Collateral Damage Daily for May 16

The DL does not discriminate; it includes everyone from superstars to players making their major-league debuts. Acute, traumatic injuries are mostly unavoidable, even if rules are changed to address this. Collisions at the plate are going to happen. It’s unfortunate, because we have seen recently how dangerous these plays are.

Additions

• It eventually had to come to this. Matt Kemp was placed on the disabled list with a strained hamstring. It’s been going on for a while, and although Kemp has been able to play, he clearly hasn’t been the same player as he was earlier in the year. It goes without saying that the Dodgers cannot afford to have Kemp on the DL for a long time, nor can they rush him back too early only for him to get re-injured. In the interim, newcomer Bobby Abreu and Jerry Sands will sort out the playing time.
• In his major-league debut, Sandy Leon blocked the plate like he did a hundred times before. After the resulting collision he usually pops back up, dusts himself off, and gets right back to it. Not this time, though. He suffered a high right ankle sprain on Tuesday night and tried to walk it off, but he had to be helped off the field. On Wednesday, he was placed on the DL for the first time in his major-league career and will be out for a while. These high ankle sprains can take forever to get better, especially for a catcher, since so much stress is placed on these ligaments in the crouch. I wouldn’t be surprised if Leon misses months rather than weeks. Carlos Maldonado will be brought up to back up Jesus Flores.
• Jon Jay has dealt with right shoulder soreness for several weeks after first separating his shoulder into the outfield wall way back on April 19. This became more apparent over the last week ending with a 1-for-15 streak. His first trip to the major-league DL shouldn’t be too long but the Cardinals do need to be cautious because these separated shoulders can linger for a while. Shane Robinson was recalled to take Jay’s roster spot.
• The best medical team in the world couldn’t have prevented Jeff Niemann’s injury last night. A ball came screaming off the bat of Adam Lind to strike Niemann above the ankle. Niemann was able to finish the inning, thinking that it was merely a bad bruise. He actually suffered a small fracture of the fibula, a bone on the outside of the ankle and lower leg. These tend to heal well with proper treatment and about four to six weeks of rest and rehab. Josh Lueke filled Niemann’s roster spot, but Alex Cobb or Chris Archer will take his rotation spot.
• David Robertson was placed on the DL yesterday because of a left oblique strain but is optimistic that he can return right around the minimum amount of time. Of course, he needs to let his oblique rest, so he’s not going to pick up a ball and throw for at least a week. After that, the team will see where Robertson stands in terms of comfort and stiffness.

Subtractions

• Jeremy Guthrie was activated from the DL yesterday to start against the Giants. It’s unlikely he’s going to re-injure the shoulder, but there is always concern for a compensatory type injury. A pitcher missing only 22 days with a sprained shoulder is a good sign that the injury wasn’t severe and is unlikely to lead to compensatory changes, but the concern is always there. Carlos Torres was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
• Jesse Crain was activated from the disabled list. Crain missed 24 days as a result of his strained left oblique. Eric Stults was designated for assignment Tuesday.
• Justin Morneau will be activated before today’s game, and Chris Parmelee will be sent down. Morneau will likely be battling wrist inflammation every once in awhile but won’t always need trips to the DL to solve them. Morneau wants to head back to first base, so the Twins may have to monitor him to make sure he doesn’t go too hard too fast. It’s encouraging that he only needed the minimum amount of time to get back.