Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Holland Halted
A changing of the guard in Kansas City was already in the works, but a serious elbow injury expedited the transition Thursday.
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The Royals had already anointed Wade Davis, not Greg Holland, as the team’s closer for the rest of the season, but it was announced Thursday that Holland won’t pitch again this season due to a ligament tear in his right elbow. Holland will be examined next week by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, but Tommy John surgery seems likely.
Issues actually popped up last September before the team’s run to the World Series, but an MRI last month confirmed the fact that Holland had sustained a tear of the ligament. Holland continued to pitch with mixed results, but Royals manager Ned Yost said the organization finally had to make the decision for him.
“It just got to a point where the kid is such a competitor, he’s going to go until he can’t go anymore,” Yost said.
Holland said his ineffectiveness — the once-dominant closer owned a 3.83 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in 44 2/3 innings this season — and the approaching postseason led him to agree with the team’s decision.
“The coaching staff, they weren’t comfortable, and I wasn’t really either, potentially out there two or three days in a row,” Holland said.
Even with Holland on the sidelines, the Royals boast one of the game’s toughest bullpens. The aforementioned Davis will slide seamlessly into the stopper role, with Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson and Luke Hochevar able to pitch in high-leverage spots. Lefties Franklin Morales and Danny Duffy will also be sprinkled in as situations arise.
As for Holland, if he indeed needs Tommy John surgery then he’ll almost certainly be non-tendered by the Royals this winter. Davis, already a must-own in 2015, would become a top closer for next season if he isn’t already.
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Hanley (Shoulder) Done For The Season
There’s insult, there’s injury, and then there’s Hanley Ramirez‘ 2015 season.
The shortstop-turned-outfielder struggled at the plate, in the field and with the injury bug this season, and the Red Sox officially shut Ramirez down for the season on Thursday. The latest injury, lingering inflammation in his right shoulder, is what finally did him in.
“Unfortunately, his shoulder was just not responding the way we wanted it to,” said Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo on Thursday. “His effort, his focus, his interest in playing first base never, ever waned. It was just a matter of his right shoulder not responding to what he was asking it to do.”
Thus ends a thoroughly disappointing season for the 31-year-old. Ramirez, when on the field, hit .249/.291/.426 in 105 games this year. He was also a disaster in the outfield, rating as a below average fielder by almost any metric.
Prior to being shut down, Ramirez hadn’t played since August 26 with the injury. Lovullo said surgery isn’t likely, so Ramirez should be ready by the start of next spring.
Where he’ll be — both geographically and on the field — is still undecided. Just a year after signing him to a large contract, the Red Sox would surely be willing to deal the 31-year-old for the right offer. And if he’s still in Boston, the team had hopes he might transition to first base after proving to be a liability in the outfield.
With Ramirez done for the rest of the year, some uncertainty remains about his ability to make a smooth transition.
“You’d prefer to see him play it in a game,” said president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. “He’s going to have some growing pains, but I think he’s also in a position where he’ll be able to play the position, from what I’ve seen. But I also think it will benefit him to go through six or seven weeks of spring training.”
It should be an interesting spring, wherever he is.
Hazen Named New Red Sox GM
Much of Hanley’s, and everyone with the Red Sox’, future could be decided in part by the man hired by the club Thursday.
Mike Hazen, the former assistant general manager, was hired by Dombrowski as the team’s next general manager, taking over for the departed Ben Cherington. Hazen, 39, has been a member of the organization for 10 years, working his way up from director of player development.
While the GM title often comes with a large degree of decision-making ability, the chain of command in Boston will still start with Dombrowski, who left his job as the Tigers’ general manager last month.
“Role of GM will be a little different with Dave,” Hazen said. “Power is not something any of us talk about. Dave is making the decisions in the end. With the things we’ve done underneath the hood on major league player development, amateur scouting, international scouting, we hope to put Dave in the best position possible to make the best decisions possible for the Red Sox.”
Hazen and Dombrowski will have their work cut out for them to figure out how to get the Red Sox out of the cellar and back into contention in the AL East as early as 2016. The high-priced, underperforming club sits at 72-80 after Thursday’s loss to the Rays.
National League Quick Hits: With time running out, it’s doubtful that Yasiel Puig (hamstring) will make it back before the end of the year, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly acknowledged. Puig re-strained his right hamstring four weeks ago and is still only running at 70 percent effort … Jonathan Lucroy (concussion), on the other hand, was finally cleared to play. He’s been out since September 8 due to concussion symptoms, but the paperwork went through Thursday and he had a pinch-hit single in Thursday’s game. He’ll play first base for the rest of the year as he works his way back from the concussion … Charlie Blackmon (neck) sat out again Thursday after being a late scratch the day before. Neck stiffness forced him out of the lineup Wednesday … Justin Turner (knee) returned to the Dodgers’ lineup after missing four games due to soreness. The infielder went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored in his first game back … Nolan Arenado (head) showed no ill effects upon his return to the lineup Thursday, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI … Aramis Ramirez (groin) sat out again Thursday, two days after leaving with left groin tightness … Danny Espinosa‘s season is over after suffering a torn hamstring Sunday. The infielder ends the year batting .240/.311/.409 with 13 homers and 59 runs scored … Starling Marte loves Colorado. The outfielder went 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored Thursday, the fifth straight game in which he’s had at least two hits. He’s 15-for-25 (.600) in that span.
American League Quick Hits: An MRI of Zach Britton‘s left lat muscle showed no major structural damage, good news for the closer’s long-term outlook. In the short term, Darren O’Day will continue to see save chances — perhaps for the rest of the season — with Britton ailing … Masahiro Tanaka (hamstring) will throw a bullpen in the next few days, the Yankees announced, and he could rejoin the starting rotation early next week. Tanaka had his scheduled Wednesday start skipped due to the Grade 1 strain … Pablo Sandoval was diagnosed with pneumonia Thursday, a diagnosis that could spell the end of his season. On Thursday, Sandoval missed his fourth straight game due to the illness … Michael Brantley (shoulder) was out of the Indians’ lineup again Thursday. He hurt the shoulder diving for a ball in Tuesday’s game and, while not terribly serious, it’s unclear when he’ll be back in the lineup … Salvador Perez (knee) went 1-for-4 in his return to the lineup … James Paxton left his start Thursday with a torn fingernail on his pitching hand. Staying healthy remains Paxton’s biggest challenge.
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