Injuries Archives

Kason Gabbard just left the Rangers/Mariners game with two out in the fourth and a 4-0 lead. After a walk, an infield single and error, there's runners on second and third. He only threw 63 pitches, but he looked hurt walking off the field.

Update: There was a brawl, and Gabbard was in the middle of it.

Update: It started when Gabbard threw at Sexson, and Richie charged the mound.

Update: Comments from people who saw the pitch say Gabbard did not throw at Sexson. I'm watching the Seattle feed, and they seemed to indicate Gabbard threw at him, although they were a bit ambiguous about it.

Update: FSN Northwest finally showed the replay in the bottom of the sixth. The pitch from Gabbard was head high, but right over the middle of the plate. It was no where near hitting Sexson.

Mark Mulder has a strained rotator cuff.

The Blue Jays lost two shortstops to injury Tuesday night, although it appears Eckstein won't be out very long. This isn't something that's easy to overcome. If you lose first basemen, there's always someone kicking around who can at least hit. Good shortstops are hard to find.

Matt Cain left the game Saturday night with tightness in his hamstring:

Cain left the game in the eighth inning with tightness in his right hamstring, which he began feeling an inning earlier. Manager Bruce Bochy said he removed Cain as a precaution, adding, "I talked to Groesch. He thinks Matt will be fine for his next start."

The Giants can ill afford to lose Cain, especially with Barry Zito now in the bullpen. After a wobbly start to the season, Cain is starting to dominate again. He has allowed three runs over 191/3 innings over his last three starts. Moreover, he is pitching more economically.

At least they have Barry as an emergency starter!

The Projo SoxBlog reports that Curt Schilling is doing very well in his rehablilitation. So far, the Red Sox doctors are correct in recommending against surgery.

The Yankees broadcast just mentioned that Posada is suffering from rotator cuff tendinitis. It will take six weeks to heal.

Yovani Gallardo was injured on Thursday, despite staying in the ballgame. Baseball Digest Daily sends this alert:

Per the media relations department, the Brewers have placed RHP Yovani Gallardo on the 15-day disabled with a torn ACL in the right knee. Wow, that one has to hurt...literally and figuratively. The poor guy can't stay healthy. More than likely, he's done for the year.

Now they really need Ben Sheets to stay in the rotation.

The good people at Baseball Digest Daily just tipped me to these two stories. First, Phil Hughes really is injured:

Phil Hughes has a stress fracture in one of his ribs, and the New York Yankees' pitcher is expected to be sidelined until at least July.

That explains a lot. The Rockies lost Troy Tulowitzki for a while as well:

Colorado Rockies star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki tore a tendon in his left quadriceps and could be out until the All-Star break, if not longer.

"Best case scenario is six weeks. The realistic one is a few months," agent Paul Cohen told The Associated Press on Thursday. "We're hoping it's a couple months, but we won't know until they do further medical tests."

Cohen said team doctors will have a better feel for a timeline next week after "massive swelling and bleeding" subside. "It's a non-surgical tear, which could be a good thing."

That hurts their defense a great deal. Luckily for the Rockies, Barmes is hitting fine so far.

Phil Hughes won't make his next start, but not because he went to the minors. The Yankees placed him on the disabled list:

Yankees starter Phil Hughes was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday night with a strained right oblique muscle.

So my question, when did this happen? Did he pitch poorly last night due to the strain? Or has he had this a while was was trying to pitch through it?

Chad Cordero hits the disabled list:

Nationals reliever Chad Cordero is expected to be sidelined for at least a month with a tear in a muscle below his pitching shoulder, although the team determined Wednesday he won't need surgery.

It appears the job is Rauch's to lose.

Aaron Cook is the Rockies Tim Lincecum, pitching well and winning despite a poor start by the Rockies. He won Tuesday night's matchup with Lincecum 3-2. Tim out pitched Aaron in terms of hits, walks and strikeouts, but Cook spread out his hits better. Both are 4-1.

The Rockies, however, lost their shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki to a quad injury.

