Collateral Damage Daily for May 14

Matt Kemp. Justin Verlander. As if there aren’t enough injuries already. Kemp is going for an MRI on his hamstring, and Verlander had to leave his start because a callus on his thumb started to bleed. It seems like everyone is getting hurt, but the numbers actually point to the new normal for injuries over the last decade or so. Between 2002 and 2006, the number of DL stints averaged around 220 through the end of May; 2012 is on track for about that many. However, 2007 and 2009 were higher than the previous five years, averaging roughly 240 DL trips through May, while it was back around 220 in 2010. The 2008 and 2011 seasons were the outliers, with an average of 273 DL trips through the month of May.

Maybe it’s the players that are involved or the fact that several teams have over 10 players on the DL that makes it seem that much worse. Maybe it has started to get significantly worse over the last few weeks. One thing's for sure: Today’s Collateral Damage Daily is the longest yet.

Additions

• Jerry Hairston Jr. was placed on the DL with a moderate left hamstring strain. The Dodgers have been dealing with a lot of hamstring strains recently, and Hairston will likely miss four to six weeks. Justin Sellers was brought up to replace Hairston on the roster.
• Matt Lindstrom was placed on the disabled list with a sprained middle finger on his right hand. You can imagine how difficult it is to control your pitches and even get some velocity on them if your middle finger is not working properly. Lindstrom felt pain after releasinga two-seam fastball on Thursday, which sounds a little more tendon-related than ligament. The MRI results haven’t been released yet, which could change Lindstrom’s prognosis. A tendon-related injury would need longer than the minimum to heal. Dana Eveland was brought up in the interim.
• Similar to Lance Berkman, Laynce Nix’s calf just didn’t get better with a limited amount of rest, so he needed to be placed on the disabled list. The movie is retroactive to May 10, so Nix can return on May 25. Hector Luna was brought up from the minors to take Nix’s place.
• Ryan Theriot was placed on the 15-day DL with right elbow inflammation retroactive to May 9. He has not been productive this season, but it’s hard to blame his struggles on the elbow. There is still confusion as to what exactly is injured, though it does seem to go back to spring training. Manager Bruce Bochy called the injury a sprain and listed his malady as elbow inflammation. If Theriot is suffering a partial ligament injury in his elbow, his prognosis will change significantly. In the meantime, Shane Loux was brought up from the minors.
• Judging from Twitter reaction concerning Carlos Marmol’s placement on the 15-day DL with strained right hamstring, I don’t think the fans will miss him. After injuring his hamstring on Friday night in the seventh inning, Marmol underwent an MRI to confirm the diagnosis. The MRI didn’t show much damage, so there is a chance he won’t miss months. The Cubs are probably going to take their time to make sure he is 100 percent healthy and regains some of his effectiveness.
• The Orioles placed Mark Reynolds on the 15-day DL with a strained left oblique following batting practice on Friday. Surprisingly, he injured it on a throw and not while hitting. Reynolds has been fairly dependable during his major-league career; this is his first D: stint. It doesn’t appear to be as bad as other oblique strains, so there is a chance he will be ready in the minimum amount of time.
• Josh Tomlin was placed on the 15-day DL with right wrist soreness, retroactive to May 8. It isn’t clear when Tomlin started to feel pain in his wrist, but he was scratched a few hours prior to his start against the Red Sox. Tomlin doesn’t have a history of wrist problems, but he did miss time at the end of last year with a strained elbow. Once we know more about how long the wrist has bothered Tomlin, we should be able to get a better idea as to when he might return. Zach McAllister was called up to replace Tomlin on the roster.
• It was only a matter of time before Scott Rolen’s left shoulder started to bother him again. He was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained left shoulder with arthritic changes also a likely contributor to his pain. Rolen has a number of surgeries on the shoulder, most recently last August when the shoulder had arthritic fragments cleaned out. Rolen knew the shoulder was basically on borrowed time. There’s no saying how long Rolen will be out, but he could return near the beginning of June if the stars line up.
• I have to admit, when I first saw McCutchen and Pittsburgh, I thought of Andrew McCutchen. However, it was Daniel McCutchen who was placed on the disabled list because of a strained left oblique. There was some speculation that McCutchen was going to be sent down to the minors when Joel Hanrahan was activated from the bereavement list. McCutchen injured his oblique during batting practice before Saturday night’s game, so it really was just coincidental. It takes about four to six weeks for most pitchers to return from a strained oblique, so I would not expect McCutchen back before the first week of June at the earliest.
• Darnell McDonald was placed on the DL retroactive to May 12 because of a strained right oblique. You’ll remember that on May 6 McDonald entered an extra-inning affair against the Orioles and pitched one inning. McDonald says he doesn’t remember a single incident that caused his oblique strain. However, the pitching performance couldn’t have helped it. McDonald is eligible to return on May 27. Mauro Gomez was brought up from the outfielder’s to take his roster spot.
• Wilson Ramos got some bad news over the weekend after a passed ball ended up costing him the season. When Ramos was chasing a passed ball on Saturday, his right knee twisted awkwardly and he needed help getting off the field. Initial reports indicated a sprained ligament, which was true, but the severity of the injury was unclear. Ramos injured his ACL. He’s probably going to have surgery in a few weeks and will miss the rest of 2012. Sandy Leon was called up from the minors to back up Jesus Flores.
• The Athletics initially believed Yoenis Cespedes’ strained left hand was a minor injury, but they had to place him on the 15-day DL. Cespedes had gone as far as to say his hand was 100 percent only a few hours before being placed on the DL, which lends further credence to the notion that players aren’t always the best judges of their health.
  
