Hate on me all you want, but I’ve been a full-fledged, die-hard New York Yankees fan since birth. [Jay’s Note: Could be worse… you could have been a Red Sox fan…] I may have been born and raised in the land of palm trees, bikinis and coked-out debutantes (Los Angeles), but my father, a Brooklynite, instilled in me his love for the men in pinstripes.
Being a Yankees fan has many ups, but when it has its downs, it makes you wanna bury your head in the sand. Most of these “downs” are related to the front office spending a gazillion bricks of gold bullion on aging vets (that is the form of currency Hiroki Kuroda used during his formidable years in the 1920s). No matter how many supplements and PEDs and anti-aging hormones these players use, they’ll eventually wither away and get hurt in the process. If only the Yankees had a pill that gave their players Benjamin Button disease. I can picture CC Sabathia as a fat three-year-old baby, probably licking the fluid coming out of his knees. How adorable, he got it all over his face! How many jars of Gerber’s mashed zucchini can you buy for $142 million?
Mark Teixeira had to leave Saturday’s game with renewed wrist “inflammation”. This is not something to be taken lightly. He had offseason surgery on the same wrist and had to miss three games earlier this week before returning Friday. The fact that could only make it through one-and-a-half games before getting hurt again says this problem is not going away. Wrist injuries can completely sap your power (see, Encarnacion, Edwin in April). He’s scheduled to see a specialist on Tuesday to determine the severity of the injury. Don’t hold your breath.
After a promising start to the season in which he compiled a 2-2 record with a 1.83 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, Michael Pineda has been nothing but a pain in the backside for fantasy owners — literally. He’s been dealing with back issues, similar to the one Clayton Kershaw had in spring training, and he had been on track to return within the next few weeks. But that is no more. After a setback in his rehab this weekend, Pineda will be shutdown indefinitely. It’s time for fantasy owners to cut bait, as it’s possible we won’t see him in the Bronx till August.
There may be some good news on the injury front in New York, however. Carlos Beltran‘s attempt to avoid surgery to his elbow seems to be going well. He’s been slowly swinging a bat — progressing from dry swings, to swinging from both sides of the plate, and he took batting practice on the field before Friday’s game. According to Beltran himself, he walked away from that session happier than a big city business man taking his lunch break at a Korean massage parlor. Evidently that was enough proof of good health for the Yankees to send him out on an extended spring training stint in Tampa. He is shooting for a June 10 return when the Yanks visit Seattle to take on the Mariners.
Now on to the rest of the league…
Josh Hamilton, Angels: After a setback last week, Hamilton has begun his rehab again and is aiming to return to the big club early this week. He had initially been hoping to play for the Angels last Monday, but a bone bruise in his surgically-repaired finger cost him some extra time. Mike Scioscia may have to come to terms with benching Raul Ibanez — permanently.
Matt Adams, Cardinals: Adams to the DL with a case of the jelly doughnuts — errr sorry, jelly leg.
Joey Votto, Reds: The Cincinnati first baseman has been doing some running and light drills, but may be able to return soon. Fantasy owners are brimming with excitement at the possibility of plugging Votto and his career-worst .859 OPS back into their lineups. Slow claps.
James Paxton, Mariners: I warned y’all before, but you kept coming back for more punishment. The M’s 25-year-old pitching prodigy had a setback in his recovery from a strained lat, this time feeling renewed soreness in his shoulder and inflammation in his tricep. Twenty-five doll hairs to the first person who can name a body part he hasn’t injured. Someone please just off him Fargo style and put him out of his misery.
Nolan Arenado, Rockies: No surgery for the Rox 3B, but he’s still looking at a 3-to-5 week timetable at this point. Make sure he is stashed on your DL.
Carl Crawford, Dodgers: A sprained ankle landed Craw Daddy on the DL. Matt Kemp apologized to Don Mattingly for sleeping with daughter and he was finally put in LF to take Crawford’s spot. Given Crawford’s propensity for injuries and that speed is a big part of his game, I would expect him to be sidelined a bit longer than the minimum, but who knows, maybe today’s horoscope will predict quick-healing ankles for all Leos.
Mat Latos, Reds: He’s been out all season with elbow issues, but threw 81 pitches in a rehab start on Friday. He should make one or two more minor league starts and be in in Cincy by mid-June. And you know what that means? More Dallas Latos bathroom selfieeeeeesss! *gag*
Matt Wieters, Orioles: Played a little catch this weekend and should ramp up the throwing till we get an idea of whether he’ll be able to avoid surgery or not. If Nelson Cruz could play in the OF, slotting Wieters in the Orioles’ DH spot would be no problem. Alas, that is not the case, as Cruz is mashing the ball and the team won’t risk an injury to him, as well.
Andrew Cashner, Padres: Scheduled to throw a simulated game Monday. I keep wondering how no one is questioning the trainers and pitching coaches in the Padres organization. Just in the last two years, they’ve seemed to have had more pitchers endure elbow injuries than any other team on the planet (i.e. Cashner, Josh Johnson, Casey Kelly, Joe Wieland, Cory Luebke, Jason Marquis). Maybe Dr. James Andrews has Josh Byrnes on the take.
Follow SethDaSportsMan on Twitter at, you guessed it, @SethDaSportsMan, for quality fantasy sports advice and the deepest veneration of all things Nicolas Cage
