The Rays have decided to start ace lefty Blake Snell today after he bounced back quicker than expected from a minor toe fracture, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. There are some obvious risks to bringing him back before he’s ready, but the organization obviously feels that isn’t the case. The reigning American League Cy Young winner has been outstanding once again early in 2019, with a 2.16 ERA and 13.0 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9 over 25 frames.
More on the health front, focusing on some other AL hurlers:
- Indians righty Carlos Carrasco departed his start yesterday early with some left knee discomfort and will undergo an MRI to make sure there isn’t an injury. It’s being billed as a precautionary measure, as MLB.com’s Mandy Bell reports (via Twitter). The Indians will hope it comes back clean, as he’s a key part of the team’s plan to fend off challengers in the AL Central. Carrasco has had a few rough outings this year, but has also spun a pair of 12-strikeout gems and was getting the job done yesterday before tweaking the joint.
- Rangers starter Drew Smyly was placed on the 10-day injured list yesterday with what the club described as mid-arm nerve tightness in his left arm. It seems the hope is that he’ll only miss a start or two; the placement was back-dated to April 20th. The 29-year-old Smyly hasn’t quite had the bounceback campaign he was hoping for to this point, with a 7.80 ERA, 19:10 K/BB ratio, and four home runs allowed through 15 innings over four starts. Right-handed Wei-Chieh Huang is up to take the open roster spot. He made his MLB debut earlier this season and has been throwing well at Double-A.
- The Athletics sent righty Marco Estrada in for an “ablation procedure” on his balky back yesterday, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to cover (Twitter links). It seems he’ll be out through at least early May, though there isn’t a precise timeline just yet. The hope seems to be that this surgery will speed things up a bit. Meanwhile, the A’s hoping that reliever Lou Trivino will bounce back quickly after he was struck in the thumb by a baseball. He’s taking a few days but not slated to hit the injured list at the moment.
- The Tigers announced yesterday that lefty Blaine Hardy was heading to the IL with a left forearm strain. Injuries to that area can be quite concerning for a pitcher, but there’s no real indication at this point of the outlook for the 32-year-old. After dabbling with the rotation in 2018, Hardy has been utilized in a multi-inning relief capacity thus far, throwing a dozen frames in eight appearances. Fellow southpaw Jose Fernandez takes his spot on the active roster.
I hope the Rays are able to lock Snell up long term. I hate seeing a team develop talent like that only to trade them away in a couple of years when they get expensive. The Rays came along 50 years too late. They would have been a powerhouse before free agency. Imagine their roster if they could have kept all of their players over the past decade.
Is 5 years, $50 M long enough for you?
Damn… ya beat me to it.
They locked up Snell about a month ago. About a 50 mil contract.
Ablation procedure (Radio Frequency Ablation) is not really a surgery. It is more like accupuncture but it uses needles and Radio Frequency to burn nerves and stop pain in the lower back. I just had two of these (left and right sides). Only partially successful.
Being a chronic back pain sufferer, that procedure sounds enticingly interesting.
See if your local hospital has a pain clinic or pain specialist. The procedure is usually effective and can last for 6 months to 5 years. I should change my opinion as I went in for my followup yesterday and now realize that I have been much benefited. They do one side at a time – left side and then right side or whichever is the worst can be done first. Lots to be learned but you need to have an MRI or Cat scan done first so they can see how to work on the problem. I did mine without any pain meds – they do give some numbing shots to the area affected. Very little discomfort.
“Nerve tightness”? That’s not real.
Nerves can stretch and tighten, so yes it is. Look it up.
At my age, when my nerve “stretches and tightens”, it’s a cause for celebration……
So yeah… turns out we will neither get innings nor will we be able to get a cheap return on Estrada if we don’t compete this year. That sucks.
On the bright side Mengden’s last outing was good, Montas is looking solid, Chris Bassitt is tolerable when he can find the strike zone and I’m looking forward to Parker Dunshee and Brian Howard making the move from Double A because why not.
Good to see Jose Fernandez back in the MLB
Every single move Beane made this offseason sucked. Maybe the highest-profile GM fail this offseason. Why did they play with fire twice with pitching? Anderson only pitches 10 times a year, Estrada’s stuff was terrible last year, Soria instead of Kimbrel, Grossman for no reason, even Profar, who was at least good last year, still blocks Mateo and Barreto. Letting Richie Martin go for nothing. No Keuchel even now, when his stuff plays perfectly in Oakland, basically saying “Aaron Brooks deserves a rotation spot over Keuchel”. Any poster on these threads could have done better. Beane keeps trying to zag all the time, when he needs to keep zigging.
And you say my comments are dumb?? Anyone who follows baseball knows the A’s are small market team. There would be no chance whatsoever the A’s were to sign both Keuchel and Kimbrel let alone only one of them. Especially Kimbrel since they already have a closer, and I doubt he would accept a set up role. Did Keuchel makes since for the A’s? Yes, as he did for several others teams, but even the big market teams did not want to sign him at his price tag. The A’s have three years of control with Profar. It was a great trade in my opinion. As for Richie Martin, look at his stats with the O’s. I wouldn’t be surprised he continues to hit abysmal and the O’s return him to the A’s.