• The Mets had Noah Syndergaard’s elbow examined a couple of weeks ago.

And for the first time, Collins publicly acknowledged Syndergaard had his right elbow examined by doctors about two weeks ago. According to ESPN.com, the pitcher was checked on May 2, one day after a start.

He was cleared, but the close call lingered with Collins. “So, for 15 more pitches?” Collins said, after summoning closer Jeurys Familia in relief of Syndergaard. “No, it didn’t even cross my mind.”

I went back and tried to find anything which stood out as a possible injury indication and found none. I wonder if he mentioned a small pain to the team and they are just being extra cautious.

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• Garrett Richards will need Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL.

The Angels, already dealing with an assortment of injuries throughout their starting rotation, were dealt a debilitating blow on Friday, when it was revealed that their best starting pitcher, Garrett Richards, will likely require season-ending Tommy John surgery to repair a high-grade tear of his ulnar collateral ligament.

Richards will seek a second opinion, presumably from Dr. James Andrews, but Angels general manager Billy Eppler acknowledged that the invasive procedure, which would keep Richards out until at least the middle of the 2017 season, is “likely at this point.”

This sucks.

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• I may be reading too much between the lines here, but I don’t expect Jung-ho Kang to be playable in mixed leagues because of a lack of playing time when he returns. The Pirates have said that he won’t play more than two days in a row.  Also, I think there is a decent chance he gets sent to the minors to continue his progress. Here are the quotes which I make my stance on.

Saturday is the final day of Kang’s 20-day rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis. The Pirates essentially have three options. They could choose to activate him and add him to their roster this weekend in St. Louis. They could pause his rehab assignment and resume it shortly afterward, resetting that 20-day clock. Or they could activate him and option him to Triple-A to get more playing time.

The Bucs are mulling over those options, head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday, but they remain encouraged by the third baseman’s progress.
……
In 13 games with Indianapolis, Kang has hit .150/.217/.225 with four walks and nine strikeouts. He’s taken 40 at-bats, nearly reaching the threshold of 45-60 that the Pirates set for their players in Spring Training.

Over the past two weeks, Kang has played on back-to-back days before taking a partial day off to pinch-hit or come off the bench to play defense. General manager Neal Huntington recently said Kang likely will continue on that schedule when he returns to Pittsburgh.

• Devin Mesoraco is going to be out for a while with a torn shoulder labrum.

After he missed most of last season with a hip injury, Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco is now facing the specter of losing most of 2016, too. On Monday, Mesoraco was placed on the 15-day disabled list with another serious injury — a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

Surgery is a possibility, which would mean Mesoraco would miss the rest of the season.

I would expect nothing from him this season even if he comes back. I would begin now looking for other options at catcher if you rostered him.

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I have finally finished Jeff Passan’s new book, “The Arm” and have a few pieces of information I found interesting.

• When the ulnar nerve is brought in injury discussion people get excited. Here is why, “… ulnar nerve, a tube of fibers that originates at the spine snakes down the arm and controls fine-motor movement in the hand.” The nerve may need to be moved to get away from bone chips.

Mike Marshall would even take it a step further

“… when a pitcher showed professional potential, he would go in for surgery to transpose the ulnar nerve.”

• The major issue with a second Tommy John surgery is the holes drilled in the arm weakening the bone like it has with Jarrod Parker. Here is a description when the book mentions Todd Coffey’s second surgery:

“Surgery dabbles in fractions of a millimeter. The drill holes from Coffey’s first surgery left his ulna in danger of cracking.”

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• Raisel Iglesias is on the DL with shoulder impingement.

Iglesias, 26, felt a “pinch” in the shoulder while throwing a bullpen session on Friday. It’s unclear at this point how long he’ll be sidelined.

“It looks like it’s an impingement inflammation,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “We will know a lot more when we see him on Monday. However, it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a long-tenured stint on the DL.”

I am not surprised one bit with Iglesias’s injury. I own him in several leagues and have noticed his velocity (91.7 to 90.4) and Zone% (50.5% to 46.3%) down compared to last year. Not surprisingly, he showed up my initial PAIN Report as a pitcher with a possible injury.

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Ottoneu Lineup

Here is a simple rule for daily lineups with game played limits:

If a player isn’t playing that day and you don’t need the games, move him to the bench.

I lost a game a few days back when a player who I knew wasn’t playing, hit for one at bat. It was for my utility slot which I can easily fill over the season, so I probably lost a few at-bats.

Boring Team

One fun part of a fantasy baseball auction is the ability to get the players an owner wants. Just like everyone else, I have my favorites. The problem is others like these players and they end up coming at a premium price.

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• Travis d’Arnaud was placed on the DL with a strained rotator cuff

Returning from the DL after 15 days, d’Arnaud added, is a possibility in his mind. But the Mets are not committing to a timeline, fully aware of how many injuries their starting catcher has suffered in his young career. Among d’Arnaud’s library of past maladies are a partially torn knee ligament, a hyperextended left elbow, multiple broken bones and a concussion. He was hitting .196 through 13 games this season, with zero home runs and one RBI.

“It’s always going to be wait-and-see, but there are two positions where arm injuries can be pretty devastating, and one’s behind the plate,” manager Terry Collins said. “We’ll wait to see, rest him a few days, see how he comes out of that. And then when he starts to rehab back, you’ll see how long it’s going to take. It’s certainly something we’ve got to keep a close eye on.”

It seems like d’Arnaud could be out for around a month.

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• The most impactful injury this week is the hamstring injury sustained by Carlos Carrasco.

The severity of the setback is not immediately known, but manager Terry Francona said Carrasco will be placed on the disabled list, meaning Bauer could be poised for a move back to the starting rotation.

….
After his abrupt departure in the third inning, when he sustained the injury while hustling to cover first base, Carrasco headed back to Cleveland to undergo an MRI exam.

Francona said the team will likely have more details on the extent of the issue on Monday, when the Tribe opens a three-game road series against the Twins.

Right now we know he is out at least 15 days with more information coming today (the news might be available by the time this article runs). Just looking back at pitchers with hamstring strains and sprains, they usually return in just over 30 days.

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• I added quite a few updates on players in the spreadsheet like Tyson Ross’s setback. It seemed like the MLB.com beat reporters were each required to write and injury related article over the past couple of days.

• Joe Kelly is on the DL with a shoulder impingement.

“That was all I got right there,” said Kelly. “It was as hard as I could throw the ball at that time. It didn’t feel that great, obviously. Hovering around that 89-90 [mph] range was what I had, and I tried to push through it and got the last pitch up to 94 luckily for the strikeout, obviously. It didn’t feel very good.”

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• Just a handful of players moved on or off the DL over the weekend. Most of the injury information was on return times which are located in the last spreadsheet.

• Daniel Nava is on the DL with knee tendinitis.

Nava expects to return to the majors at the start of May, as soon as he is eligible.

To replace him until then, the Angels called up Rafael Ortega from triple-A Salt Lake.

• Nick Hundley is the first player placed on the 7-day concussion DL this year after experiencing damage to the brain from a foul tip.

Hundley, hurt on a foul tip on Wednesday night, hit in the batting cage and attempted to do 10 sprints on Friday. However, he only made it through four before feeling woozy. It took the Rockies a while to reach the decision because Hundley felt good standing still. It took activity for symptoms to show. He also suffered a forehead contusion from the way the impact spun his mask.

Hundley said his only previous concussion was in 2012.

I could see his return take a while because of the 2012 concussion.

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