Tulowitzki, a late lineup addition after Jeff Baker was scratched due to a broken blood vessel that happened during pregame warmups, left after bending over to try to stop Aaron Rowand's single. Tulowitzki grimaced and grabbed his left hip and lower back area. He then walked gingerly off the field.

Despite his poor start at the plate, Tulowitzki is a fine defensive shortstop, and I suspect the injury will hurt the Rockies. We've seen already how bad quads slowed Jeter and A-Rod.

Alex Rodriguez's quad injury sends him to the disabled list.

So much for the sunny prediction before the game that Rodriguez would be out only a day or two. It appears at first glance that the Yankees made a mistake in bringing him back as quickly as they did.

Rodriguez played a role in that decision, so he bears some responsibility. But the Yankees are 0 for 2 with key injuries so far this season. Posada came back too soon, as did A-Rod. They both aggravated their injuries and ended up on the disabled list.

Last year, when the Yankees got off to a poor start, I was pretty confident the offense would play well enough to make up for the poor pitching. I'm not getting that feeling at all this year. The injuries, the sluggish play by the veterans make this look like a team that just doesn't have it.

John Smoltz does on the disabled list due to his shoulder:

Smoltz was examined in Birmingham, Ala., by Dr. James Andrews, who diagnosed a severely inflamed biceps tendon and inflammation of the rotator cuff in the right shoulder. The 40-year-old pitcher went on the DL retroactive to Monday.

"It could have been worse. It could have been injured in there or frayed or torn or whatever, but the report is pretty darn good actually," Braves manager Bobby Cox said before his team's series opener against the Washington Nationals. "It's been inflamed for a while, and he has pitched with it."

Andrews injected Smoltz's shoulder for the inflammation and prescribed rest and rehabilitation until he is pain free, the team said. The Braves aren't sure when Smoltz will return.

"He can rest a couple of weeks," Cox said, "and we'll see then where we go."

It's a set back for the Braves as Smoltz is the best starter they've trotted out this year.

Alex Rodriguez re-injured his quad last night:

"There is no way I am playing [tonight]. If I had to guess I will miss more than one game," said Rodriguez, who missed three games last week and felt it getting out of the batter's box running out a ground ball in the fourth inning. "I thought I pulled it a bit. It's important to get it right."

We're starting to see age catch up to the Yankees. The only older stars with a good OBA this year are Damon and Matsui. Jeter, Rodriguez, Abreu,Posada and Giambi just aren't creating the opportunities they usually do. I would guess they'll all break out of this slump at some point, but it's not a given. Just like young teams like the Diamondbacks can suddenly gel, old teams like the Yankees can just as suddenly fall apart.

Moises Alou is turning into Carl Pavano. He may have a fractured ankle, injured while he was rehabbing from a hernia.

It looks like Jorge Posada's contract may be an albatross for the Yankees:

Posada has already shared his magnetic resonance imaging results with Andrews, and Posada has said that surgery would not be necessary. But the problem has not improved as Posada hoped, again raising the specter of an operation.

It could be time for the Yankees to start moving their catching prospects along a bit faster.

Molina coaxed an excellent start out of Wang today as he combined with Chamberlain and Rivera to shutout the Indians 1-0 in one of the many pitching duels of the afternoon. Wang struck out nine in seven innings, the second highest strikeout total of his career (10 is his high). Sabathia seems to have recovered full from his bad start as he only allowed one run over eight innings. Melky Cabrera provided the offense with a solo home run. Offensively, he's arguably having the best season on the Yankees.

Peter Abraham reports that the reason for the Yankees not using Joba today depends on who you ask.

Chamberlain has not physically been in the bullpen for two days as he receives treatment on a leg injury - apparently a mild left hamstring strain suffered when he slipped on a wet mound in Chicago.

Gary Sheffield doesn't know the extent of his shoulder injury and may need to go on the disabled list. The advantage of having a deep offense is that the Tigers can probably absorb the loss, and be a better defensive team with Cabrera at DH and Inge at third.

Inge is sure getting a lot of playing time for someone who wasn't supposed to start.

