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Michael Lorenzen

Injury Notes: Meadows, Lorenzen, Kopech, Boesch

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Pirates prospect Austin Meadows had surgery to fix an orbital fracture, Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. He will return to action in an estimated six to eight weeks. The injury occurred earlier this spring, when Meadows got hit by a ball while playing catch. MLB.com currently ranks Meadows the Pirates’ second-best prospect. After batting .307/.357/.407 for Class A+ Bradenton last year, Meadows will likely begin his 2016 season at Double-A Altoona, at least after he’s finished with any rehab assignments. Here are more quick injury notes.

  • Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen was examined earlier this week by Dr. Timothy Kremchek earlier this week, and he will not throw for “another couple of weeks,” MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets. Lorenzen was previously diagnosed with a mild UCL sprain. He had been set to compete for a job in the Reds’ currently injury-riddled rotation. The 24-year-old Lorenzen posted a 5.40 ERA, 6.6 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 in 113 1/3 innings in his rookie season with the Reds last year.
  • Red Sox prospect Michael Kopech had a screw inserted into his right hand Tuesday to stabilize a fracture he suffered while fighting with a teammate, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes. He will be out about six weeks, at which point he will begin getting ready for the season. As Speier notes, 2016 will be the second straight shortened season for Kopech, who served a 50-game suspension last year for use of the stimulant Oxilofrine. The 2014 first-round pick posted a 2.63 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 65 innings with Class A Greenville last year. He’s currently ranked the Red Sox’ fifth-best prospect.
  • Another Red Sock, outfielder Brennan Boesch, broke his wrist while attempting to make a catch on Friday, John Tomase of WEEI.com writes. Boesch’s return date is unknown. The Red Sox signed Boesch to a minor-league deal in January after he split the 2015 season between Cincinnati and Triple-A Louisville, hitting well in the minors but batting .146/.191/.202 in 94 plate appearances in the big leagues. The 30-year-old is best known for his three years of semi-regular duty with the Tigers from 2010-2012.

Injury Notes: Ryu, McCullers, Lorenzen, Arroyo, Weaver, Wieters

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Dodgers lefty Hyun-jin Ryu will likely not be able to get up to speed in time to participate in any spring action, manager Dave Roberts tells reporters, including Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). Ryu had hoped to make his way back to big league action by May, but the skipper says that timetable is now “unrealistic.” Needless to say, the Dodgers were hoping that Ryu’s shoulder would respond better, and he represents one of several notable question marks for the big-budget club.

Here are some more notes on some injury situations around the game:

  • Exciting young Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. will open the year on the DL, manager A.J. Hinch said today, as Richard Justice of MLB.com was among those to tweet. He, too, has dealt with shoulder issues, though hopefully not as severe as those that drove Ryu to surgery. Houston has options to step in, including Doug Fister, Scott Feldman, and Mike Fiers, and will surely be cautious in handling the 22-year-old, who upped his career-high annual innings tally by over fifty frames last season.
  • The Reds are hopeful that one of their young hurlers, Michael Lorenzen, can stave off Tommy John surgery after an MRI revealed a mild UCL sprain, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Lorenzen will need to rest and almost certainly won’t open the season in the rotation, but it seems that he was rather fortunate not to find a more significant injury after experiencing soreness for some time this spring.
  • Nationals right-hander Bronson Arroyo was scratched from his start today with shoulder soreness, as James Wagner of the Washington Post reports. For now, the 39-year-old will rest and see how it responds, but any absence certainly puts a dent in his hopes of beating out Tanner Roark and Joe Ross for a rotation gig. Arroyo, who signed a minor-league deal full of incentives if he makes the majors, had some work done in his shoulder when he was out for Tommy John surgery, according to skipper Dusty Baker.
  • Meanwhile, Angels righty Jered Weaver dismissed any thought that he wouldn’t be prepared to open the year, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. Recent medical evaluations don’t seem to offer many clues as to the reason for his precipitous velocity decline. Manager Mike Scioscia wasn’t quite as conclusive as the righty as to his availability out of camp, stressing that the organization was taking things one step at a time, but did suggest that Weaver will have every opportunity to try to perform on the hill.
  • Orioles catcher Matt Wieters seems to be clear of any structural concerns in his right elbow, as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli reports. In an update to that story, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com notes that Dr. James Andrews concurred with the organization’s doctors. For now, then, Wieters will work on eliminating any discomfort before getting back to work behind the dish.

