MLB injury updates for fantasy
12. August 2008 by gchacko.
Matsui (knee) could begin a rehab assignment by the end of the week, NY Newsday reports.
His progress continues to move along at a good pace, but look for Matsui to be limited to a DH role upon his return. As a result, Melky Cabrera’s playing time may be in jeopardy as Johnny Damon might have to play center field in order to clear a space for Xavier Nady in left.
Lee (fractured pinkie) underwent successful season-ending surgery on Monday, the Houston Chronicle reports.
It turns out that Lee actually had six fractures in his pinkie, rather than three as it was initially believed. Although his season is over, Lee’s doctor said that he doesn’t believe that a second operation will be necessary.
Chamberlain (shoulder) said he’s experiencing no pain, but the Yankees are pushing back the start of his throwing program to Friday, NY Newsday reports.
Given that the Yankees are pretty much in do-or-die mode for the rest for the rest of the season, it’s a little bit surprising that they’d push Chamberlain back a couple of days in his rehab because of simple logistics.
Crawford is debating whether to have surgery to repair the torn tendon band on his right middle finger, the St. Petersburg Times reports.
Unfortunately for his owners, Crawford said that he expects to miss six-to-eight weeks either way, meaning that you can’t count on him to post any fantasy production for the rest of the season.
Longoria has been placed on the 15-day DL due to a fractured wrist, MLB.com reports.
Further tests revealed the fracture, as initial X-rays after the game on Thursday were negative. The Rays are getting thunderstruck by crucial injuries right now, as Longoria joins Carl Crawford on the DL.
Other notes.
- Upton went 2-for-5 as the DH in the first game of his rehab assignment with Triple-A Tucson on Monday.
- Wainwright (finger) threw 48 pitches in a three-inning rehab start on Monday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
- Ankiel (abdominal strain) returned to the lineup Monday and singled twice.
- LaRoche (ribcage) went 2-for-3 with a homer for Low-A Hickory on Monday
- Martinez (elbow) took a full batting practice session on Monday and hopes to start a rehab assignment this weekend
- Hafner (shoulder) hit indoors on Monday and hopes to start taking batting practice by the middle of the week
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Garcia to Tigers
12. August 2008 by gchacko.
Freddy Garcia agreed to a minor league contract with the Tigers. The Tigers hope to have him in the Majors by month’s end for a playoff drive. The Tigers are eight games out in the AL Central and 9.5 out of the wild card, so their playoff chances hover around 2-4%. But there’s not much downside to adding Garcia just in case.
Byrd to Sox
12. August 2008 by gchacko.
Boston acquired Byrd from the Indians on Tuesday for a player to be named later. Byrd has pitched phenomenally of late and will instantly enter Boston’s pitching rotation. It’s unknown at the moment whether he’ll take Clay Buchholz’s turn in the rotation on Friday or if Boston will have him wait until Sunday, when Charlie Zink, called up in response to Tim Wakefield’s placement on the DL, is due to make his 2nd start.
Mets in D.C.
12. August 2008 by Glendo.
The bullpen has been the killer of late, giving up three runs in the ninth inning on Monday to send the Pirates their 54th win. With closer Billy Wagner still out, and bullpen roles in utter disarray, still credit a chunk of Manuel’s discontent to his bullpen’s lack of ability to throw strikes early in count.
Credit reliever Scott Schoeneweis’ frustration to losing a game they should have won with more to come.
“I threw the ball where they teach you to,” Schoeneweis said, “but that’s the way it’s been. We’re struggling. I am tired of talking about it. We have to win games like this.”
After a loss in the first of eight successive games against the Pirates and Nationals, the upcoming road trip presents an opportunity for the Mets to sweep the rug out from under the Marlins, who followed up their series loss to the Mets with three games against the NL Central’s Cardinals and the first-place Cubs. Meanwhile, the Phillies need to overcome Manny Ramirez and the NL West’s Dodgers, but will then feed against the last-place Padres.
Moreover, when the Mets play the Nationals in Washington on Tuesday night, Eddie Kunz will be cast in the role rendered vacant by Wagner’s strained left forearm. So disturbed by the inability of his more veteran relievers to throw strikes and achieve outs, Manuel will turn to a rookie to close, should the Mets reach the ninth inning with a lead, as they did Monday in their makeup game against the Pirates.
The Mets manager calmly acknowledged his immediate plans an hour after the bullpen turned a 5-1 lead into a 7-5 loss. And he went so far as to say Maine, who is assigned to the disabled list but scheduled to start Wednesday night, probably will be the closer after he has recovered from the start and until Wagner returns.
MATCHUP
NEW YORK METS (62-56, 2nd Place NL East/2GB) at Washington Nationals (44-75, 5th Place NL East/20GB)
Tonight: Mets (Johan Santana, 9-7, 2.85) at Nationals (Odalis Perez, 5-8, 4.10) 7:10pm ET
Wednesday: Mets (John Maine, 9-7, 4.12) at Nationals (Jason Bergmann, 2-8, 4.13) 7:10pm ET
Thursday: Mets (Oliver Perez, 8-7, 3.90) at Nationals (Collin Balester, 2-4, 4.66) 7:10pm ET
Red Bulls Deliver In Must-Win
12. August 2008 by critter.
Didn’t see the game and forgot to tape it. Naturally this was the game versus rivals D.C. United. The Red Bulls hadn’t won in 5 matches and really needed to start stepping up if they even want to be able to whisper the word ‘playoffs.’
Juan Pablo Angel stepped up yet again and scored 2 goals, earning MLS Player of the Week nod, as the Red Bulls came back from a 1 - 0 deficit to win 4 - 1!!!
The Red Bulls introduced 2 new faces in this match. Recently acquired Venezuelan National Team defender, Garbriel Cichero; and Argentinian, Juan Pietravallo. Still making an impact was star Jorge Rojas who assisted on the 4th Red Bulls goal. With a week off, you could tell the Red Bulls came into this match rested and more familiar with each other after the several roster moves in the past month.
Next match is Sunday the 17th when the Red Bulls host Toronto FC.
