Collateral Damage Daily for July 18

David Ortiz suffered a strain to the Achilles tendon, but it’s not a significant tear. He’s set to be in a boot for a week and progress from there. This is different from the bursitis that he suffered last year. He’s going to head down to Miami for a second opinion because of his increased pain yesterday. There is a good probability he will end up on the DL. … Jason Kubel’s left hamstring is still bothering him, and he may need a short stay on the DL. He injured it on Friday and reported feeling tightness at the time. … Ryan Braun left the game yesterday with a right abductor strain and is day-to-day. … Hector Sanchez had to leave yesterday’s game with a left knee sprain and will have an MRI today to determine the extent of the damage.

Additions

• Jose Bautista was placed on the DL for left wrist inflammation, but this seems a little suspect. The inflammation in this case is secondary to the underlying problem, which is likely torn cartilage or a tendon sheath. The cartilage can be hard to notice on most imaging, and the tendon sheath injury would still be considered as no structural injury. Bautista believes that he will be able to return in the minimum amount of time, but I have my reservations, as does manager John Farrell.
• Gavin Floyd will make his first trip to the disabled list with right elbow inflammation. An MRI on Sunday showed no structural damage; the soreness Floyd felt in his forearm was related to the elbow. He was feeling it more with the off-speed pitches, which makes sense because of the stress on the flexor mass during these pitches. Historically, elbow inflammation takes about 39 days to resolve. Philip Humber was activated in a corresponding move.
• Chris Nelson just didn’t feel right prior to talking with Rockies officials, and he went to the local hospital to get it checked out. He was found to have an irregular heartbeat and was kept under observation for several hours. An irregular heartbeat can correct itself, but when it doesn’t, it needs to be shocked back into normal rhythm. This is what happened with Nelson, so he has to take it easy for a little bit. Assuming he doesn’t have any recurrences, he shouldn’t miss too long.
• Jonathan Herrera became concerned about an area on his wrist that looked infected and went to the hospital in the middle of the night. It was severe enough that the doctors took a swab of it and are growing a culture to see exactly what type of infection it is. He has started on antibiotics, but that may be adjusted. There aren’t any comparables in the database for a wrist infection, but most infections of the knee, foot, or ankle are typically resolved in two to four weeks.
• Matt Capps was placed on the disabled list again, this time with a rotator cuff strain and inflammation. The injury occured on one particular pitch, suggesting the issue is more of a strain than inflammation. He’s headed for another MRI today to assess the rotator cuff specifically, but doctors will other potential causes. His velocity has decreased over the last few years. According to his PITCHf/x profile, in 2012, his sinker is about 0.5 mph slower than in 2011, while the four-seam fastball remains a constant 93 mph. In June of this year, his velocity really started to drop; it averaged 91.85 mph, almost 1.5 mph slower than it averaged in the previous months. We should know more after the MRI today.
• Chad Billingsley was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of elbow inflammation despite believing that he could pitch through it. The Dodgers decided it was wiser to have him rest up now and get the inflammation knocked down. No one is expecting he will need the average 40 days, but Billingsley experienced minor soreness after lightly throwing and catching on Monday, so the Dodgers had to be cautious. Stephen Fife was brought up to fill the roster spot.

Subtractions

• CC Sabathia was activated from the DL yesterday and made his start against the Blue Jays, who are just a world of hurt right now. Sabathia came back sooner than the average starting pitcher, 22 days versus 28, and the Blue Jays paid for it. He threw six scoreless innings on only four hits and helped the Yankees widen the spread a little more between first and second place. There shouldn’t be any issues from the injury for Sabathia in 2012. Darnell McDonald was designated for assignment to make room for Sabathia.
• Phillip Humber was activated from the DL yesterday and made his start against the Red Sox. He went six innings and gave up a few runs. After pitching a perfect game on April 21, Humber hasn’t exactly been lights-out. His ERA of 7.47 was probably partly due to his elbow, which didn’t allow him to throw his breaking pitches as effectively. He should be better going forward.
• Edward Mujica will be activated from the DL today. Mujica spent the last 18 days recovering from a fractured little toe suffered from a line drive off Placido Polanco’s bat. These injuries usually heal easily and are typically more of a pain issue than anything else. He’s going to provide bullpen depth and the occasional save. Ryan Webb was optioned to New Orleans.
• Collin Cowgill was activated from the 15-day DL yesterday, then optioned to Sacremento. He was on the DL for 24 days, which is 10 days less than the average for outfielders with sprained ankles. This is despite his admission that this is the worst ankle sprain of his career. He will be able to get consistent at-bats in Sacramento, something he wouldn’t get with the A’s.
• Matt Joyce was activated from the disabled list after spending 27 days recovering from a strained oblique. This is only one day shy of the average. He made a few rehab appearances and got two hits, but the Rays were impressed enough to activate him. Will Rhymes was optioned to Durham to make room.