Collateral Damage Daily for June 26

In our on whether injuries are reaching epidemic levels, one of the readers (wyliecoyote) brought up how perception is influenced not only by certain teams getting hit harder than others, but also by certain positions within those teams. For instance, Toronto starters Morrow, Drabek, and Hutchison all went down within weeks of one another. Now, Henderson Alvarez had to leave last night’s game against the Red Sox with right elbow soreness. The Blue Jays are saying it’s precautionary, but we’ll have to see how this one shakes out.

Additions

• In a somewhat expected move, Matt Capps was placed on the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation. The move was retroactive to June 24, so he is eligible to return on July 10. Capps has been dealing with shoulder problems for about a month now and had a lot of pain after his latest appearance on Saturday. Capps will receive a cortisone injection. Relievers average 44 days missed with shoulder inflammation. Glen Perkins and Jared Burton are expected to split the closing duties while Capps is gone. Tyler Robertson was recalled from Rochester to take Capps’ spot on the roster.
• The Phillies placed Brian Schneider on the 15-day DL yesterday after he sprained his left ankle on Sunday. Like most ankle injuries involving catchers, Schneider rolled his ankle in a collision at the plate. These injuries also tend to take longer to heal than ankle sprains to pitchers or outfielders. The average time missed for catchers is 36 days to be exact. Eric Kratz was called up to back up Carlos Ruiz until Schneider is able to return.
• The Nationals are the third-worst team in terms of injury placements on the DL, and Xavier Nady is the most recent addition to the list. He was placed on the DL retroactive to June 24 with right wrist tendinitis. Somewhat surprisingly, first basemen and outfielders both average around 25 days on the DL, which seems about right for Nady. The Nationals haven’t given a specific timeline when Nady is expected to return, though. Mark DeRosa was activated in a corresponding move.

Subtractions

• It took a while—58 days to be exact—but Mark DeRosa was finally activated from the 15-day disabled list yesterday. Most infielders take about a month to recover from an oblique strain, but DeRosa took almost twice that. Given his troubles at the plate in the limited time that he played, he’ll probably continue to come off the bench, at least until Ryan Zimmerman gets hurt again. Xavier Nady was placed on the DL in a corresponding move.
• Jeff Karstens was activated from the DL yesterday and started against the Phillies. After giving up six runs in five innings Monday night, he may have wished to wait at least one more day. Usually, shoulder inflammation costs the starting pitcher about 44 days, but Karstens needed a full three weeks more—68 days in total—in part because of a hip flexor issue while on rehab. This is now the third year in a row Karstens has missed over 15 days with shoulder problems.
• Marco Estrada was activated after Monday’s game after spending a little over a month with a strained right quad. He will start against Cincinnati today. Mike McClendon was sent down to clear a roster spot for Estrada.