  Though the move was termed precautionary, Cespedes had had soreness in his hand after batting practice almost a week after he first injured it. Cespedes was DL’d retroactive to May 7, so he’ll be eligible to return on May 22. Hand and wrist strains on hitters are finicky, and given how much the Athletics have invested in Cespedes, they want to be sure everything truly in 100 percent healthy. Josh Donaldson was brought up.

Subtractions

• The Mets activated Ronny Cedeno from the 15-day disabled list on Friday afternoon and started him at shortstop. Cedeno missed 20 days as a result of his intercostal strain. Cedeno will fill in until Ruben Tejada comes back from his strained quad. Cedeno started off on the right foot by getting on base three times Friday. I’m going to go out on a limb to say that Cedeno will not do as well over the next few weeks. Vinny Rottino was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo to make room for Cedeno.
• Luckily for Eric Chavez, his recovery from a concussion did not take nearly as long as many other examples in the database. Chavez only missed eight days which, for him especially, is an incredibly short period of time. How much this will throw him off in the long term remains to be seen.
• Josh Outman was activated from 15-day DL following his right oblique strain from food poisoning. Outman missed most of 2009 and all of 2010 because of Tommy John surgery and had shoulder inflammation during the course of rehab. His oblique strain is unlikely to return now that he is fully healthy, which should give fantasy owners and the Rockies some sense of comfort moving forward. Outman missed 39 days, which appears right on target for a pitcher to return. Outman took Drew Pomeranz’s spot on the roster; Pomeranz was sent to Colorado Springs to work on his mechanics.
• Greg Holland was activated from the disabled list after recovering from a stress reaction of his rib cage. A recurrence of the stress reaction depends on whether Holland’s mechanics have been altered to avoid overloading the area again. If his mechanics or training regimen have not been altered, then there is an increased chance of recurrence. Nate Adcock was sent down in a corresponding move on Saturday.
• Jeremy Affeldt was activated by the Giants over the weekend following 15 days on the disabled list with a right knee sprain. It’s unlikely he will re-injure his knee, especially considering he did it while picking up his son. Travis Blackley was designated for assignment in order to make room for Affeldt.
• Lance Berkman was able to run the bases without any difficulties, so the Cardinals activated him on Sunday. Calf injuries do have a higher rate of recurrence, so it’s something to keep in the back of your mind. Shane Robinson was optioned back down to Triple-A to make room for Berkman on the roster.
• Tim Stauffer will be activated today before his season debut against the Washington Nationals. Stauffer suffered a strained elbow late in spring training, and while it has been a little slow, it finally looks like he is the pitcher who was supposed to start Opening Day. The Padres’ staff has taken a bunch of hits between the injuries to Dustin Moseley, Cory Luebke, Stauffer, and Joe Wieland. Moseley and Luebke will be out for a while, but Stauffer might provide some stability. Josh Spence was optioned to the Tucson Padres.