The Brewers decided to skip Ben Sheet this time through the rotation:

Unsure how many pitches the veteran right-hander might be able to make, the Milwaukee Brewers decided Monday to scratch him from that start. Sheets, who came out of his last start in Cincinnati after five innings with soreness in his triceps, now is scheduled to pitch next Tuesday in Chicago.

Manager Ned Yost said right-hander Dave Bush would start in Sheets' place Wednesday against Philadelphia. Bush's turn was skipped Sunday in Cincinnati when right-hander Yovani Gallardo was activated from the disabled list.

"We'll give (Sheets) the benefit of missing a full start and see if we can get that (soreness) gone," Yost said. "It's just a minor strain. He definitely could pitch through it but it doesn't make sense to pitch through it now.

A few years ago I saw a private study that noted the biggest factor in future injuries was previous injuries. With Sheets, Hampton, Harden and Pedro Martinez all going down this month, that seems to be holding up fairly well.

Chipper Jones's injury appears to be okay as he's listed in tonight's starting lineup.

The Cardinals get some good news on Mark Mulder:

Mulder, making his second start on a medical rehabilitation program as he continues his recovery from shoulder surgery, pitched six scoreless innings for Class AA Springfield against Tulsa. In throwing 76 pitches, Mulder walked three, allowed three hits and fanned only one. According to stadium radar readings, Mulder often was between 87 and 90 mph.

Mulder told the Springfield News-Leader that he was pleased with his location, "especially with my changeup and cutter."

"They were hacking," he said. "I wasn't exactly missing many barrels (of the bat)."

Right now the Cardinals have three starters doing well. A healthy Mulder could give them a fourth. The trick is staying in the race until Mark is ready to return.

David Weathers goes on the disabled list, despite a negative MRI:

The diagnosis was ulnar nerve inflammation in his right elbow.

"The MRI is real good news, especially knowing he is toward the end of his career, a bad time for anything bad to happen," manager Dusty Baker said. "Let's face it, this guy pitched a lot the last three years here (70, 67, 73 appearances). This could be a warning, a red flag from his body, that maybe he might need this (rest) right now.

They're talking about bringing up Homer Bailey.

It was a bad day for third basemen. Both Alex Rodriguez and Chipper Jones had to leave their games with quadriceps injuries.

Jimmy Rollins heads to the disabled list as he's no longer able to pinch-hit through the injury. The Good Phight doesn't like the way the Phillies handled this:

Could the Phillies mishandled this situation any worse? Putting Rollins out there for pinch hitting duties could only make the ankle worse. They had a short bench because of it and now he has to miss another 2 weeks which will make it pretty much a month total. It may have been that anyway, but who knows and we'd have a little bit deeper bench. No comment on the callups...

Alex Rodriguez just left the game after grounding into a fielder's choice. The trainer came out and examined A-Rod's upper thigh on his left leg, then took him out of the game. The Yankees lead 2-0 in the top of the sixth behind a strong performance by Andy Pettitte. Rodriguez drove in a run in the game.

A groin injury force Wandy Rodriguez out of the Astros game on Saturday night:

Rodriguez said the pain became unbearable when he went to the dugout after the fourth inning. He left with the game tied at 2 and received a no-decision in the Astros' 3-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.

"I went to (pitching coach) Dewey Robinson and said, 'I can't take the pain anymore,' " Rodriguez said.

That really hurts, as Wandy's been the Astros best starter this year. Chacon has a better ERA, but Wandy's K/BB/HR do a better job of making you believe his ERA is real.

Tom Glavine goes on the disabled list for the first time in his career. At age 42, that's pretty amazing, considering there have been pitchers who spent more time on the DL than active on a major league club.

The Braves keep seeing their closers injured.

Peter Moylan won't be stepping in as the Braves' closer while Rafael Soriano is on the disabled list with tendinitis in his right elbow. Instead, Moylan also was placed on the DL Tuesday afternoon, and his outlook actually might be more troublesome than Soriano's.

He's off to see Dr. Andrews.

Erik Bedard's hip lands him on the disabled list:

The move is retroactive to April 9, and Seattle's ace isn't sure when he might pitch again.