Injury Notes: Lorenzen, Wilson, Giants, Cardinals

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Reds right-hander Michael Lorenzen recently sat out a few days after due to tenderness in his right elbow, and while an ultrasound initially came back clean, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Lorenzen experienced a setback when playing catch yesterday and will now undergo an MRI. The severity of the injury won’t be known until the Reds announce the results of the MRI, but clearly it’s troubling news for the team and the 24-year-old Lorenzen — one of Cincinnati’s most promising young arms. Lorenzen, formerly selected 38th overall in the 2013 draft, debuted with the Reds and pitched 113 1/3 innings for the Reds last season. While Lorenzen’s 5.40 ERA ultimately didn’t impress, the righty does own a strong 2.83 ERA in 184 2/3 career minor league innings.

More on some troublesome injuries around the league…

  • Angels lefty C.J. Wilson suffered another setback in his recovery from shoulder pain, and his status for the first month or two of the season is “in question,” reports Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. Wilson felt discomfort in his shoulder after a bullpen session on Saturday and will only play catch on flat ground for the time being. A date hasn’t been set for another bullpen session, per manager Mike Scioscia, who simply said, “He’ll be ready when he’s ready.” Wilson is slated to earn $20MM this season in the final year of a five-year, $77.5MM contract signed prior to the 2012 season. His 2015 season came to an end when he underwent surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow.
  • Giants prospect Ian Gardeck will require Tommy John surgery to fix a torn ligament in his elbow, tweets Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group. The right-handed reliever wasn’t likely to factor into the Giants’ plans in 2016, having spent the 2015 season at Class-A Advanced, but his loss is a hit to the club’s farm, as he ranked 17th among Giants farmhands, per Baseball America. BA noted that Gardeck overcame alarming control problems in 2015 and could move quickly through the system thanks to his newfound ability to spot his upper-90s fastball (which touches 100 mph at its best). San Francisco added him to its 40-man roster this offseason after a 3.54 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 86 1/3 innings last season.
  • Jhonny Peralta’s timeline to return to the Cardinals after thumb surgery is set at 10 to 12 weeks, writes ESPN’s Mark Saxon. That was the initial timeline came with his injury, though reports at the time of his surgical procedure speculated that a return closer to the All-Star break was possible. Rather, the 10- to 12-week period would set Peralta up for a return in late May or mid June, barring setbacks in his recovery. Peralta tells Saxon that he’s listening to advice from teammate Yadier Molina, who had a similar injury in each of the past two seasons. Speaking of Molina, Saxon notes that he took batting practice for the first time on Monday, though his Opening Day status remains uncertain.

Reds To Promote Michael Lorenzen

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The Reds will promote right-hander Michael Lorenzen to take a start on Wednesday, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. The 23-year-old was taken in the first round of the 2013 draft.

Michael Lorenzen

Lorenzen entered the season rated as the game’s 63rd-best overall prospect in the eyes of Baseball Prospectus, while Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel ranked him 88th. He was a position player and closer in college, and built up relatively few innings before jumping to 120 2/3 Double-A frames last year. But they were good ones: he posted a 3.13 ERA with 6.3 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9.

Thus far in 2015, Lorenzen has allowed just six earned runs over 19 innings covering three starts. He has just 12 strikeouts in that span, hardly a dominant rate, but has only permitted four free passes.

As McDaniel explains, Lorenzen has already pleasantly surprised with the rapidity of his development and may yet have some ceiling to strive for. The Reds will once again push him forward fairly aggressively, now by asking him to step in for the injured Homer Bailey at the game’s highest level.

If he keeps his roster spot for the rest of the year, Lorenzen will be in good shape to quality down the road for Super Two status. While that would obviously enhance his earning power, he would still be controllable for six seasons after 2015.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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