Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Moose, Confined
A lingering thumb injury was revealed to be more than that for Mike Moustakas on Saturday.
Moustakas, who had played as recently as Wednesday with what the Royals were calling a bruised thumb, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a bone fracture in the base of his left thumb. The move was retroactive to Thursday.
Moustakas had tried to play through the pain for over a week, saying he believes he sustained the injury on April 26 while applying a tag. As the thumb got progressively worse — his hand was too swollen for him to wear a glove on Friday afternoon — the next move became evident.
“The way I was feeling, I was able to get some good treatments in before every game,” Moustakas said. “They did a great job of trying to get me ready to play, and at the end of the day, I couldn’t play. What I was doing out on the field wasn’t helping the team at all.”
Moustakas is only expected to miss 15 to 21 days, according to the initial prognosis from Royals head trainer Nick Kenney, but it’s not a small loss for the Royals. The 27-year-old is hitting .258/.314/.536 with seven home runs and 13 RBI in 25 games, and their internal options at the position — most likely Cheslor Cuthbert, who was recalled to take Moustakas’ roster spot, and Christian Colon — don’t inspire a lot of confidence.
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Dodgers Considering Urias Promotion
With the Dodgers’ bullpen struggling, one of the team’s brightest young starting prospects could be the answer for the team’s major league pen problems.
The Dodgers have discussed promoting top prospect Julio Urias to help the relief corps, a group that had a 4.26 ERA ahead of Saturday’s win over the Blue Jays. Outside of closer Kenley Jansen, the team has had issues finding reliable help in finishing games.
“We’re looking through a lot of options,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Urias is definitely at the top of the list.”
Urias, 19, ranked in the top-10 of most major prospect publications ahead of the 2016 season and has a 1.88 ERA, 0.70 WHIP and 29/3 K/BB ratio over 24 innings at Triple-A Oklahoma City this year. Also important for the Dodgers, Urias is left-handed, an area where they’ve had serious issues recently.
With Jansen around and the team not currently considering Urias for a starting job, it’s hard to see him finding much fantasy value in the early going. But given his pedigree, it would still be fun to watch him face major league hitters before his 20th birthday.
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D’Arnaud Suffers Setback
Travis d’Arnaud got bad news Saturday.
The catcher, testing his right shoulder for the first time since suffering a rotator cuff strain, felt discomfort in the shoulder. As a result, his rehab was shut down.
Mets assistant general manager John Ricco said d’Arnaud “felt something in there” but said it wasn’t as bad as the original injury. Even so, Mets manager Terry Collins expressed disappointment at the development.
“Pretty discouraging for him and us,” Collins said. “But once again, there’s a process involved, and maybe we didn’t wait long enough. After a few days, you feel pretty good and you think you can do it. You start out and, ‘Geez, this feels okay, this feels okay.’ The next thing you know, you’re at 100 feet, where it doesn’t feel too good. So you stop, let it rest a couple of more days.”
Ricco said d’Arnaud can continue hitting and catching drills in the meantime, with throwing drills the only ones off limits. D’Arnaud was placed on the disabled list on April 26 after hurting the shoulder against the Reds. Kevin Plawecki will continue to serve as the team’s primary catcher in d’Arnaud’s absence.
National League Quick Hits: The corpse of Aaron Hill made an appearance Saturday, blasting three homers — including a grand slam — in the Brewers’ extra-innings win over the Reds. Hill finished 3-for-5 with seven RBI in the game … In their pursuit of relief pitching, the Dodgers claimed Casey Fien off waivers from the Twins. Fien owned a 7.90 ERA and 1.76 WHIP in 14 appearances with the American League club … There may be no hotter hitter than Brandon Phillips right now after he blasted two more homers Saturday. Phillips has now homered in four straight games … The Reds optioned outfielder Scott Schebler to Triple-A. Schebler was recently relegated to a fourth outfielder role after losing a position battle with Adam Duvall a few weeks ago … Clayton Kershaw struck out 10 over seven innings in a win. Through seven starts, he has a 2.04 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 64/3 K/BB ratio … Matt Carpenter lifted a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning for a walk-off win over the Pirates … Matt Duffy also played hero on Saturday, lacing an RBI double in the 13th inning to send Giants fans home happy … We had a Hector Rondon sighting, as he was actually presented with a save opportunity. He converted it, moving the Cubs to 23-6 on the season … David Wright reached base five times, including mashing a solo homer, in a win over the Padres. Also in that game: Bartolo.
American League Quick Hits: Things are going so poorly for David Price this year that his manager, John Farrell, had to confirm that he’s healthy after another disaster Saturday. Price allowed six runs over 4 2/3 innings in a loss, and he’s now got a 6.75 ERA through seven starts as a member of the Red Sox … Jose Altuve missed Saturday’s game with soreness in his left index finger. Astros manager A.J. Hinch said he’s been fighting the soreness for a few days, and hopefully a day or two off will alleviate the issue … A.J. Griffin‘s feel-good comeback story may have hit a snag Saturday after he left his start with right shoulder stiffness. A trip to the disabled list could be in the cards, although nothing was known immediately following the game … Chris Sale improved to 7-0 through seven starts after defeating the Twins on Saturday … Jacoby Ellsbury (hip) was out of the Yankees’ lineup Saturday after leaving Friday’s game. The team said he was day to day following Friday’s contest … Byung-ho Park left Saturday’s game after being hit by a Chris Sale pitch in the first inning. He was diagnosed with a right knee contusion, and the Twins are calling him day to day … Robinson Cano homered twice in Saturday’s win over the Astros. He’s now got 11 home runs and 32 RBI to go with a .306/.358/.621 line on the year … Adrian Beltre got in on the two-homer party, going deep twice in a win over the Tigers. Beltre’s teammates Rougned Odor, Nomar Mazara and Mitch Moreland also homered in the contest.
