The Rockies announced that left-hander Lucas Gilbreath has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left elbow flexor strain. In a corresponding move, right-hander Alex Colome went the other direction, getting reinstated from the IL. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets that Gilbreath will undergo an MRI.
While the severity of the issue still isn’t known, it’s at least enough for Gilbreath to miss the next couple of weeks. An issue to a pitcher’s throwing elbow is always somewhat worrisome, though the club will surely get more information before deciding how to proceed. The Rox are in the basement of the National League West and won’t be in contention down the stretch, meaning there will be little incentive to rush him back to the mound.
Gilbreath has been an effective southpaw for Colorado over the past couple of seasons, registering a 3.78 ERA, not too shabby for someone who plays their home games at Coors Field. In 85 2/3 career innings, he has a 25% strikeout rate and 45.7% groundball rate, though an elevated 13.2% walk rate.
Some other injury notes from the Senior Circuit…
- Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin is still trying to get back on the mound this season, having been on the injured list since late June due to a right knee bruise. Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that Eflin might be able to throw a bullpen this week, with the aim of eventually returning as a reliever. Given that there’s just over a month remaining in the regular season, it would be difficult for him to build back up to a starter’s workload in time to make a significant contribution. The righty has quietly been an effective member of the rotation, having registered a 4.21 ERA over 98 games, 93 of them starts, going back to the beginning of the 2018 season. He is highly likely to reach free agency this year, as he and the Phils have a mutual option for 2023, with those provisions almost never being triggered by both parties. The club currently holds the second of three Wild Card spots in the National League and a postseason run could give Eflin more time to showcase his health before reaching the open market.
- Reds righty Hunter Greene is set to head out on a rehab assignment, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. He’s been out of action for over three weeks now due to a strain in his throwing shoulder, though appears to be slated to return after a couple of rehab outings. The highly-touted rookie is known for his tremendous velocity, though he’s yet to put it to great use at the big league level. He currently owns a 5.26 ERA after 102 2/3 innings in the majors, despite a strong 28.8% strikeout rate. When batters don’t strike out, they appear to be making good contact, as Greene’s barrel percentage is only in the league’s 10th percentile while his hard hit rate is in the 30th percentile. He’ll look to finish the season on a positive note before the winter begins. Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft are all under 25 years old and showed intriguing skills in their debuts this year. The Reds will surely be hoping to maximize the talents of that trio in order to have a strong foundation of starting pitching to build around in the future.
- Righty Jack Flaherty is going to throw another rehab start on Wednesday before rejoining the Cardinals on Labor Day, tweets Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. After an elite season in 2019 wherein he threw 196 1/3 innings with a 2.75 ERA, Flaherty is now in his third straight injury-limited campaign. He’s made just three starts this year in between IL stints due to shoulder injuries. If he’s able to return and flash his 2019 form, he’d be a tremendous difference maker for the Cards down the stretch and into the postseason. The club is currently 5 1/2 games ahead of the Brewers in the race for the division crown. Flaherty hasn’t allowed more than one earned run in each of his last three rehab outings.
- Cubs lefty Wade Miley is still looking to make his way back to a mound before the season is out, speaking to Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times about his year. “I can’t shut it down,” Miley said. “If I want to keep playing baseball beyond this year, I have to prove to people that I’m not broke. And I don’t feel like I’m broke by any means.” After throwing 163 innings with a 3.37 ERA with the Reds last year, he was claimed on waivers by the Cubs but has been limited to just four starts and 19 innings here in 2022, due to various ailments, primarily in his throwing shoulder. He will be hoping to return to action and show some effectiveness before the end of the season, when he will become a free agent and turn 36 years old in November.
I liked Wade Miley when he was with the Reds, but I looked at his previous years stats and it seems he has been very up and down the last several years. One year he is great but the next year injuries seem to derail him and then great again and so on. Looking back, this year would have been an injury year for him and it has come to pass. People destroyed the Reds for giving him away for nothing in the offseason. I was one of those that did not agree with some of the moves they made but this one didn’t bother me. Now it looks like the Reds weren’t so stupid and cheap after all. Same with most of the other players they traded or let walk. Most of them are having below average seasons and aren’t exactly living up to their contracts. Maybe should just trust the process for a few years and see what happens.
The team needed to be blown up, I was in favor of the moves. I liked Winker but he was often hurt, bad in the field, and couldn’t hit lefties. Gray seemed like an injury concern, Miley wasn’t a guy going to repeat 2021, Barnhart can’t hit at all, Castellanos opted out and wanted a bunch more years, Suarez was bad the last few. People acted like we made a magical run in 2021 and were blowing it up. Truth is, it needed to happen to get younger and revamp the farm. Trust the process
I think part of the factor is that people didn’t feel they were gutted for much return. I mean, remember, they didn’t even get anything for Miley but salary relief from him being claimed. It could be said that they just didn’t get any offers that they liked, but I’m sure there had to have been some kind of lotto offer. Coming off a decent season, it’d be hard to believe nobody would’ve at least offered that.
