Collateral Damage Daily for July 23

If Ozzie Guillen wasn’t happy with Hanley Ramirez after he punched a cooling fan and suffered a lacerated finger, he really isn’t happy that an infection set in and could force Ramirez to the DL. Unless Ramirez didn’t take care of the wound and stuck his hand in the Everglades, it’s probably was just dumb luck it got infected. Regardless, now that it is, the infection needs to be controlled. We’ll see how it responds over the next few days. … Wilin Rosario sprained his ankle over the weekend but, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post, he’s feeling better. Rosario is considered day-to-day and could return to the lineup today. … Matt Garza was diagnosed with cramping of his right triceps, but very mild strains can feel like mild cramping. He’s going to be treated over the next few days with hopes of avoiding the DL. … Erick Aybar was placed on the DL with a bruised right big toe, sustained after fouling a ball off of it over the weekend. Jean Segura was called up from the minors. … Colby Lewis left his most recent start with forearm tightness, and he had to skip a bullpen session yesterday. He will be examined by Dr. Keith Meister today. … Roy Oswalt will skip his start today because of back tightness. … Drew Pomeranz will skip his start tomorrow because of a sore arm.

Additions

• Johan Santana hasn’t been himself since he sprained his right ankle three starts ago. Trying to pitch through a lower extremity injury can force other body structures to compensate, which Santana is doing. Trying to land on a sore ankle caused his core and upper extremity mechanics to falter, which led to shoulder fatigue. The Mets are going to do a thorough shoulder examination to make sure it’s only fatigue. Ankle sprains tend to only keep pitchers out for about three weeks. The Mets haven’t given a hard timeline, but they do not expect he will miss much more than the minimum for the ankle.
• Officially, Matt Diaz was placed on the DL with a right thumb contusion, but an MRI revealed the cause of his pain to be loose bodies, possibly left over from his 2010 surgery to remove a centimeter-long foreign body that became infected. He’s facing a similar situation now. His thumb is infected because of the foreign bodies, which significantly complicates his recovery from any potential surgery. The surgical wound needs to heal from the inside out, and it takes significantly longer for the injury to heal completely. Having the procedure would almost certainly end Diaz’s season, so he’s trying to put it off as long as possible.
  
  His 2010 surgery caused him to miss 45 days, which would be a reasonable estimate if surgery is required.
• Ian Desmond has been battling a sore left oblique for a while now and hasn’t been able to drive the ball as well as he was prior to the All-Star break. An MRI revealed a torn left oblique, so Desmond will be shut down for two weeks before progressing activities, which likely pushes him out until mid- to late August. Corey Brown will take Desmond’s roster spot.
• Cliff Pennington was placed on the 15-day DL Friday afternoon with left elbow inflammation. It started up a few weeks ago while he took extra swings in the cage. It improved a bit during the All-Star break, helped by a cortisone injection, but since has gradually worsened. Infielders average between three and four weeks on the DL. Eric Sogard was called up to take Pennington’s roster spot.
• There probably isn’t an insurance company in the world that would insure a contract of a Blue Jays’ pitcher at this point. Ten Toronto pitchers have been on the DL so far, and only one (Alan Farina) has been activated. Jason Frasor, the latest victim, is part of the two Tommy John surgery club but hasn’t had any difficulties since coming back in 2002. Still, forearm tightness leads to some concern for an elbow injury.
• Luke Scott was placed on the DL with an oblique strain. He left Friday’s game early after a check swing caused his back to tighten up. An MRI revealed a mild strain of the right external oblique muscle. The Rays believe it could be a short stay on the DL, but they want to ensure he comes back 100 percent.
• Juan Cruz was placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to July 18 with right shoulder inflammation. His shoulder actually became sorer in late June, but he thought he could play through it. It only got worse, though, which is typical. Relievers only average slightly longer on the DL than starting pitchers, 43.7 days versus 43.4, so we can probably expect Cruz to miss several weeks. Evan Meek was recalled to take his roster spot.

Subtractions

• Dan Haren was activated from his first-ever trip to the disabled list yesterday after spending 18 days recovering from a stiff lower back. There was some concern about Haren’s velocity during his rehab starts, but it was reportedly around 89-90 mph, which is consistent with his last two years.
  
  He pitched well in his return yesterday, only giving up three hits and two runs in six innings against Texas. The back will be something to keep an eye on the rest of the year. David Carpenter was optioned to Salt Lake to make room for Haren.
• Jonny Venters was activated from the disabled list this weekend. He needed only needed 17 days to recover from pain and inflammation caused by impingement, and he was able to throw a six-pitch scoreless inning on Friday. The Braves should be cautious with how Venters is handled the rest of the year because of the tendency for inflammation to return. In a corresponding move, Matt Diaz was placed on the disabled list.
• Gavin Floyd will be activated in time to start today’s game against the Twins after missing the last 15 days with elbow inflammation. There was a thought he might need a short rehab assignment, but he impressed the pitching coach and the medical staff in his roughly 50-pitch bullpen session on Friday. Floyd doesn’t have a long history of elbow problems, so the likelihood of a recurrence is low for the remainder of the year.
• Jesse Crain was activated from the 15-day DL on Saturday. Crain missed 27 days with a strained posterior shoulder muscle and his return helped strengthen the White Sox bullpen. Crain has pitched very well out of the bullpen so far, despite two DL stints. Brian Omogrosso was optioned to Charlotte.
• Takashi Saito was activated from the DL this weekend. He missed 111 days while recovering from a troublesome right calf strain. Saito’s recovery was hampered by shoulder soreness and illness. Bryan Shaw was optioned to Reno to make room for Saito.
• Stephen Pryor
• Laynce Nix was activated from the disabled list on Sunday morning, 73 days after going on the 15-day DL with a strained calf. While this is significantly longer than the average 34 days, the longest stint in the database so far was Rondell White back in 2007, who was on the shelf from April 5 to July 23. Nix played in eight games on his rehab assignment. Jason Pridie was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
• Eric Stults was activated on Sunday, even though he was scheduled to pitch for Tucson, to take the pressure off a taxed bullpen from Saturday night. He’s been out for almost seven full weeks because of a strained latissimus dorsi muscle, and he returned one full week sooner than the average. Nick Vincent was optioned to make room for Stults.
• Sometimes injury situations don’t work themselves out, and that’s what happened with Xavier Nady this past weekend. The 20-day rehab assignment for his right wrist inflammation was up Friday night, so the Nationals were forced to either activate him or designate him for assignment. Since no one was injured, Nady was designated for assignment. He wasn’t productive during his limited time with the Nationals in 2012.