Seattle traded five players to the Baltimore Orioles in February for the 28-year-old Bedard, boosting hopes of a playoff berth this season. He was scratched from a scheduled start Sunday for the second time in eight days.

The left-hander played catch before Tuesday's game against Kansas City, then emerged from manager John McLaren's office with a trainer smiling and joking.

"It's a lot better," Bedard said, adding when asked if the pain comes and goes that "it's going now."

But when asked if he would be able to take his next turn in the rotation Friday at the Los Angeles Angels, Bedard said, "No way."

Seattle announced an hour later that Bedard was going on the DL. The Mariners will make a corresponding roster move Wednesday.

It sounds like it's not too serious, but we'll see.

Alfonso Soriano had to leave the game after the top of the first due to a strained calf muscle. The Cubs trail the Reds 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth.

This strain leads the Cobra Brigade to recall the strangest Cubs injuries.

The Indians doctors are taking a look at Joe Borowski's shoulder today:

Joe Borowski doesn't know what's wrong. One day he feels like he can throw the ball through a brick wall.

"The next day, I feel like I'm throwing through water," said Borowski.

Monday night, Borowski should have come to the mound in the ninth inning at Progressive Field wearing scuba gear. Boston, quick to recognize a theme, dunked the Indians closer, turning his 4-3 lead into a 6-4 defeat as Manny Ramirez hit a two-run, two-out homer into the left-field bleachers.

Borowski met with Tribe manager Eric Wedge, General Manager Mark Shapiro and the team's medical staff after the game to discuss the condition of his right arm and shoulder.

I supposed the worst thing for Borowski would be the doctors finding nothing wrong, which means he just stinks.

Update: Juan in the comments properly chides me for using the words stinks. I should have said pitches poorly. I apologize.

Update: Borowski goes on the DL with a strained triceps.

Jose Molina and Wilson Betemit go on the disabled list (Betemit for pink eye), and Chamberlain goes to the brevement list (where he must spend three days). With Jeter back in the lineup, Gonzalez moves to second, replacing the struggling Robinson Cano.

Lookout Landing notes this about Erik Bedard's hip:

Ironic that there were rumors about AJ's hip holding up the trade not too long ago. Good one, world.

The Braves are feeling the pain of an old rotation:

Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine left his start against the Washington Nationals with a strained right hamstring after failing to record an out in the first inning Sunday, matching the shortest outing of his 22-season career.

The first four batters Glavine faced reached base, on three hits and a walk, as Washington took a 1-0 lead. After throwing his 16th pitch, to get to a 1-2 count on Wily Mo Pena, Glavine walked off the mound, then briefly doubled over.

Manager Bobby Cox and an Atlanta trainer checked on the left-hander, and a few moments later Glavine walked off the field.

The 42-year-old Glavine, who has 303 career wins, was listed as day-to-day.

The Braves saw Smoltz, Hampton and now Glavine injured this season.

Jose Reyes gets the weekend off:

New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes could miss at least the next two games with a sore left hamstring, manager Willie Randolph said Saturday.

Dontrelle Willis faced two batters tonight before he was removed with an injury:

Willis has continued to say that his left arm is healthy, but uneven performances since spring training have raised concern. Tonight's outing casts even more doubt on his ability to be a dependable starter for the Tigers. He left the game with what the team called a hyperextended right knee.

He walked Chicago's leadoff hitter, Carlos Quentin, on five pitches. Then he slipped on the wet mound while delivering his first pitch to the next hitter, Orlando Cabrera. That brought head athletic trainer Kevin Rand to the mound.

Willis stayed in the game - but not for long. His third pitch to Jim Thome, a slider, carried well wide of the strike zone and bounced away for a wild pitch.

Rand and Tigers manager Jim Leyland came back to the mound. Willis appeared to say that he wanted to stay in the game, but the discussion was brief. Leyland called down to the bullpen for Aquilino Lopez, who had not even begun to warm up.

More bad new for Detroit, who at least lead 3-2 in the fifth.

