THT Daily: Comeback day
by Dave StudemanApril 18, 2009
Major League News for April 18
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Top Minor League Performances
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldNationals placed shortstop Cristian Guzman on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 14, with a strained left hamstring.
The Nats didn't think Guzman would need the full 15 days, but they could carry a dead roster spot for 7-10 days. Alex Cintron likely will be called up on Saturday. Albert Gonzalez has a little short-term value in NL-only leagues with Guzman out.
Mets placed catcher Brian Schneider on the 15-day disabled list with a muscle strain in his back.
Schneider missed Thursday's game when his back acted up, which didn't improve by Friday morning. Ramon Castro will see most of the action in his place, while Omir Santos may also see some time.
Vladimir Guerrero will be placed on the disabled list with a torn right pectoral muscle, according to the OC Register.
Dr. Lewis Yocum determined from Thursday's MRI that Guerrero be re-examined in one month's time. That means that the star outfielder will likely be lost for the next six-to-eight weeks. It'll be interesting to see if the Angels now choose to bring up a third catcher and give Mike Napoli considerable time at DH. Gary Matthews Jr. and Juan Rivera will play right field.
Jed Lowrie will visit a specialist in Arizona to determine the best course for recovery after fracturing his wrist, and season-ending surgery is on the table, reports the Boston Globe.
Lowrie faces three options: Cortisone shots which will allow him to play on, surgery to re-attach the fractured bone, or surgery to remove it. The third option would end Lowrie's season. Should Lowrie miss extended time, it opens shortstop up for Julio Lugo if he returns, as expected, by the end of April.
FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that Ryan Zimmerman and the Nationals are closing in on a long-term extension.
Rosenthal reports that the target for the deal is the six-year, $66.1 million deal signed by Nick Markakis, but the Washington Post is saying $45 million for five years. Zimmerman is off to a slow start after missing time last season with a labrum injury, but it appears Washington isn't worried about that.
Mark Teixeira said Friday morning that he feels "ten times better" after receiving a cortisone shot Thursday.
Teixeira isn't expected to miss any more time, but the cortisone shot won't totally get rid of his tendinitis, so this might be a situation worth monitoring all year. He's hitting .174 through six games.
The umpire who ejected Milton Bradley in his Wrigley Field debut Friday intends to file a report stating that the outfielder made physical contact.
Bradley is in serious danger of being suspended. He struck out looking on a full count pitch and shared a brief, but aggressive, exchange with umpire Dan Iassogna, at one point knocking the ump's hat slightly up his head. The report will be filed with the Commissioner's Office on Saturday. We'll keep you updated.
John Smoltz (shoulder) is scheduled to throw two innings against live hitters Saturday in Fort Myers, Florida.
Smoltz is creeping steadily towards returning, and could begin a rehab assignment next week. "I think the danger in looking forward to things is if you have a setback, then you feel worse, and I don't allow myself to do that because I know setbacks," he said. He's eyeing a late May return.
Doug Mientkiewicz will go on the DL after suffering a dislocated shoulder during Thursday's game.
The Dodgers are expected to make either Blake DeWitt or Xavier Paul his replacement on the roster. Mientkiewicz will likely miss at least a month because of the injury.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League BOS 10 BAL 8 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 6 CLE 5 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 6 CHA 5 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 8 TOR 5 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 11 LAA 9 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 6 DET 3 (Recap and Boxscore) KC 12 TEX 3 (Recap and Boxscore) National League NYN 5 MIL 4 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 8 PHI 7 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 3 WAS 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 8 STL 7 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 2 HOU 1 (Recap and Boxscore) PIT 3 ATL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 4 COL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 2 ARI 0 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all of the comebacks in action.
