Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Choo Cut Short
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Shin-Soo Choo probably wishes he could hit the reset button on the 2016 season.
Choo suffered what looks likely to be a season-ending injury Monday, as a hit by pitch resulted in a fractured left forearm. He’ll be placed on the disabled list prior to Tuesday’s contest in what will be his fourth trip to the DL this season.
After an injury-shorted 2014 campaign, Choo bounced back with a terrific 2015 that saw him put up a .276/.375/.463 batting line with 22 homers, 82 RBI and 94 runs scored. The injuries have struck in a big way again in 2016, though, as he’s been on the DL with calf, hamstring, back and now forearm ailments.
The Rangers haven’t revealed a timetable for Choo yet but did say the injury is similar to the broken forearm that cost Robinson Chirinos two months of action. There are a tad less than seven weeks left in the regular season, so the best the Rangers could probably hope for is Choo returning for the ALDS (should the Rangers make it there). Choo looks poised to finish 2016 with only 45 games played.
Texas pulled Ryan Rua from Triple-A Round Rock’s lineup after Choo’s injury and he’s expected to be recalled. Rua will see some playing time against lefties, but Jurickson Profar figures to benefit the most with an uptick in playing time. Joey Gallo could also be an option at some point, but the Rangers appear content for now to leave him in the minors.
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Workload Limit Looming for Fulmer
Michael Fulmer has proven to be one of the biggest waiver wire gems for this fantasy baseball season. A question his owners are asking, though, is how much of Fulmer they’re going to see down the stretch.
Fresh off a four-hit shutout of the Rangers on Sunday, Fulmer has now thrown a career-high 135 1/3 innings in 2016 between the majors and minors. That’s 10 2/3 more frames than he threw last season. While the Tigers haven’t set a strict innings limit for the right-hander this year, Lynn Henning of The Detroit News writes that the club prefers their young starters throw “no more than 25 percent — 30 percent, maximum” than they did the previous season.
If the Tigers wind up abiding by that 25-30 percent number, that means they probably wouldn’t let Fulmer go much beyond 160 innings in 2016. The youngster is currently on pace to blow well past that, so obviously some tough decisions will have to be made soon. Manager Brad Ausmus said Sunday that he, pitching coach Rich Dubee and the front office will examine the Tigers’ schedule the rest of the way and look for spots where they can push Fulmer back and/or skip him.
“We might have to do it more than once,” Ausmus said of skipping Fulmer.
It’s obviously a bummer for Fulmer’s fantasy owners that his workload will be tapered off down the stretch, but that’s the reality with young starters. Fulmer leads the American League – by a wide margin – with his 2.25 ERA. After a rough four-start beginning to his major league career, the 23-year-old has put up an improbable 1.43 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over his last 15 outings.
Blackmon Booming
The Rockies have lost eight out of their last nine games to essentially fall out of the National League Wild Card race. Just don’t tell Charlie Blackmon they don’t have much left to play for.
Blackmon went 0-for-5 at the plate on August 5 to drop his average below .300 to .299. Since then he’s put together a streak for the ages, going 24-for-47 (.511) with nine home runs and 15 RBI over his last 10 games. His average has jumped 24 points in 10 days to .323, a mark good enough to place him seventh in the NL.
Blackmon has seen his stolen base total fall off dramatically this season from 43 to 15. However, he’s already set a new career high with 21 home runs and has also already topped last season’s RBI total with 60.
With 43 games to go and five stolen bases needed, Blackmon’s first 20-20 season is certainly well within reach. Even with the drop in steals, he’s been a top-10 fantasy hitter this season.
National League Quick Hits: Rich Hill (blister) will not join the Dodgers’ rotation later this week as previously hoped. He’ll continue his throwing program at the club’s spring training complex … Alex Rodriguez’s spokesman said Monday that the 41-year-old has no intention of playing again this season. In other words, the Marlins aren’t going to sign him … Jayson Werth went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and extended his on-base streak to 43 games in Monday’s win over the Rockies … Billy Hamilton departed Monday’s game with a bruised right knee after colliding with the outfield wall. He’s considered day-to-day … The Mets reportedly have not shown trade interest in Carlos Gomez, but the Marlins do have interest in the outfielder … John Lackey (shoulder) expects to make his next scheduled start … DJ LeMahieu went 4-for-4 at the dish Monday against the Nationals to push his average to .337 … Chris Johnson had an RBI double and a solo homer in Monday’s win over the Reds … Just nine months removed from Tommy John surgery, Lance Lynn began a rehab assignment Monday. He hopes to rejoin the Cardinals sometime next month … Joe Ross (shoulder) will resume throwing off a mound this week … Aledmys Diaz (thumb) could be cleared to resume baseball activities when he re-evaluated in two weeks … Ryan Zimmerman (wrist) began a rehab assignment on Monday and hopes to be activated later this week … The Padres are reportedly considering releasing Alexei Ramirez … The Reds optioned Cody Reed to Triple-A Louisville on Monday … Tyler Glasnow (shoulder) will throw a bullpen session Tuesday after exiting Sunday’s rehab start early …
American League Quick Hits: Danny Salazar (elbow) will return to the Indians’ rotation Thursday versus the White Sox … Miguel Cabrera exited Monday’s game versus the Royals with a left biceps strain. He’s considered day-to-day … James Paxton (elbow) will not start on Tuesday as hoped and could be placed on the disabled list … Adrian Beltre smacked the 10th grand slam of his career in Monday’s victory over the Athletics … Chad Green struck out 11 while yielding just two hits over six shutout frames in a win over the Blue Jays on Monday … An MRI taken Monday morning on Miguel Sano‘s right elbow came back negative … Kevin Kiermaier went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and a pair of stolen bases in a win over the Padres on Monday … Drew Smyly held the Padres to one run on just one hit and two walks over seven frames in a victory Monday … Garrett Richards (elbow) has begun a throwing program … Jed Lowrie will undergo season-ending surgery to remove a bunion from his left foot … Ian Kennedy held the Tigers to just one run over 6 2/3 innings in Monday’s victory … Ryon Healy singled and slugged a solo home run in Monday’s loss to the Rangers … J.D. Martinez singled and ripped a solo homer in Monday’s loss to the Royals … David Ortiz singled and ripped a two-run home run in Monday’s win over the Indians … Brett Gardner (ankle) remained out of the Yankees’ lineup on Monday …
