The Rays placed second baseman Brandon Lowe on the 10-day injured list earlier this week. While the club initially announced his injury as lower back inflammation, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that Lowe has a disc herniation. Manager Kevin Cash said before tonight’s game Lowe will be shut down from all baseball activities for two to three weeks.
It’ll clearly be more than a minimal stay for the power-hitting infielder. Lowe will need some time to ramp up once he can again begin working out, and the absence is significant enough he’ll probably require a minor league rehab assignment. Given that timeline, it doesn’t seem out of the question Lowe is out of MLB action through the All-Star Break. It’s the second straight season in which his back has given him problems. Lowe’s 2022 campaign was cut short by a lower back issue in mid-September.
The Rays figure to rotate a number of players through the keystone in his absence. Vidal Bruján started the first two games there after Lowe’s IL placement. The Rays kicked Taylor Walls over from third base tonight, penciling Isaac Paredes in at the hot corner.
A few other health updates from around the game:
- The Twins have been without Chris Paddack since he underwent a second career Tommy John procedure last May. The right-hander has maintained a goal of returning for the stretch run this season. That still seems to be on track, as Paddack began throwing off a mound last week (relayed by Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). He’s shooting for a big league return in September, though it’s possible that’ll have to be in relief to accelerate his build-up. Acquired from the Padres on the eve of Opening Day last year, Paddack has made just five starts as a Twin. Nevertheless, the organization guaranteed him $12.25MM to buy out his first year of would-be free agency (2025) over the offseason.
- Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson landed on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain over the weekend. Manager Dave Roberts initially pegged his expected absence around a month, though it seems that was a bit optimistic. Roberts told reporters this evening that Thompson is likely to miss beyond 30 days (via Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). It’s not expected to be a season-ending injury but there wasn’t any further clarity on the timeline. It seems possible he’ll wind up on the 60-day injured list if L.A. needs a 40-man roster spot in the coming weeks. The Dodgers called up rookie Jonny DeLuca to take Thompson’s spot on the MLB roster.
- The Angels have been without starter José Suarez for a month on account of a strain in his throwing shoulder. It doesn’t seem the southpaw is particularly close to a return, as Sam Blum of the Athletic wrote yesterday that Suarez had yet to begin throwing. There’s not a clear timetable for when he might start working off a mound, although Blum adds that he has been working out at the team’s Arizona complex. A reliable #4 starter for the past few years, Suarez has had a nightmarish 2023. He was tagged for a 9.62 ERA over six appearances before he landed on the shelf.
Personally, I think Chris Paddack’s best appearance was in 1993 where he played the role of Raptor Paddack, an anthropomorphic dinosaur enclosure in this classic scene m.youtube.com/watch?v=iUICHntVTTE
I completely forgot about the Paddack acquisition by Minnesota. He’s a solid #4 starter for them once he returns. Minnesota is quietly building out a nice starting rotation.
It’s too bad that Mahle went down this year, as next year they could have had the following SP lineup:
1) Lopez
2) Ryan
3) Ober
4) Paddack
5) Mahle
With Mahle down with TJS, they might need to re-sign Sonny Gray to a 2 year contract with an option for a third year. But still, this is an above average starting 5 for sure.
Paddack has a lifetime 4.2 ERA and a 4.84 since 2020. His rookie season is looking more and more like an outlier. Sure he’s still young and could show that talent again but he’s always hurt and hasn’t been good for a few years now.
Paddack got overconfident like a WWE wrastler very early on. It was very off-putting.
I remember one occasion where he was facing Pete Alonso and I guess Alonso had just won player of the week or something and Paddack was mouthing off.
Why is it that so often this season the Dodgers give one timeline when a player is initially placed on the IL and within days change it to a much longer time frame?
It’s almost as if a strain could be graded in a bunch of different ways, and you need a few day until the body stabilizes after the initial injury to find out how bad it really is. It also may be they don’t want to see Thompson suit up for the Dodgers ever again or at least until they get a good look at Delucca, who cannot suck as badly as Thompson unless Delucca’s last name is Barnes.
Its almost as if the Dodgers say one thing before examining the player and then change it afterwards.
Its almost as if they are worse than the Padres when it comes to living in the gray areas of MLB rules regarding reporting injuries.
DeLuca. One C Its in the article.
Barnes couldn’t hit worse if he closed his eyes and swung.
Oh wow you corrected his spelling way to go bud!
Remember when Trayce Thompson was the hottest player in baseball?
Opening Day. After that he jumped off a cliff……..and he’s still falling.
Now he couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat on the sea.
Jim Healy, good night
Who said that? I gotta know! @$#_@&_·@$#$#
That was his post Padres/Petco Park bounce.
DeLuca looks like a darn good ballplayer. Should be interesting to watch.
Always liked the ” SHERIFF” He was better when he pitched AGGRESSIVE.
What the Minnesota Twins really need is a new hitting coach.
Miquel Sano is out there without a job.
Sano is an expert on strikeouts.
Perhaps Sano could teach the Twins line up how to cut down on their MLB leading stirkeouts, and hit the ball.
Suarez should take as much time as he needs. You really shouldn’t rush these things.
It’s probably better that he’s not starting with that 9 era