The Rockies have placed outfielder Gerardo Parra on the 15-day disabled list due to a high ankle sprain, reports MLB.com’s Thomas Harding (via Twitter). Parra will be in a walking boot for the next week, but there’s no word beyond that on the length of time the first-year Rox outfielder will miss. Parra, 29, is hitting .263 and showing solid pop (.160 ISO), but he’s drawn just four walks this season (one intentional), which has resulted in a 274 OBP — the ninth-lowest in baseball among qualified hitters. A corresponding move for Parra’s absence hasn’t been announced, but the Rockies have Brandon Barnes, Rafael Ynoa and Raimel Tapia as minor league outfield options on the 40-man roster.
A few more injury situations worth monitoring…
- Athletics lefty Rich Hill is still about a week away from throwing off a mound, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. With his last outing having come on May 29, it seems likely that Hill will need to make at least one minor league rehab start, which could push his return back into late June or early July depending on the exact timing of his ability to throw off a mound.
- MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes that Braves right-hander Shae Simmons, who is recovering from 2015 Tommy John surgery, still doesn’t have a target date to return to the Atlanta bullpen after a pair of setbacks in his rehab. Simmons has had two bouts of shoulder discomfort, and while an MRI has revealed that the shoulder is structurally sound, he’s been diagnosed with tendinitis in his right lat muscle. The 25-year-old Simmons last pitched for the Braves in 2014 when he logged a 2.91 ERA with a 23-to-11 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings.
- Right-hander Chad Billingsley acknowledged yesterday in an interview with Bruce Hefflinger of the Crescent-News that his elbow injuries may have brought his career to an end. Per Billingsley, doctors told him at the end of the season to rest his arm for seven months, but that time frame has passed and he’s still unable to throw a ball at more than 50 to 60 percent. The concern with ramping up his intensity would be that it could lead to a torn flexor tendon. “If a tendon tore it would be total reconstruction surgery,” Billingsley explained. “If that happens you start flirting with everyday life. But I’ve not totally given up. Most likely it’s career ending. The doctors don’t know anybody that has come back from it. If I do come back, it will most likely be out of the bullpen in some kind of short relief.” Billingsley pitched 37 innings for the Phillies last season but had his season cut short by a flexor strain. He also had Tommy John surgery in 2013 and a second elbow operation in 2014.
I’d really love to see what Tapia can do in LF. It makes more sense to call him up as a starter than the other two, unless they are going to make Raburn the starter while Parra is out. Even still, I’d rather check out Tapia. But the Rockies will undoubtedly do the most boring thing and bring up Barnes yet again to be mediocre or worse Ynoa to be flat out bad.
No team in baseball would bring up Tapia in these circumstances. This is not a starting role we’re talking about — Raburn is the starter and he deserves it and will be much better than Tapia. You don’t bring a very young kid in AA up for a couple weeks of pinch-hitting. Barnes will come up to be a defensive sub and RH pinch hitter.
Yeah I get that. I said, IF he was going to be the starter, then I’d rather see him. Barnes is fine as the back up. I’d rather never see Ynoa put on a Rockies uniform ever again.
What kind of injury did he suffer to be career ending? The 2nd elbow surgery?