Via 6-4-2, Rich Harden goes on the disabled list:

Harden first experienced the injury while throwing a bullpen session upon his arrival in the United States following his team's 18-hour flight from Japan at the end of March. In his last outing against Boston on April 2, Harden was forced to leave after just five innings because of inconsistent velocity on his pitches stemming from the shoulder strain.

In two outings this season, Harden is 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA. His 15 strikeouts are second only to Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Imagine what Harden will be like if he ever gets completely healthy.

Mike Lowell went on the disabled list with a thumb injury:

Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell has been placed on the 15-day DL with a sprained left thumb. Jed Lowrie has been recalled from Pawtucket.

Hitters always seem to get set back by hand and wrist injuries. They heal, but it takes them a while to get their stroke back.

MLB FanHouse examines the case for Garza being damaged goods.

It would be a difficult case for Tampa to win. Garza was a young pitcher trying to stay in the major leagues, a sure recipe for hiding an injury if ever there was one. Throw in his issues with team brass and there's little chance he'd risk his spot on the team if he thought he could pitch through the pain. And one other thing. The Rays knew that he'd had nerve issues while in college. That's not a winning case unless you're trying to prove that Tampa may have made too big a gamble with a trade chip as valuable as Young.

Orlando Hernandez's foot is back in a boot, and he'll be out at least two more weeks.

Yovani Gallardo pitched well in a rehab start:

Anyway, good results from YoGa. 5.1 innings, 6 K's, 1 BB. 2 runs on 7 hits, though with rehab starts, I always pay more attention to the K/BB numbers than anything else. I don't know whether, or how long, he would've kept pitching, but those 5.1 innings are all the Sounds got to throw.

This next round through the rotation of Bush, Villanueva, and Parra will be worth watching closely, as it may well determine who stays. The fact that Gallardo is lined up with Bush is interesting in itself.

Jorge Posada says his shoulder is dead and may be headed to the disabled list.

With Derek Jeter out:

Manager Joe Girardi wasn't ruling out moving Alex Rodriguez back to his old home at short if Jeter is out for a while, saying, "It's something we'll talk about internally." But Jeter said he was told it wasn't that bad, that his MRI showed just a mild strain.

Rich Harden's next start was pushed back to Saturday:

The Oakland Athletics right-hander has struggled to overcome injuries the last three seasons. But the back condition is believed to be minor and possibly related to Oakland's long flights to and from Japan last month, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Harden is now expected to start on Saturday at Cleveland, according to the report.

This makes the Red Sox keeping Josh Beckett at home appear prudent.

Jeter fails to come out to play defense in the top of the third inning. Betemit moves from first to short and Ensberg takes over at first. The Yankees lead 2-1 on a two-run homer by Abreu.

Update: The report on Jeter is a strained left quadricep.

Bartolo Colon is experiencing soreness on his right side. Here's a useful graphic.

If Dioner Navarro didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck at all.

Mike Hampton returns to the disabled list:

Relying on Hampton for anything more than lengthy DL stints is a fool's errand, but the lefty's latest injury hightlights the precarious position of the Braves starting rotation. Atlanta has the core of a championship-caliber offense, but John Smoltz (41, shoulder), Chuck James (rotator cuff), and Tom Glavine (4 K/9 in '07) all come with varying degrees of uncertainty. Jair Jurrjens, a stike-thrower with a good curve, is a promising young arm and Tim Hudson figures to post another solid campaign, but it isn't difficult to envision a scenario where the Braves are scrambling for a starter or two at some point.

Mike Hampton came close to starting a game:

Hampton, scheduled to make his first start since Aug. 19, 2005, strained his left pectoral muscle while warming up in the bullpen before Atlanta's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was seen grimacing after throwing a pitch.

The Braves left-hander was listed as day to day.

Or year to year. Jeff Bennett got the start and allowed two runs in four innings. Duke is pitching a Duke game, having allowed ten hits but just two runs through 5 2/3 innings.

Update: Make that three runs.

Update: An error brought in the third run with two out. Duke walks a batter and leaves with the bases loaded.

Update: Escobar strikesout to end the inning. The Braves lead 3-2 after six innings.

