Collateral Damage Daily for May 29

There are lots of injuries to go over, and we are still waiting on answers regarding other major stars. Roy Halladay will have his shoulder checked out and Jered Weaver will have his back checked out. Both may end up on the DL, but Weaver looks to be the worse off of the two. Then there is Tim Lincecum and C.J. Wilson, both of whom are dealing with blisters on the pitching hand. They should be able to make their starts, but it’s a question of how effective they will be. Let’s go over what we do know.

Additions

• Travis Ishikawa was placed on the disabled list on Sunday after straining his left oblique over a week ago during the Houston series. The Brewers held on as long as they could before putting him on the DL, but the roster crunch set in with several players dealing with day-to-day injuries. Considering Ishikawa dealt with the injury for a week, he will likely be on the shorter end of missed time.
• Fernando Abad was placed on the DL Sunday with a strained right side. He injured his side after he struck out Ivan DeJesus Friday night. His symptoms didn’t calm down on Saturday or Sunday, so he was placed on the DL with the hopes that he will be able to return in the minimum. Xavier Cedeno was brought up to replace Abad in the interim.
• Carlos Santana joins fellow catchers Josh Thole and Robinson Chirinos on the DL because of a concussion caused by an Alex Rios foul tip to the mask. The jolt made Santana dizzy, and he left the game. It’s being described as a mild concussion, but we will have to see if his symptoms resolve before Santana would have to be moved to the 15-day DL.
• Chipper Jones was placed on the DL over the weekend after his rather severe bruise caused an extremely painful hematoma to form. Doctors drained over 100 cc of blood from an incision, which allowed the throbbing pain to decrease. This is different from the injury and surgery that Mark Ellis had to go through in that the swelling wasn’t in a confined area that could compromise the neurovascular structures in the lower leg. Jones could be back in the minimum, as the incision should heal pretty quickly but the pain may not go away quite as quickly.
• Cesar Izturis joined Milwaukee’s injury train. He hurt his left hamstring Friday night while running into second base on a sixth inning double. Milwaukee is now forced to turn to Cody Ransom, who was claimed off waivers, and Edwin Maysonet to hold down the fort.
• Ben Francisco also headed to the disabled list this weekend with a strained left hamstring. Manager John Farrell suggests that he could be on the DL for a while longer than the minimum 15 days. David Cooper was brought up to take Francisco’s roster spot.
• My fears of a disc injury for Justin Sellers were confirmed via an MRI; he was placed on the DL in order to get rid of the radiating pain down his right leg. Sellers believes that the injury was brought on from crashing into the stands back on May 15. Since that time, his symptoms gradually worsened. Depending on the severity of the bulging disc, his pain could very well be gone within two weeks. Jerry Hairston was activated from the DL to take Sellers’ place.
• Ramon Hernandez joined the injured party Friday when he was placed on the DL with a strained left hand. It had been bothering him for a few days and limited his ability to grip a bat. Wil Nieves will replace Hernandez in the short term.
• Chad Tracy was moved to the 15-day DL Monday morning after straining his right groin during Saturday’s game. Apparently there was a fair amount of swelling and bruising, which leads me to believe he’ll be out longer than 15 days. The Nationals are concerned it may require surgery but are hopeful that an upcoming MRI will bring some better news.
• Well, that was quick. All it took was one game and Jack Hannahan was injured again. He missed 12 days because of a balky back, and he strained his left calf in his return. Minor strains normally only take two to three weeks to heal, but given the problems with Hannahan’s back recently, the Indians may take a little extra time to get everything squared away. Lonnie Chisenhall was brought up to replace Hannahan.
• Stuart Pomeranz strained his left oblique while warming up on Sunday and was placed on the disabled list. It seems to be that time of year when the muscles and tendons are vulnerable, as evidenced by all the moves noted above. There isn’t one particular reason why this is the case; it could be partly due to perception. Pomeranz’s oblique strain will take longer to heal than a positional player’s because he has to worry about his mechanics on the mound and how a 95 percent healed oblique might end up costing him his shoulder or elbow.
• Ted Lilly was placed on the disabled list this weekend with left shoulder inflammation. He has already missed time this year with neck stiffness, which is likely a contributing factor. He hasn’t received an MRI yet, but there may not be too much use for it at this stage. Hopefully the injection and other medication will help get everything under control.
• Teams often feel like the black cloud is hanging over their heads, just waiting to rain down and ruin everything. The Brewers may actually have something to gripe about, though. Jonathan Lucroy will be placed on the disabled list with a fractured fifth metacarpal bone in his right hand. What’s odd about it is that his wife shifted a suitcase in the hotel room and it landed on his hand, fracturing the bone. Lucroy will be out at least four weeks. Initial reports do not suggest a need for surgery, but he will be re-examined shortly for a definitive answer.

