Scott Kazmir left today’s Cactus League start in the second after a mound visit from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and the team’s trainer, Doug Padilla of ESPN.com was among those to report. Kazmir’s departure, which came just one pitch into his second inning of work, was the result of tightness in his left hip, per Sportsnet LA’s Alanna Rizzo (Twitter link). The southpaw is headed for an MRI that the team is terming “precautionary” at this point, per Rizzo, though certainly given Kazmir’s extensive injury history, the situation is worth keeping an eye on. Kazmir is slated to slot into the fourth or fifth spot in the Los Angeles rotation this season and has a guaranteed $32MM remaining on his contract over the next two seasons (though $8MM of that sum is deferred to 2019-21).
Some more injury updates from around the league…
- With Opening Day just four weeks away, Rangers right-hander Andrew Cashner has not yet progressed to throwing off a mound, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Cashner is currently playing catch from 85 to 90 feet, but he’s been slowed this spring by tendinitis in his right biceps. The 30-year-old inked a one-year, $10MM contract with Texas this offseason and had been penciled into the back of the team’s rotation, but if he’s delayed much further, Opening Day could certainly be a question mark for Cashner. A.J. Griffin, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Nick Martinez, Eddie Gamboa and Dillon Gee are among the Rangers’ candidates to round out the rotation; Yohander Mendez and Connor Sadzeck were both optioned to Triple-A today, per a club announcement.
- Trevor Rosenthal was scratched from today’s start due to a tight right lat muscle, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny tells Langosch that Rosenthal will need a bit of extra rest but didn’t consider the injury to be serious in nature. Brian Stull of WGNU 920AM in St. Louis tweets that an MRI performed on Rosenthal came back clean, and the closer-turned-starter is now targeting Friday of this week for his first start of the spring.
- The Indians breathed a collective sigh of relief today as x-rays on Tyler Naquin’s foot came back negative, per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The 25-year-old former first-round pick exited yesterday’s spring contest after fouling a ball off his foot. Naquin surprised many with a breakout rookie season and an excellent .296/.372/.514 batting line with 14 homers in 365 plate appearances last year. With Michael Brantley’s health an ongoing question mark and Rajai Davis now in Oakland, a significant absence for Naquin would been a highly unfortunate hurdle for the reigning AL Champs to face early in the year.
- J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group provides a couple of health updates on some mending Angels (Twitter links). Albert Pujols is set to run the bases today for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair his plantar fascia, while right-hander Cam Bedrosian will face hitters for the first time this spring as he throws to minor leaguers on a back field at the Halos’ complex. Pujols underwent surgery in early December and was given a rough four-month timeline for his return to the playing field. Bedrosian, meanwhile, was slowed a bit by a groin strain earlier in camp but looks to be getting back up to speed. The ninth-inning hopeful hit the DL last season due to a finger injury and ultimately required surgery to repair a blood clot in his right arm. With Huston Street going down for the next three to four weeks, Bedrosian’s main competition for the closer’s gig looks to be veteran Andrew Bailey.