Joel Zumaya is still playing Guitar Hero.

Scott Kazmir seems to be doing well in recovering from an elbow strain:

"My arm feels alive," said Kazmir, who also made 64 throws on level ground. "It feels like I'm getting good extension on the ball. My mechanics are good, so I'm happy where I'm at."

The left-hander threw changeups off the mound for the first time since he got hurt. He will add his slider the next time he works in the bullpen.

J.J. Putz allowed that home run after injuring a rib:

Yet despite putting their All-Star closer on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday, the team was feeling lucky that his rib injury wasn't anything more serious than what it turned out to be: costochondritis, an inflammation of the area where the ribs attach to cartilage.

Throwing a third-pitch splitter to the Rangers' Michael Young on Tuesday night, Putz felt a sensation he described as "like an ice pick stabbing you in the side." He stayed in, and the next batter, Josh Hamilton, hit a two-run homer to give Texas the victory.

Putz reported the pain to head trainer Rick Griffin after the game and was looked at by team medical director Dr. Edward Khalfayan. They determined Putz should have an MRI exam Wednesday morning to rule out an injury, and that exam discovered the area of inflammation where his 10th rib attaches to a grouping of cartilage on the front of his torso.

The injury is not unusual in baseball, but for a pitcher it usually occurs on the "front" side, or the side that faces the batter as the pitcher is in his windup. For Putz, a right-hander, it is on his right, or back, side. That should make recovery a little easier since the front side takes the most strain.

McLaren is going to decide which reliever to use as closer based on the situation.

MetsBlog.com has the latest on the Pedro Martinez injury. He'll be on the DL four to six weeks.

Pedro Martinez told the SNY sideline reporter that the pitcher heard a pop in his left hamstring. Martinez is headed back to New York for an MRI.

Update: The Marlins and Mets are going to extra innings tied at four.

Victor Martinez's injury appears to be minor:

Cleveland could have resent the same e-mail from last April, when Martinez pulled a quadriceps muscle while trying to beat out a ground ball in the third inning of Cleveland's first home game, a snow-covered affair that eventually was postponed.

Helped by a few more bad-weather postponements, Martinez missed six games but never went on the disabled list. He wound up having his finest major league season, batting .301 while setting career-highs in homers (25) and RBIs (114). Martinez also provided the punch in Cleveland's lineup as designated hitter Travis Hafner struggled through a season he'd like to forget.

Carlos Zambrano did not injure his finger yesterday, but left the game with a forearm cramp. It's a recurring problem.

Zambrano started the game without shirt sleeves, then came out in sleeves in the fourth inning after the first rain delay before going without sleeves again in his final couple of innings after the temperature rose a bit. He said after the game he felt OK and conceded he has to "drink water" to prevent the cramping.

Zambrano also repeated he would do something so "it doesn't happen again."

"We'll take care of it," he vowed.

Of course, Zambrano has said that many times before, and it has yet to stop happening to him.

Maybe someone just needs to watch him drink a glass of water between innings.

Carlos Zambrano gave up a double to Bill Hall, but picked him off second. However, Zambrano just injured his right pointer finger and had to leave the game.

Update: He injured the finger on the pickoff throw. There's still no score, as Marmol strikes out Hart on one pitch (the count was 2-2). The teams are going to the bottom of the seventh.

Victor Martinez left the Indians game with a hamstring injury. He's a big part of this Cleveland offense.

Mark Prior keeps making progress in his rehabilitaion.

Kelvim Escobar appears to be done for the season if not longer.

I believe that Escobar will attempt to rehab, and is just considering retirement after learning that his 2008 season is all but lost. It's gotta be depressing, and I don't blame him for having doubts. The article mentions Mark Mulder and Bartolo Colon as two other pitchers attempting to rehab from the same injury, and we all know how that's going.

This certainly brings Seattle that much closer to winning the division. Trading for the now in Bedard might not look so bad at the end of the year.

Here's a very nice comparison of the injuries to the thumbs of Adrian Beltre and Andy LaRoche. We get a nice history lesson as well.