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Atlanta Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates, 12:35 PM (L) Jo-Jo Reyes (0-0) vs. (R) Ian Snell (0-2) Florida Marlins at Washington Nationals, 1:05 PM (R) Josh Johnson (2-0) vs. (L) Scott Olsen (0-2) Milwaukee Brewers at New York Mets, 1:10 PM (R) Yovani Gallardo (1-1) vs. (L) Johan Santana (1-1) Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers, 3:40 PM (R) Aaron Cook (0-0) vs. (R) Chad Billingsley (2-0) St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs, 3:40 PM (R) Kyle Lohse (2-0) vs. (R) Ryan Dempster (1-0) Arizona Diamondbacks at San Francisco Giants, 4:05 PM (L) Doug Davis (0-2) vs. (R) Tim Lincecum (0-1) San Diego Padres at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 PM (R) Shawn Hill (1-0) vs. (R) Brett Myers (1-1) Cincinnati Reds at Houston Astros, 7:05 PM (R) Aaron Harang (1-1) vs. (L) Wandy Rodriguez (0-1) American League --------------- Oakland Athletics at Toronto Blue Jays, 1:07 PM (R) Trevor Cahill (0-1) vs. (L) Brian Tallet (0-0) Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees, 3:40 PM (R) Fausto Carmona (0-2) vs. (R) Chien-Ming Wang (0-2) Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:08 PM (L) Mark Buehrle (1-0) vs. (L) Scott Kazmir (2-0) LA Angels of Anaheim at Minnesota Twins, 7:10 PM (L) Darren Oliver (0-0) vs. (R) Kevin Slowey (1-0) Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox, 7:10 PM (R) Adam Eaton (0-1) vs. (R) Josh Beckett (1-1) Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) Zack Greinke (2-0) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (1-0) Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners, 9:10 PM (R) Edwin Jackson (0-0) vs. (L) Erik Bedard (1-0)
Standings
The graphics next to each team are called "sparklines.” They depict each team’s performance over the last month. Each "up" bar is a victory and a "down" bar is a loss. There are horizontal lines for home games and red bars represent games decided by two runs or less. "PWins" is short for Projected Wins, based on each team’s Run Differential, and is often a better measure of a team’s true strength. Other team graphs and stats can be found on our Team Page.American League East Pwins Diff TOR 8 4 .667 0.0 8 0BAL 6 4 .600 1.0 4 2
NYA 6 5 .545 1.5 5 1
TB 5 6 .455 2.5 6 -1
BOS 4 6 .400 3.0 4 0
American League Central KC 6 4 .600 0.0 6 0
CHA 5 5 .500 1.0 5 0
DET 5 5 .500 1.0 6 -1
MIN 5 7 .417 2.0 4 1
CLE 3 8 .273 3.5 4 -1
American League West SEA 8 3 .727 0.0 7 1
OAK 5 5 .500 2.5 5 0
LAA 4 6 .400 3.5 5 -1
TEX 4 6 .400 3.5 5 -1
National League East Pwins Diff FLA 9 1 .900 0.0 7 2
ATL 5 5 .500 4.0 5 0
NYN 5 5 .500 4.0 6 -1
PHI 4 5 .444 4.5 3 1
WAS 1 8 .111 7.5 3 -2
National League Central STL 8 4 .667 0.0 8 0
CHN 6 4 .600 1.0 6 0
CIN 5 4 .556 1.5 4 1
PIT 5 5 .500 2.0 6 -1
HOU 3 7 .300 4.0 3 0
MIL 3 7 .300 4.0 4 -1
National League West LAN 8 3 .727 0.0 8 0
SD 8 3 .727 0.0 6 2
COL 4 5 .444 3.0 5 -1
ARI 3 7 .300 4.5 3 0
SF 3 7 .300 4.5 3 0
Top Minor League Games
The following list, provided by First Inning, includes the top minor league batting (based on Runs Created) and pitching (based on Game Score) performances from yesterday.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes COL AA C. Nelson......... 4 2 0 0 2 1 2 OAK AA Corey Brown....... 4 3 2 0 0 1 0 NYY A+ Jesus Montero..... 5 4 2 0 0 0 0 3 R SEA AAA Jeff Clement...... 4 3 1 0 1 0 0 OAK AA Adrian Cardenas... 4 3 0 0 1 1 0 ATL AAA Brandon Jones..... 5 3 2 0 0 0 1 CHC AA Darwin Barney..... 4 2 1 0 0 1 1 PIT AAA Andrew McCutchen.. 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 BAL AAA Nolan Reimold..... 4 2 0 0 1 1 1 5 RBI ! SD A James Darnell..... 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 FLA A+ Michael Stanton... 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 SF A+ Nicholas Noonan... 4 3 1 0 0 0 1 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes BAL AA Brandon Erbe...... 6 1 2 0 8 0 1 NYY AAA Philip Hughes..... 6 5 0 0 6 0 0 LA A Ethan Martin...... 5 4 1 1 8 3 0 PHI AA Vance Worley...... 5 3 4 1 6 3 0 9 GB BOS A Casey Kelly....... 5 4 0 0 4 1 0 BAL AAA David Hernandez... 4 5 1 1 6 2 0 ATL AAA Charlie Morton.... 5 8 3 3 5 1 0 TB AAA Wade Davis........ 4 3 0 0 4 2 0 SEA AA Joshua Fields..... 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 SF A+ Scott Barnes...... 4 4 4 4 4 1 1 SD A Simon Castro...... 4 5 3 2 3 2 0 NYY A+ Jeremy Bleich..... 6 6 1 1 2 1 1 12 GB
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Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.