Padres outfielder Justin Upton sat out today’s game with left oblique tightness, but remains hopeful that he’ll avoid a DL stint, MLB.com’s Corey Brock reports. Needless to say, it’s not a great time for the injury to crop up: the team is perhaps taking a final shot at re-entering the postseason hunt before the deadline. And if it can’t, the pending free agent may be one of the most important players marketed this summer. Assistant GM Josh Stein said that Upton will likely miss “a couple of days,” but any absence beyond that may be rather concerning.
Here are some more injury notes from around the league:
- The Giants expect to welcome back outfielder Nori Aoki in relatively short order, as Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports. That’s certainly good news for San Francisco, as a successful return of Aoki (joining Hunter Pence in that regard) would reduce or even eliminate the team’s need to add an outfielder at the deadline.
- Meanwhile, Giants starter Tim Lincecum has been out with an arm injury, but manager Bruce Bochy revealed today that he’s also received treatment for “degenerative” hip issues, as Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports. The problem, which is not considered to be a threat to his career, has existed since late last year. Lincecum received cortisone shots and is set to resume throwing in a few days, but as Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News wrote earlier today, it’s far from clear whether he’ll ever again impact the Giants staff.
- Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton is preparing to resume swinging, though his timeframe remains unclear, as Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. While that’s great news for anyone who enjoys the game of baseball, Stanton obviously will not return in time to impact the team’s deadline plans.
- Spencer provides several other updates on injured Marlins: Righty Jarred Cosart, who was acquired on deadline day last summer has again been diagnosed with vertigo. And fellow starter Henderson Alvarez has struggled quite a bit as he tries to work back from shoulder inflammation on a rehab stint.
- The Dodgers will welcome back outfielder Carl Crawford from the 60-day DL, as Carlos Collazo writes for MLB.com. A right oblique injury has shelved him for quite some time, and it looks like he’ll be headed for a bench role upon his return. Fellow highly-paid corner outfielder Andre Ethier has played well this year, leaving Crawford without an obvious spot in the regular lineup. It remains to be seen whether the always-active Dodgers will look to move either player (or one of the team’s numerous other options) over the coming weeks.
- Rockies first baseman Justin Morneau says that he still hopes to make it back to the team this year, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. The veteran has managed to resume baseball activities as he seeks to work back from a concussion and neck sprain, and says the latter is a larger concern than the former. Certainly, it’s good to hear that Morneau’s long battle with concussion issues is not the primary cause for his long absence, and he adds that he has no plans to retire at this point. Morneau once looked like a possible trade candidate, though that ship has probably sailed. It remains to be seen how things will progress on his contract, which includes a $9MM mutual option ($750K club buyout) for next season.
- The Padres appear set to send righty Brandon Morrow out on a rehab assignment as soon as this weekend, Beth Maiman of MLB.com reports. It will obviously be hard for San Diego to rely on much of a contribution from the 30-year-old in spite of that promising development, as he has dealt with various arm issues for much of his career. Morrow, who was added on a cheap, one-year deal, threw 33 innings of 2.73 ERA ball earlier in the season.
snazzypants
The Padres are the latest team to learn that free agent splurges and blockbusters trades do not make a team a championship contender overnight. I will say this though, the fact that they managed to hold on to most of their top prospects makes this situation a little more manageable for San Diegoans (San Diegoites? Heh, Anchorman reference)
everlastingdave
I don’t know if you could say they kept most of their top prospects. The Myers, Kimbrel, and Upton trades took some serious bites out of the system.
snazzypants
They managed to keep Hedges and Renfoe, but after checking, you’re right, those trades did really hurt them. Sorry Pads fans!
BlueSkyLA
Assuming of course that the purpose of trades and free agent signings is to make a team into a championship contender overnight. The real and more immediate purpose might be the more modest one of fielding a team that does not circle the drain year after year.
snazzypants
Is it just me, or does everyone else keep forgetting Carl Crawford is still around? I totally forgot about him until just now. It’s a shame that he always has these injuries and is in a logjam, because he’s shown flashes of his old self over the last few years (When healthy of course!)
Carlos760
He’s still s good player can hit rhp & leftys, but always is hurt. That’s why he doesn’t have a spot anymore.
willi
He does have a Spot, on the Bench. Making Big Money Too !
