Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi is headed for an MRI on his left shoulder after sustaining an injury on a diving attempt at a foul pop in yesterday’s game, writes Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. Mondesi told teammate Hunter Dozier that he thinks he dislocated his shoulder upon impact, and the video of the injury makes it apparent that the shortstop immediately knew something was wrong in his shoulder; Mondesi briefly attempted to lift his left arm before leaving it still and motioning toward his left shoulder with his right hand. The Royals obviously aren’t contending for a postseason berth, and Mondesi himself was never a trade candidate, but a prolonged absence would still be deflating for the club. The 23-year-old Mondesi has slumped a bit lately but generally been a bright spot since claiming an everyday role in 2018. Dating back to last season, Mondesi is hitting .270/.299/.462 with 21 home runs and a whopping 62 stolen bases in roughly a full season’s worth of work (156 games, 648 plate appearances).
- Red Sox right-hander Heath Hembree’s average fastball velocity is down roughly 2.5 mph since his return from the injured list, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com observes. As one would expect, Hembree’s decreased velocity and his potentially related struggles — three runs on three hits and no outs recorded Tuesday — raised red flags with manager Alex Cora and the coaching staff. Cora said after the game that the Sox would “check in” Hembree to gauge how he’s feeling, acknowledging some concern over the right-hander.
- Stephen Piscotty, on the injured list due to a sprained MCL in his right knee, is confident that he can return to the Athletics on the shorter end of his initial four- to six-week timeline, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He could begin a minor league rehab stint next week and potentially return before month’s end. Meanwhile, lefty Sean Manaea will make a third rehab start with Class-A Stockton on Thursday before transferring his rehab to Triple-A — likely for another three starts. That’d put Manaea in line for an August return — an encouraging timeline for an A’s club that once feared he’d miss the entire 2019 season.
- An MRI on Jacob Webb’s right elbow did not reveal any structural damage, writes Andrew Wagner of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As such, the Braves are hopeful that the right-hander, who was placed on the IL with an elbow impingement Monday, can begin playing catch within a matter of days. Webb, 25, has been a breath of fresh air for an Atlanta ’pen that struggled early in 2019. Through 32 1/3 innings, he’s pitched to a 1.32 ERA with nine holds and a pair of saves. Beyond the bottom-line results, Webb’s numbers are a bit of a mixed bag. He sports pedestrian strikeout and walk rates, and he’s benefited from a .233 average on balls in play and an 86 percent strand rate. However, his swinging-strike rate (13.1 percent) suggests more punchouts could manifest in the future, and Statcast is bullish on the low quality of contact he’s allowed to opponents (.281 xwOBA).
steelerbravenation
I really hope Webb’s injury doesn’t linger or worse yet the Braves doctors miss something and he come back to soon.
SecsSeksSecks
Yeah. Webb could be the closer of the Braves future. I believe he led all of the minor leagues last season with 50 saves. His strikeouts should increase and we need a good long term cheap young closer.
braveshomer
see @fabulous61 ^^…that’s insightful & non-regurgitated information and insight..take some notes
qbass187
Hembree has always been a mediocre talent. Move on from this fool.
MafiaBass
Triple digit fastballs tend to give one more leeway.
jimmyraso167
Move on? They have no one else. The whole bullpen are bums, with the exception of Workman, and even he has walked 28 guys in around 40 innings. The worst bullpen in baseball.
deweybelongsinthehall
I’d like to agree but who do you replace him with. Hopefully Eovaldi excels as the closer and then others do better in their respective new roles.
arc89
bad thing for the A’s is the play in a tough division. Indians and Twins get so many free easy games against 3 bad teams in their division its like playing AAA teams.
sacball
the A’s beat up on the Astros, Mariners, and Angels pretty badly in 2013…it happens
Occams_hairbrush
Hmm, this is odd, It seems like the Red Sox should have paid more attention to the bullpen. Who knew?