Collateral Damage Daily for July 30

The Royals were concerned about meniscal or ligament damage after Mike Moustakas made a diving catch on a Casper Wells ground ball Saturday, but an MRI revealed only a bone bruise. Moustakas is day-to-day. … Mike Trout has a bruised knee and is day-to-day. … Josh Reddick missed Saturday’s game after bruising his upper back the night before, but he was able to return on Sunday. … Jim Thome is battling neck spasms and is day-to-day. … A.J. Pierzynski has not returned to the lineup, though he could return from his strained oblique today. … Coco Crisp sat out yesterday’s game with a tight left hamstring and is day-to-day. … Carlos Ruiz has been dealing with left foot plantar fasciitis for the last two weeks and may need a trip to the DL. … Adam Lind may need a DL trip to address his sore lower back. … Justin Upton missed yesterday’s game because of a left ankle contusion suffered on Saturday. He’s day-to-day. … Brandon Philips left yesterday’s game with a left calf cramp and is day-to-day. … Adam LaRoche had to leave yesterday game with a lower back strain and is day-to-day. … Carl Crawford said he will decide in the next seven to 10 days if he’s going to have surgery on his elbow, though the Red Sox do not believe he needs it. Typical recovery for an outfielder is seven to nine months.

Additions

• Trevor Plouffe’s surprising season took an unfortunate turn when he was placed on the 15-day DL with a bruised right thumb. Replays didn’t pinpoint how he suffered the bruising because he wasn’t hit by a pitch or a ground ball. He swung at an inside pitch and hit a soft line drive to the left side of the pitcher, which was caught. Plouffe tried to take BP on Friday, but his pain persisted, so he was placed on the DL. Unless the bat wiggled in his hand at the point of contact, the contusion is unlikely to be the sole injury; it could be indicative of something else, like a hamate injury. Plouffe will be re-evaluated over the next few days, and Danny Valencia will take his roster spot.
• Pablo Sandoval was placed on the disabled list because of his strained left hamstring, retroactive to July 25. While they expect Sandoval to miss the minimum amount of time, the Giants could not afford to play with a short bench for the additional week he’ll be out. Aubrey Huff was activated in a corresponding move.
• Logan Morrison was placed on the 15-day DL on Sunday with right knee inflammation and could miss significantly longer. On Dec. 5, 2011, he underwent surgery to repair a partial patellar tendon tear in his right knee. All was going relatively well until May, when he developed soreness in his knee. At that time, an MRI revealed that one of the internal sutures holding the partial tear together had torn and was causing the new inflammation. Morrison hoped that he could play through it the rest of 2012 and have it taken care of after the season. His placement on the DL may be an indication that it reached the tipping point, and he could miss the rest of the year. He’s going to rest for about three weeks and see if he can make it back, but it seems to be a long shot.
• Erick Aybar was placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to July 22 with a non-displaced fracture of his right big toe suffered when he fouled a ball off his foot last Saturday. The pain didn’t subside, and Aybar was placed on the DL in order to recover. He can return as early as August 6 and has already increased his activities, so there is a good chance this will happen. Vernon Wells was activated from the 60-day DL in a corresponding move.
• Scott Elbert was placed on the 15-day DL on Friday with left elbow inflammation. The Dodgers were concerned about the integrity of the ulnar collateral ligament, so a contrast MRI was performed, which ruled out any structural problems. Elbert does have inflammation present, but there are no tears in the ligament or flexor tendon. Typically, recovery takes about a month, but he is only expected to miss the minimum 15 days, making him eligible to return on August 10. Stephen Fife was brought up to take Elbert’s roster spot.

Subtractions

• Vernon Wells was activated from the 60-day DL following his thumb surgery in late May. Wells missed 68 days, which is consistent with the 70-day average for thumb ligament repairs in outfielders. With the emergence of Mike Trout, it was clear that Wells wasn’t going to come back in the same role as he had before. Scioscia explained how he would replace Kendrys Morales against left-handed pitching and spot start in the outfield.
• Todd Helton was activated on Friday, but he is not pain-free. His hip bothers him, but he admits that it only improved to the point of him being able to play. His productivity is going to suffer with lingering hip and back issues, so it’s not clear how much he will help the Rockies down the stretch. He’ll be day-to-day for the rest of the year, or until he is shut down. Edwar Cabrera was optioned to Colorado Springs to make room for Helton.
• Mike Baxter will be activated today after spending the last 58 days recovering from what might have been the catch of his life. To make sure he was healed, he spent the last few weeks on a rehab assignment instead of the typical three to six days for position players. He’s not going to take a lot of playing time away from anyone in the outfield initially. Kirk Nieuwenhuis will likely be sent down to make room for Baxter.
• Aubrey Huff was activated from the disabled list on Saturday after completing his rehab assignment. Originally, he went on to the disabled list after tripping and falling on his knee celebrating Matt Cain’s perfect game. During his rehab assignment however, he developed patellar tendinitis, which delayed his return until this past weekend. Huff missed 47 days and will rejoin the team in a part-time role.
• Chris Iannetta battled a few setbacks but was finally activated after 80 days on the disabled list. The surgery itself to repair a pisiform fracture went well, but during the recovery, Iannetta strained his forearm. The next several weeks were spent recovering from this. John Hester was optioned to Triple-A in order to make room.
• Drew Smyly was activated from the 15-day DL and optioned to Toledo. He spent the last 22 days recovering from a strained intercostal muscle, which is much better than the average starting pitcher. A roster crunch forced Smyly to Triple-A, but he will probably be called back up when rosters expand.