Collateral Damage Daily for June 13

It was a typical day yesterday: The sun rose and Brandon McCarthy was dealing with shoulder soreness. His pain is around the shoulder blade, something that catches everyone’s attention given his previous stress fractures. Still, the pain could be caused by bursitis, a muscle strain, or spasms. McCarthy will have an MRI to rule out a stress injury and to get a good idea if anything else is going on.

In other news, Bud Norris had to leave last night’s game after lunging for a foul ball and suffering a left knee sprain. I’m still trying to get the details as to which ligament he injured, but we will keep everyone up to date.

Additions

• We could see the writing on the wall. Alexi Ogando was placed on the disabled list today retroactive to June 11 because of his strained right groin. An MRI revealed a strain and not a full thickness or near-full thickness tear, so surgery is not expected. Still, it is a moderate injury and he is expected to be out for four to six weeks. Michael Kirkman was brought up from Triple-A to take over Ogando’s roster spot.
• After not making an appearance since June 2, something had to give for Octavio Dotel. He was finally placed on the DL retroactive to the 3rd. His elbow inflammation just would not go down, so the Tigers placed him on the 15-day DL. Because it is backdated, he is eligible to return in less than a week. Until then, Luke Putkonen was brought up to replace Dotel.
• As expected, the Blue Jays announced that Brandon Morrow will go on the disabled list Wednesday because of a strained left oblique. Toronto wanted to make sure it was the oblique and not something else, so Morrow underwent further testing yesterday, which confirmed the original diagnosis. The Blue Jays didn’t give a timeline as to when he will return, but I think it’s fair to say that he will be out for at least month.

Subtractions

• It has taken Brian Roberts over a year to get back to the majors, but he was finally able to start last night for the Orioles and lead off. Out of all the concussions in the injury database, Roberts’ is one of the longest-lasting. It’s hard to imagine how difficult recovering from something like this is. Symptoms such as headaches, sensitivity to noise or light, and fatigue turn chronic, and when the symptoms alleviate and you start to ramp back up, they return. Hell, I’ve had a headache for three days and I want to give my brain a few shots of something to make it go away. I can’t even fathom dealing with it like Roberts has.
  
  In his first at-bat back, Roberts lined a pitch back up the middle for a single. It’s good to see Roberts back, even if it meant Steve Tolleson was sent down.
• It was a good night for second baseman to get off the DL; Chris Getz was also activated yesterday and slotted back in the lineup after recovering from bruised ribs and sprained cartilage. It took him about a week past his eligibility date, but considering how these injuries tend to linger, the Royals needed to be sure he was healed. Johnny Giavotella was optioned to Omaha to make room for Getz.
• Everett Teaford was activated from the 15-day disabled list and optioned to Omaha last night. Teaford spent 25 days on the DL recovering from a lower abdominal strain, but he was not productive before going on the disabled list, so it looks like the Royals want him to work on some things down in Triple-A.
• The Royals also plan to activate Jonathan Sanchez in time for today’s start against the Brewers. He missed 37 days on the disabled list because of left biceps tendinitis, and he hasn’t been exceptionally sharp on his rehab starts.