Their trade deadline moves were at least more received because it was felt they took back some good prospects. From all I remember hearing about their offseason moves, I remember the general consensus seeming to just be that they to obviously favored money savings over getting better prospects.
Now it looks like the Reds weren’t so stupid and cheap after all.
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It was the writers that were on that idiotic rant. The Reds traded Barnhart, Miley, Suarez, Winker & Gray. Those four players combined for 5.4 bWAR for $45.2M. If you added in Castellanos, it would be $65M for 4.9 WAR.
I didn’t care much for the return, but the trades were 100% correct (except they should’ve been done one year earlier).
The Reds got lucky with Miley. I doubt they jettisoned his salary because they were forecasting an injury. They were dumping salary. He happened to get hurt this year, so they got lucky. The test is when the team gets lucky, what do they do with the luck? In the Reds case, they saved $10mm on Miley and invested that in Mike Minor, who has been truly awful. I would have rather seen an additional $10mm go to player development — facilities, coaching, etc. That would have generated a higher return than Mike Minor.
Why does it seem like Flaherty is going to turn a miraculous medical corner next year and be an ace before going into free agency?
I think you are correct. It seems the lure of multi-million dollar contracts translate to a fountain of health and superhuman talent for one season and then nothing all too often. Well at least the Cardinals will benefit mightily for one season if that does happen.
…and then he will sign that big free agent contract and the injuries will begin again. This guy is going to be a headache for some team out there, and not just because of the injuries.
Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case, but it’s clear he wants out of St. Louis so maybe he would be happy somewhere else and somehow stay healthy.
If Flaherty can come back and pitch the way he’s capable for the remainder of this season, we’re going to be tough to beat.
The multi-million dollar word is “if.” He needs to get in Wainwright’s back pocket and learn from the “master,” yes, Waino had tommy John, but he still comes from the by-gone era of lasting more than 5 innings.
This narrative that a number of players only get healthy in time for free agency either needs some real evidence and data to back it up, or it needs to go away. Otherwise, it’s simply insulting to the players’ character.
Flaherty has the proverbial glass jaw, he should put himself in Wainwright‘s back pocket and learn from the master on how to last in this game, and yes, Waino did have Tommy John, but Flaherty won’t last into his 40’s without some changes.
The number of pitchers who can do what Waino does is small, which is why he’s an exception to the rule that most pitchers don’t last long in the majors.
Look no further than 2022 Aaron Judge.
Imagine if Alex Reyes does it, too (although probably only as a reliever). It would be even more of a miracle in his case.
Any pitcher lasting until age 40 and beyond is a minor miracle. Citing one who does as an example or expectation for another pitcher is setting everyone up for disappointment.
I’m talking about Reyes possibly having a healthy season next year just in time for free agency like the original post suggested about Flaherty, not anything about him pitching into his 40s.
I’m a Phillies fan and they faced Lodolo twice over the past two weeks. He really looks good for a rookie. Would love to see this trio (with Ashcraft and Greene) be big contributors for Cincy. Their fans truly deserve a better team than what they’ve been putting out there. Maybe the team can lock them up now for the next 7-10 years with deals that benefit both sides.
Gilbreath has quietly turned into a decent reliever after looking pretty bad when he was first up (I was surprised to see he had positive WAR in 2021). If this elbow injury is bad, the Rockies bullpen next year is looking like Daniel Bard and a whole lot of nothing, at least until they get Tyler Kinley back from his own elbow surgery.
1-There was no reason to promote Greene as early as they did. He had only 65 AAA innings, and the 3.4 BB9 was pedestrian, and the Reds weren’t going to compete.
2-They cannot roll back the clock at this point, but he probably should be shut down. If he feels great, maybe give him 1-2 outings of 3 innings each, so he can leave on a high note. But the dude is a beast. Anything that risks his already fragile health would be idiotic.
I would hope——- This year with Flaherty coming off the injured list—- the Cardinals wouldn’t do what they have done in the past!!
Don’t let him blow out his shoulder again by throwing him in aa a starter immediately when he returns. Place him in long relief or even a back up closer. At least until the playoffs begin. If he consistently does well—- He’s a reserve starter when the Cardinals need him.
The Cardinals won’t beat the Dodgers, Mets, Braves or Padres. If Harper is healthy they’d be even money with the Phillies. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but with or without Flaherty, They are not gonna win.
You never know what will happen in a playoff series. The Cardinals aren’t far behind any of them in talent level except arguably the Dodgers (and they’re better than the Phillies even with Harper), and they did just beat the Braves 2 games out of 3.
Better than the Phillies? H2H record check?
Why would you judge solely by head to head records instead of overall records, runs scored and allowed, or even analytics like BaseRuns or Phythagorean record?
Hard to see anyone beat the Dodgers, but they did just win 2 out of 3 against Atlanta. Flaherty would strengthen the starting rotation by quite a lot, allowing them to keep up in that area at least. Bullpen still has holes, and offense can be inconsistent but I wouldn’t bet against them against the teams you listed. Also, can’t ignore the devil magic.
Flaherty’s injuries are all the result of social injustice within the world. He bears physical ailments in relation to the emotional anguish others feel.