Subtractions

• Matt Kemp will be activated from the DL in time for today’s game, surely a welcome sight for everyone in the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Kemp was hampered by his hamstring for about a week but looked to be more like the Kemp of old while down in rehab. He managed to get back in just the 15 days and will be slotted right back in the starting lineup.
• Dan Hudson was activated from the disabled list after missing 38 days with shoulder impingement. His plan was very carefully laid out and he met all the targets along the way. He only gave up a few runs in his return on Sunday against the Brewers. Still, there has to be some limited concern for a recurrence especially as time goes on. Konrad Schmidt was sent down to make room for Hudson.
• Mark Reynolds was activated from the DL in time for Pomeranz to be placed on it. Reynolds only missed 17 days with the strained left oblique, more than 10 fewer days than the average time a pitcher misses. He collected three hits in his return. He should be out of the woods for now.
• Carlos Quentin was finally activated from the disabled list after missing 63 days recovering from surgery on his right knee in spring training. Given the amount of time missed and how difficult his rehab was, I have a lot of concern that Quentin’s knee will flare up on him again. Blake Tekotte was optioned down to the minors in order to make room for Quentin.
• Brandon Inge managed to miss only the minimum amount of time because of his right groin strain. He was immediately put back into the lineup but went 0-for-2. The effects of groin strains can linger, even if the pain has disappeared, so it may take Inge an additional week or so before he is comfortable in the field. Anthony Recker was sent down to clear a roster spot for Inge.
• Carlos Marmol was activated this weekend and will be sent back into the Cubs’ bullpen. His role is not well-defined at this point although he’s probably not going to be given the ball in too many save situations. He’s most likely going to end up in the set-up role, but considering all the difficulties the Cubs have at closer, it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets another shot at closing this season. Rafael Dolis was sent down to make room for Marmol.
• Ryan Sweeney passed all of his concussion tests before being activated on Monday, including the computerized testing that compares his baseline scores from the beginning of the season to the post-concussive score. These things are difficult to take even without a concussion, but there isn’t a pass/fail type grade. It’s good to see MLB taking concussions seriously, which has helped to get the players to take this seriously themselves.
• Josh Tomlin was taken off the disabled list in part of a flurry of moves that put Hannahan and Santana on the DL. Tomlin last pitched on May 7 and missed 16 days because of his wrist inflammation.
• Jerry Hairston Jr. was activated from the disabled list Friday afternoon. He’s played in every game since and doesn’t seem to be showing any ill effects of the strained left hamstring that caused him to miss a few weeks. Sellers took Hairston’s place on the DL.
• Luis Marte was also activated from the disabled list after successfully rehabbing from a strained hamstring. Marte strained his hamstring in the last spring training game and missed the first 53 days of the season. Luke Putkonen was sent down to the minors to clear room for Marte.
• Jose Lobaton missed a month and a half because of shoulder inflammation, but he was finally activated on Monday and was right back in the starting lineup. It took a little longer than expected, but catchers have a different throwing motion than the rest of the positional players. Chris Gimenez was sent down to make space for Lobaton.