Collateral Damage Daily for June 11

As usual, plenty of action occurred over the weekend. Starting off with our day-to-day injuries, it appears Alexi Ogando is the one most likely to require a DL move. Ogando strained his groin on Sunday while running the bases and admitted after the game that it did not feel good, although I don’t know very many groin strains that do. He hasn’t been placed on the DL yet, but he’ll probably be added in the next few days.

I can’t remember another situation where the starting pitcher got pulled from the game because of an injury in the middle of a no-hitter and the bullpen went on to finish the no-hitter, like the case with Kevin Millwood and his strained groin from Friday night. His injury does not appear to be as serious as Ogando’s, and he may not have to skip a start. Manager Eric Wedge is going to update everyone tomorrow, so we’ll have to stay tuned.

Octavio Dotel has not pitched in over a week because of elbow inflammation. Dotel had Tommy John surgery in 2005, so hopefully this is nothing more than overdoing it recently. We should also know more about Dotel’s situation within a few days.

On the lesser side of things, Drew Stubbs is going to be out at least another few days with a strained left oblique. If it doesn’t heal soon, he could end up on the DL. Speaking of not healing, Yoenis Cespedes still has yet to return from last week’s strained hamstring. Daniel Nava missed yesterday’s game with a sore left hand and is day-to-day. Placido Polanco has a small tear in his left wrist and had a cortisone injection last week. These always take several days to kick in, but if the cortisone works, he should be returning any day. Lastly, Felix Hernandez appears to be ready to return on Tuesday after skipping a start with a tight back.

Additions

• When Felipe Paulino came out of his last start in the first inning Wednesday night because of a strained groin, it was almost expected that he would end up on the disabled list over the weekend. After making it back from a strained forearm, Paulino was giving the Royals good production in the rotation with a FIP of 3.1 and PVORP of 7.8 in only seven starts, a ratio better than Josh Johnson (12.3 PVORP/12 GS), CC Sabathia (11.9/12), and Matt Cain (11/12). The injury could have been partly due to the contusion he suffered when Ben Revere hit a line drive that smacked him in the right thigh. A few batters later, Paulino had to leave the game. Paulino thought he could try to pitch through it, suggesting his stay on the DL won’t be too long. Nate Adcock was brought up from Triple-A to take Paulino’s spot.
• Marwin Gonzalez was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 7 with a bruised right heel. Bruised heels can be very painful because forces equal to multiple times your body weight hit your feet when you are running and fielding. They also tend to take longer to heal. Team physicians expected that Gonzalez will be out at least 10 days.
• Fernando Martinez was placed on the disabled list this weekend with post-concussion syndrome. Martinez had his fair share of injury problems with his knee, thigh, and elbow injuries, but this is his first documented concussion. His concussion occurred on May 26 while playing for Oklahoma City, yet he did not report it when he was called up on June 2. He went 1-for-15 with nine strikeouts and figured it was about time to fess up to his continued symptoms, including blurred vision. Matt Downs was brought up from Oklahoma City.
• Rich Hill was placed on the DL retroactive to June 9 because of left forearm tightness/soreness one year to the day after his Tommy John surgery. The obvious concern is that there is a problem with the surgical graft, but it’s too early to tell if he will need another surgery or if it’s simply a mild forearm strain. He first had problems a few weeks ago, but it wasn’t until the last 10 days or so that it really started to affect his performance, particularly whis curveball. He’s going to see Dr. Andrews again, which is common whenever there are problems in the first year after surgery. Mark Melancon will fill in for him in the short-term.

Subtractions

• Austin Kearns was activated from the disabled list after being delayed an extra day because of a bruised elbow. One of the hardest things for Kearns in the past was staying healthy and productive at the same time, which probably rings true for many players. Manager Ozzie Guillen believes that Kearns may not be 100% healed yet, which suggests his production is going to suffer in the short term. On Friday night, it appeared that he was going after the ball a little slower than Guillen expected and it allowed a Matt Joyce single to turn into a double.
• Austin Jackson was activated from the 15-day DL and immediately returned to the Tigers’ lineup. Jackson started off the season with about a 950 OPS in 36 games before he ended up on the DL. Jackson didn’t have any pain on his rehab assignment. Jose Ortega was optioned to Toledo in order to make room for Jackson, but that’s certainly not the only roster/playing time implications with Jackson’s return. Somehow, manager Jim Leyland wants to fit Quintin Berry, Andy Dirks, Delmon Young, and Brennan Boesch into the mix as well.
• In a move that some fans in New York are cheering—and Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and Toronto—the Red Sox activated Daisuke Matsuzaka from the 60-day DL after completing his rehab from Tommy John surgery. He started on Saturday against Gio Gonzalez and pitched well enough to strike out eight Nationals batters but poor enough to give up four runs on five hits and one walk in five innings of work. His first game back against major-league hitters wasn’t too bad overall; it just wasn’t what the Red Sox needed when running into Gonzalez. Matsuzaka will look to improve on his last start against the Cubs Friday afternoon. Marlon Byrd was designated for assignment to make room for Matsuzaka.
• Pablo Sandoval was activated from the disabled list Saturday after missing 37 days recovering from wrist surgery. While the Giants are certainly happy to have his bat back in the lineup, some, including manager Bruce Bochy, want to see a greater dedication to getting into shape. On Sunday, Sandoval didn’t help himself out with several defensive miscues that caused Bochy to schedule a conditioning and defensive workout for Sandoval today. I’ll leave it to others to dig down a little deeper into his defensive abilities, but the conditioning probably isn’t the reason he fractured his hamate bone. Steve Edlefsen was optioned to Fresno to make room for Sandoval.
• LaTroy Hawkins was activated from the disabled list following a 33-day recovery from his fractured right pinkie finger. As much as everyone would like to say that Hawkins learned his lesson after fielding a ground ball May 6, that play was an instinct play. The small, non-displaced fracture appears to have healed well and should not be an issue moving forward. Bobby Cassevah was optioned to Salt Lake City.
• Ryan Kalish was activated from the disabled list on Saturday and optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket. Coming back from neck and shoulder surgery last year, he has shown he has not lost his ability to get on base or his somewhat limited power.
• It takes more than a swollen leg to keep Chipper Jones down for long. He was activated Sunday following 17 days on the DL to recuperate from minor surgery to drain fluid from a hematoma that formed after bruising his leg on May 18. About 120 cc of fluid—about four fluid ounces— was drained. Doesn’t sound like much, right? Take two Five Hour energy drinks and then put that on top of bone and muscle and you can get the picture. So only a few weeks after that procedure, Jones was back on the field. He was fitted for a guard over the incision area. Jose Constanza was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Chipper.