. I felt it more so in warmups when I was out there, the last couple of pitches when I really started to let it eat.” The O’s lefty will undergo an MRI on Sunday morning. Elsewhere in the American League…
- The Twins have not gotten the kind of production they need from Matt Shoemaker this season. The 34-year-old veteran gave up eight earned runs while recording just one out against the Royals on Friday. For the season, Shoemaker’s 7.28 ERA/5.98 FIP rank last by a fair margin among starters with at least 50 innings this season. He will continue to make his turns in the Twins’ rotation for now, per the Athletic’s Dan Hayes.
- Even if the Twins wanted to make a move, they’re somewhat hampered by recent injuries in their minor leagues. Minor league hurlers Lewis Thorpe and Matt Canterino were placed on the injured list today, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com (via Twitter). They are dealing with a left shoulder strain and right elbow strain, respectively. Canterino, pitching in High-A, was not likely to help out at the big league level this season, but Thorpe already has 14 innings in four appearances (three starts) with the Twins this season. He has pitched exclusively out of the pen at Triple-A.
- J.D. Martinez was a late scratch from the Red Sox’ lineup with a sore wrist, per Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). He appeared to jam his wrist sliding into second base during play on Friday. The injury does not appear to be serious. Per Christopher Smith of Masslive.com, manager Alex Cora commented on the situation, saying, “…we’ll take care of him today, get treatment. If he feels good and we need him late in game, then probably we’ll use him.”
- Aledmys Diaz will undergo X-Rays after being hit by a pitch and suffering a left hand contusion, per Mark Berman of Fox 26 (via Twitter). Diaz would be missed. He’s posted a solid .281/.339/.439 line in 124 plate appearances this season.
Red Sox looking good but they have a ways to go to be as good as the Rays. JD has been great, need him.
If Dalbec ever figures it out the way Devers has, duck!
Would love to see Dalbec figure it out, and Franchy too, but that’s a long way from happening for either of them. Fact is, nearly half of yesterday’s lineup has been abysmal this season and that’s why they’ve scored only 2 runs or less in 15 of their 23 losses. The leadoff spot has been atrocious, .292 OBP combined for the season and .276 OBP leading off the game. Get a real leadoff hitter, THEN they’ll be looking good.
And pray that JD recovers quickly, if he goes down for an extended period of time then it’s season over.
JD is back tonight but typical of Cora’s many mistakes, he’s batting 4th. He has done this many times while manager and each time it ended hot streaks. The Astros are winning 6 – 0 in the second inning so it’s hard to show that the misplacement of JD is the difference but mark my words, if he stays at 4, the season is over. Worst manager in baseball.
John Means is to the Orioles what Steve Carlton was to the ’72 Phillies. Means goes on the injured list for any length of time, Baltimore may be in 2003 Tigers/1962 Mets country.
I don’t get the Twins reluctance to pull to plug on guys like Shoemaker. What are they waiting for?