The Blue Jays announced that left-hander Francisco Liriano has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to inflammation in his left shoulder. Righty Leonel Campos has been called up from Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding move. While Liriano becomes the third Blue Jays starter to land on the disabled list (joining J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez), Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets that the team is hopeful that Liriano won’t need to spend more than the minimum 10 days on the shelf. Right-hander Mike Bolsinger will remain in the rotation and make what would’ve been Liriano’s next scheduled start on Monday, per Nicholson-Smith.
A few more notable injury updates from around the league…
- The Rockies have placed shortstop Trevor Story on the 10-day DL due to a strained left shoulder, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports. Story initially suffered the injury two nights ago in at-bat against the Cubs, though his struggles at the plate have been an ongoing issue since Opening Day. Story took Major League Baseball by storm in 2016 when he hit 27 homers through just 415 plate appearances as a rookie, though a torn ligament in his thumb cut his season short in early August. It’s possible that there are some lingering effects of that issue, as Story has batted a woeful .180/.289/.396 with a 37.5 percent strikeout rate through his first 33 games in 2017.
- The Dodgers have lost yet another starter to the disabled list, as right-hander Kenta Maeda has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to tightness in his left hamstring. Maeda, who took a shutout into the ninth inning of last night’s game, has been excellent over his past three outings (2.21 ERA, 21-to-4 K/BB ratio in 20 1/3 innings) following a rough start to the season. There’s no word on precisely how long Maeda will be sidelined just yet, though he joins Rich Hill, Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy and Brock Stewart on the L.A. disabled list.
- Brewers slugger Ryan Braun is likely headed to the disabled list, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter links). Braun recently had an MRI on a strained calf and has also been dealing with some forearm discomfort, and a short trip to the DL would allow him to rest up both issues. “I can’t really run or throw,” Braun told reporters (via Haudricourt). “Hopefully, if I get [a] little bit of downtime I’ll be able to get back to full strength.” That doesn’t sound like there’s a lengthy trip in order, but it certainly does seem to suggest that a DL placement is looming.
- Carson Smith is throwing a pair of bullpen sessions this week for the Red Sox, writes WEEI’s Rob Bradford, but fellow right-hander Tyler Thornburg doesn’t appear to be that far along. Both Smith and Thornburg were acquired over the past two offseasons in an effort to help build a bridge to Craig Kimbrel, but injuries have prevented the Sox from reaping any value from either trade. ““With Tyler, we’ll still trying to get him through some more aggressive flatground work,” manager John Farrell told reporters earlier this week. “…“It’s been a little bit of a puzzle for all involved here including Tyler, because the MRI’s that he’s gone through, while showing a little bit of an impingement, hasn’t revealed anything more structural than that.”
Senioreditor
The Dodgers rotation is a joke! Make a start, go on the DL. Either they’re abusing the new shorter DL or they’ll need to use a 7 man rotation all season long.
fred-3
They’re abusing the system. They even said Kershaw is the only one that will throw 200+ innings.
BlueSkyLA
Abusing it, to their advantage. Funny how few seem to understand what they are doing. Everybody (except Kershaw) gets to skip a start.
koz16
I have a feeling that MLB is gathering a lot of data regarding the new 10 day DL and in time they may decide to dig deeper into medical reports. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a team or two fined and a team doctor lose their job within the next season or two because team took liberties with the shorter DL.
davidcoonce74
Pretty unlikely. The owners didn’t want expanded rosters, so the 10-day DL was their solution to that. And the owners own the commissioner, of course. This is the acceptable alternative to a 26 or 27 man roster, and everybody knows that.
BlueSkyLA
Pretty much, though it works a whole lot better for the rotation if you happen to have a bunch of spare starters. In that sense the Dodgers are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the new DL rule.
ttinsley1434
Boo hoo!
dodgerfan711
Oh well thats how the system works. Get rotation depth and you will understand
bravesfan88
That is not what the new 10-day DL was originally put in place for, and everyone knows that.
Although, to the Dodgers credit, they are simply playing the cards they were dealt, and they are just taking whatever advantages they can get.
It is a cultural tradition in baseball to push every single rule to its boundaries, and sometimes teams, players, and coaches even push beyond the boundaries of the intentions of said rules.
After all, this is a league, that formerly made the following phrase famous…”If you are not cheating, you are not trying.” lol…
So, with that being said, I ultimately say good for the Dodgers, and if the league or other teams don’t like it, they should petition to have more strict rules and regulations over the 10-day DL.
davidcoonce74
The 10-day DL was indeed designed to allow teams to do exactly what the Dodgers are doing. Owners didn’t want to expand rosters to 26 or 27 players. This was the compromise. The Dodgers are using the 10-day DL exactly the way the league and the commissioner expected teams to.
DodgerDan
Maeda is fine, just being a smart team.
LA Sam
Massage the roster daily to most benefit the team over along season…O’s been doin it since Buck took over and rules changed w/minor lge options, now new 10-Day DL…use the rules they give u too ur advantage, great managing, great front office. The New Major Leagues.
cplovespie
Dodgers are pretty much using the shorter DL as a resting stop with “ghost injuries”. Not ideal but with their depth and needed for safety it’s understandable
alesebas
Depth that’s the magic word .
Weighed
I hope Lewis Brinson can come up for the Brewers.
bdpecore
Why would you want to start his service time this soon. It will likely be Michael Reed who gets the call up with Perez starting in LF.
sportsfan101
Sox have legit sucked at trading for rp besides Kimbrel for how many years now? Why is this so shocking. It’s what’s basically expected. I love dombrowski but like our past gms still trades for hurt rp.
User 4245925809
Can’t disagree with you there and they have also, to me failed previously to convert people to relief early enough who had no business starting. There have been multiple starters who should have been used after the 1st couple of seasons that failed to develop that 3rd pitch in relief, or whose fast ball would play up better in relief.
Can state Pat Light, Matt Barnes, Jamie Callahan, Pat Buttrey, Hunter Strickland. This was an organizational wide problem several years ago that seems to have been addressed over the past year with relievers showing more value league wide.. Something Boston was about last on the band wagon to jump on.
conquerbeard
It’s aggravating, for sure, but Smith and Thornburg were both healthy when acquired, yeah? That’s what I thought – excuse my ignorance if I’m wrong on that. Bad luck is a thing that happens. I’m not sure anyone anticipated Price or Thor’s major injuries, either. Back on topic – I really do hope to see both Smith and Thorny back at it this year because they’re both amazing talents. Sox bullpen is already doing pretty well [4th in era, 7th in baa] but it could be absolutely filthy if they come back sound.
mikeyank55
Don’t get exited so quickly. Though there stats are very good, they are on pace to burn out before you see the 4th of July fireworks at the Boston Pops. Kimberll is due for a mini vacation in the DL as well.
mcase7187
Well look how bad he did in Detroit they never had a bullpen
mikeyank55
This section should be renamed:
“MLB Injury Report sponsored by the New York Mets”
Robertowannabe
Looks like the Pirates knew what they were doing when they dumped Frankie’s contract last year. He was pitching like he did last year with the Pirates. Either not give up runs but not be able to get out of the 5th because of a ton of pitches thrown, then tax the bullpen or give up a bunch of runs if he gets past the 5th. Bummer cause I really liked watching him pitch but like all players, age and health ends a good thing.