The New York Yankees made a series of moves today after losing two players to injury in last night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
New York placed catcher Francisco Cervelli on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured right hand, while multiple reports say the team also placed pitcher Ivan Nova on the DL with an elbow injury.
The Blue Jays and their waiver wire proclivities are making more headlines than an waiver wire action deserves. The constant tinkering with the bottom end of the 25-man and 40-man rosters is seen as a weakness by some. Others see the Jays doing their best to game the system and, according the Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, field a competitive team at the triple-A level.
When the Blue Jays claimed left-handed starter Aaron Laffey of waivers from the New York Mets earlier this week, most figured it was another example of distant pitching depth and a move to bolster the Buffalo Bisons’ roster. Until, of course, it turned out that Jays starter Josh Johnson is experiencing tightness in his right (throwing arm) triceps and needs to skip his next start, scheduled for tonight in New York against the Yankees.
Lo and behold, there is Aaron Laffey to jump in and make the start. Hooray?
Breaking news: the Mariners are terrible! The offense has stalled and it’s time for a change. Brendan Ryan, the pre-eminent defensive shortstop in the game who also offers zero offensive contribution, is the first to lose his job. The Marines, in their infinite wisdom, want Robert Andino to take over as the starting shortstop. Which is just delightful.
Dylan Bundy gets a lot of play here at Getting Blanked. Mostly because of his sky-high ceiling and rocket-to-the-moon path to the big leagues in 2012. There is a good chance Dylan Bundy becomes one of the best pitchers in baseball within the next few years.
He is, however, a pitcher. Which means there’s an equally good chance he becomes nothing. Or, worse yet, a reliever. The road to pitching stardom is riddled with pot holes and landmines that just surviving as a pitcher until age 30 is nothing short of a miracle.
Dylan Bundy is not 30, he is just 20-years old. He is, however, yet to throw a pitch in the 2013 season thanks to soreness and tightness in his right forearm. The problem resulted in a two-week shutdown. Bundy threw off flat ground again on Monday and the soreness persisted. The Orioles are concerned. The Orioles are sending Bundy to an expert. Not just an expect, THE expert.
Cue the dramatic music: Dylan Bundy is going to see Dr. James Andrews.
The baseball gods are unkind to the Los Angeles Dodgers, so it seems. Chad Billingsley is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow tomorrow.
Chad Billingsley will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, April 24. Recovery time is expected to be 12 months.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 23, 2013
Billingsley joins Zack Greinke and Chris Capuano on the Dodgers’ list of hurlers currently injured. The decision to allow Billingsley to try and pitch with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament is a particularly confounding one, given that the team was aware of the risks as far back as January. I wrote about Billingsley’s plan to pitch through the injury on January 30th, when an actual medical doctor said it’s all well and good to try and rehab such an injury so as long as you’re not a Major League Baseball pitcher.
You live and learn, I guess.
Billingsley was 1-0 in two starts, with a 3.00 ERA and six strikeouts in 12 innings this season.
The dull moments are few and far between for members of the Miami Marlins. The whole “Miami” thing plays into this a great deal, not to mention the “Marlins” bit. High profile members of the Marlins literally never know what the day might bring! Will I be traded? Will I be forced into a local fashion show or some such publicity stunt?
Jose Fernandez is a blue chip prospect already well versed in the Marlins willy nilly ways. The 20-year old was a surprise addition to the Opening Day roster despite never pitching above A ball. He’s accustomed to the Marlins flipping the script at their leisure.
Like today, when they decided they’d prefer he not pitch in sub-zero temperatures in the second half of a day/night doubleheader. So they moved him to the first game. Just like that.
“Outside Baseball is back” says sign above snowdrift outside Target Field #marlins #twins twitpic.com/cl7d6d
— Joe Capozzi (@joecapMARLINS) April 22, 2013
Last week, there was much laughter and mirth at the expense of the Minnesota Twins as a bout of April snow threatened to postpone some games in Minnesota and Colorado. The Mets/Rockies series was impacted significantly by the weather, as the were forced to play a doubleheader after one game was snowed out. Even that doubleheader required a bridge of shovels and snow removers to bring the playing surface and seating areas up to snuff.
And here we are again, closer to May than March, battling snowy conditions once again. Tonight’s Marlins/Twins game got the axe due to snow and it appears the Rockies/Braves battle in the mountains might be threatened as well.
