Collateral Damage Daily for June 4

One of the things I like most about baseball is how many storylines can play out over the course of four hours. Johan Santana pitched what will go down in the record books as the Mets’ first no-hitter, but replay showed that Carlos Beltran clearly laced a fair ball down the line. Another storyline is the influence of injuries throughout the game. Santana coming back from major shoulder surgery. Josh Thole was activated the day earlier following three weeks on the DL related to his concussion. Mike Baxter slammed into the wall and had to leave with an injury. Heck, a pitcher running in from the bullpen following the game strained his hamstring and may end up on the DL. Baseball always has stories that can be told across the bar or across generations.

Additions

• Out of the two injuries suffered during Johan Santana’s no-hitter, Mike Baxter’s was definitely the more serious of the two. When Baxter crashed into the outfield wall, he suffered a sternoclavicular (SC) joint injury and fractured rib cartilage.
  
  The SC joint is the only bony attachment for the shoulder/upper extremity to the axial or core skeleton and forms where the clavicle and sternum meet each other. The clavicle can dislocate and move anteriorly, away from the body, or posteriorly, toward the neurovascular structures and the airway. If it dislocates posteriorly, it is a medical emergency because of the seriousness of the structures potentially involved. Baxter’s isn’t this bad and in fact the “almost like a dislocation,” suggesting he sprained this joint with a little resulting displacement. He’s expected to miss six to eight weeks, but considering the alternatives, Baxter might just be the luckiest player on the field that night.
• Jose Contreras is most likely done for the season after tearing his UCL and flexor mass tendon on the fifth pitch in the seventh inning Friday night. The pitch sailed inside on Omar Infante; Contreras immediately began jogging around before taking a knee between first and second base. An MRI on Saturday revealed the injured UCL and flexor pronator mass tendon, a combination found much more often in older pitchers than younger ones. Now Contreras is getting a couple of opinions to see whether he will need surgery, although the odds say that he will. Considering he had surgery in 2011 for a tear in the flexor tendon, it’s something that is going to be hard to come back from even if he doesn’t have surgery. Michael Schwimer was brought up to take Contreras’ roster spot.
• Skip Schumaker was placed on the disabled list Friday afternoon with a mild right hamstring strain. Schumaker missed time earlier this year because of a strained right oblique, but he has not suffered from major hamstring issues before. He injured the hamstring on Wednesday evening when he held himself up from diving, attempting to snare a base hit. He was able to complete the play and throw the ball back into the infield but immediately grabbed his leg and was taken out of the game shortly after.
  
  Schumaker was placed on the DL on Friday. He’s expected to miss between two and four weeks, which is comparable with most mild hamstring strains. Allen Craig was activated from the disabled list following his own hamstring strain.
• Carlos Lee has managed to stay fairly healthy over the last several years, yet “El Caballo” is not indestructible. Lee’s only previous time on the DL was back in 2008 because of finger surgery.
  
  In the eighth inning of Friday’s game, Lee strained his left hamstring, and although it felt a little better over the weekend, the Astros felt it was safest to put him on the DL to allow it to heal. It’s still up in the air how long he will be out. Brett Wallace is expected to get the bulk of the playing time at first base.
• It seems that almost every time a ball travels up the middle, Juan Nicasio ends up being injured. After his potentially career-ending injury last year, Nicasio was injured just a few starts ago with a line drive up the middle, causing a bruised right quad. His most recent injury came after another line drive up the middle, which Nicasio tried to snare and ended up twisting his knee. The official diagnosis so far has been a strained knee, but the mechanism of injury indicates the MCL or meniscus may also be injured. An ACL injury is much less likely but nonetheless can’t be ruled out quite yet. Guillermo Moscoso was brought up to take Nicasio’s place in the rotation.
• Andy Parrino was placed on the disabled list in a flurry of moves over the weekend for the Padres. Parrino is suffering from pain in his right hand, although it’s unknown whether it is a strain, sprain, infection, or something else. Not knowing the exact injury makes it difficult to tell exactly when he will be back.
• Andy Dirks has been battling inflammation in his Achilles tendon off and on for about a week now. He first noticed the pain when the Tigers were battling the Red Sox, and Jim Leyland said it actually worsened over a few days. Dirks had to be placed on the DL in order to manage the inflammation without risking further injury, including rupture. Matt Young was brought up to take Dirks’ place on the roster.
• Travis Buck was placed on the DL Saturday because of right Achilles tendinitis. Buck didn’t play since Monday against Colorado, and everything that we said about Dirks goes for Buck as well. Short-term inflammation is unlikely to lead to rupture because it needs more of a chronic timeline. Most of the time, these are a short-lived stint on the DL; Buck should be activated roughly when he is eligible. Outfielder Fernando Martinez was brought up to replace Buck on the roster.
• Charlie Morton was placed on the disabled list Friday with inflammation in his right elbow. Morton was able to make his way back from hip surgery last year; the Pirates activated him in mid-April. Unlike Contreras, there wasn’t one particular pitch that set off the pain and inflammation; it has probably been worsening over the last few weeks. The Pirates haven’t said when they expect him back yet.

Subtractions

• What’s the saying, you win some and you lose some? The Cardinals were able to activate Allen Craig from the disabled list following 15 days on the DL with a strained hamstring but then they had to replace him with Schumaker and his balky hamstring. Craig is expected to play almost every day with all of the injuries the Cardinals are dealing with.
• Logan Forsthye was activated off the disabled list and made his 2012 season debut on Sunday following his recovery from sesamoid surgery. The Padres have had to deal with numerous injuries so far this year, but it has to be nice activating Carlos Quentin, who has been on a tear so far, Forsythe, and Mark Kotsay. Forsythe should continue to get plenty of playing time moving forward.
• Mark Kotsay has been activated from the 15-day DL following his 21-day stint recovering from lower back soreness. Kotsay has dealt with low back problems throughout his career.
• Brandon McCarthy was activated from the DL after the minimum 15 days, record time for him. His shoulder strain was evidently very mild, and he was able to make his start on Saturday, going six innings and giving up two runs against the Royals. Daric Barton was sent down Triple-A Sacramento in order to make room.
• Yoenis Cespedes was activated a day earlier than teammate McCarthy and may provide a greater impact considering how feeble the offense has been. Cespedes missed 24 games because of his hand strain, and after a rough start off the DL, he managed to get three hits Saturday afternoon. Tyson Ross was sent down earlier in the week to make room for Cespedes.
• Josh Thole was activated Friday afternoon following 24 days on the DL recovering from his concussion. Looking at the no-hitter game, it’s amazing how many injury stories are involved. Thole was activated one day prior to Santana’s no-hitter and couldn’t be happier to be a part of history. Chris Schwinden was designated for assignment to make room for Thole.
• Yuniesky Betancourt was taken off the DL Friday and slotted back into the starting second base position for the Royals. Even though he only missed 30 days with this trip to the DL, Betancourt has suffered from the high ankle sprain since spring training. It was only after taking the month of May to properly rest and rehab that he was able to fully heal the ankle. The good news is that once fully healed, high ankle sprains do not tend to inhibit any production, unless you rely on stolen bases as the main part of your game.
• Michael Morse was also finally activated off the disabled following his months-long battle with a strained lat. His recovery took a little longer than most for hitters. Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated into hits yet. Corey Brown was sent down to make room for Morse.