BlueSkyLA
Crawford’s recent health problems have been more bad luck than anything else. Nothing you’d call chronic. But no, Dodgers fans have not forgotten him. They’ve seen him play very well and know there’s a spot at the top of the lineup that is currently going wanting and are wondering if he might not be called on to fill it.
A'sfaninUK
Ethier, Pederson, Puig, Van Slyke & Guerrero are all hitting. There is absolutely no spot for Carl Crawford on this Dodgers team.
BlueSkyLA
Pederson over the last month is hitting a delightful .175/.275/.263/.537. Puig is racking up an impressive line of .197/.288/.296/.583. Guerrero is hitting a massive .148/.148/.148/.296. Compared to that, Van Slyke at .238/.407/.476/.884 is great. Eithier is doing great, though, so I guess you were close.
Oh, and my point: Of these players only Pederson bats leadoff. That potentially is where Crawford will find a place in this lineup.
A'sfaninUK
How much money would it take for a team to trade for Crawford? He’s owed $43M over 16+17 (he’ll turn 35+36 during those years), plus whatever is left this year. He cant hit lefties, fangraphs has him at just average defensively and he’s a constant injury risk. I think he’d be worth about $4M a year on the open market, at most.
Perhaps the Dodgers could pull a similar move to AZ and package him with a nice prospect so they don’t have to eat almost his entire contract to get rid of him?
BlueSkyLA
Crawford’s career splits against LHP: .261/.308/.377/.684/.695.
heisenberg58
I’m a little skeptical of this oblique injury given the timing of it and the fact that he doesn’t want to leave SD right now.
The Oregonian
Whether they trade Upton at the deadline or not, he won’t be a Padre in 2016. The team might look more balanced next year (Kemp, Myers and Renfroe still as corner OF options) if they acquire a left-handed bat with the resources no longer going to Upton. Denard Span, Chris Davis, and Gerardo Parra will be free agents this offseason, or maybe they could trade for Ben Revere or even Carlos Gonzalez.
marinest21 2
Span would be a perfect fit for the Friars. Like you said, along with his LH’ed bat, he puts the ball in play (/doesn’t SO a ton), and he has great range in center field.
As a long-time Padres fan, I’ve realized it’s time to come to grips with the reality of Petco Park. Unless you add a guy like Stanton (a once-in-a-decade type power bat), the team is never going to hit a ton of home runs in that yard. We’ve added a lot of big names to the roster, and all of them (maybe with the exception of Norris) have seen their power numbers decrease significantly. Moving forward, we should use the KC Royals model = build a team with speed, athleticism, defense, contact hitting with not many home runs but very few strikeouts (SO important now with offense dwindling across the board), and a lights-out bullpen. The Padres seemed to have this approach previously, drafting/trading for guys like Rico Noel, Donavan Tate, Jace Peterson, Travis Jankowski, Reymond Fuentes, Mallex Smith, Corey Spangenberg, Cameron Maybin, Michael Gettys, even Trea Turner – but with the frequent instability in the GM’s office (Towers-Hoyer-Byrnes-Preller, 4 GM’s in 6 years), a constant philosophy just can’t seem to stick. Granted, a lot of the above names haven’t panned out, but in my mind they fit the mold of what not only needs to be emphasized, but ingrained in drafts and player acquisitions to come.
A'sfaninUK
Two Cy Youngs and title(s) and on the road to the HOF before turning 27, then immediately becoming an afterthought at 27…Lincecum sure turned into Bret Saberhagen really quick.
Dock_Elvis
You’d be pressed to find many who thought Lincecum had longevity. I’ve thought he needed to be shifted to a short relief roll….his stuff would be/have been elite over an inning or two. I saw some potential as a muli-inning closer
gilgunderson
Me, too. I wish Bochy, Sabean, and Righetti had the vision to permanently move him to the ‘pen a couple of years ago, but they obviously felt they needed him in the rotation.
His own lack of focus and dedication to staying in shape and keeping his mechanics consistent also didn’t help.
Dock_Elvis
I really don’t know how you fix his mechanics, given how unique his are. Plus he’d have been a very well paid reliever. I would envision Lincecum as a 2-3 inning 3 run lead closer in the old school sense..with a more high leverage single inning stopper in there.
People can play revisionism… But he won 2 Cy Youngs and a pair of rings…and he brought much needed personality to a game whose players have grown bland and prepackaged…that’s a career itself. Truly great pitchers do roll with the changes….injured or not..Lincecum was going to need to figure out how to win with less than electric stuff at some point.