Mash Report (6/1/15)

• Quite a few players are coming off the DL today including Jonathan Lucroy and Brett Oberholtzer.

• Stephen Strasburg is on the DL with neck tightness and/or back issues.

A day after pitching one-plus innings against the Reds, Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg was placed on the disabled list because of what the team termed “neck tightness.” Nationals manager Matt Williams cited “back issues.”

“We have to get to the bottom of what’s going on,” Williams said. It’s perplexing. It’s not anything you can point to. We have to get this thing worked out so he can be back in 15 days.”

Seems a little fishy to me. I would not be surprised to see him throwing right away and working a through a few things after his struggles so far this year.

• Adrian Beltre will go on the DL with a sprained thumb. There was talk he may not need a DL stint at all, so he may be back fairly quickly.

• James Paxton will be out probably a month with a sprained pinky.

Paxton, who strained a tendon in the finger of his pitching hand while throwing a ball to Brandon Moss in his start on Thursday night at Safeco Field, will be shut down from any throwing for two weeks and then re-evaluated. An MRI exam confirmed the strain, and the Mariners placed Paxton on the 15-day disabled list on Friday.

After he rests for the two weeks, he will then need to start throwing and building up strength again.

• Sean Doolittle heads back to the DL with shoulder inflammation. He looks to be out until at least the All-Star Game.

Sean Doolittle is back on the disabled list with a strained left shoulder, just four days after the A’s celebrated the reliever’s return. The southpaw made just one appearance before suffering yet another setback with his shoulder, described by Doolittle as a “stabbing pain” that’s in a different place.

Saturday’s MRI showed no structural damage to the subscapularis muscle, only inflammation, but Doolittle won’t pick up a baseball for at least several weeks. When he does, he’ll have to go through the motions of another throwing program, likely ruling him out through at least the All-Star break.

• Khris Davis has torn the meniscus in his right knee. This is the same injury Michael Saunders had and he still isn’t right yet. No time table exists yet, but I expect him to be about at least a month and maybe for the rest of the season depending of the severity. More information from the team is expected in the next few days.

• Devon Travis’s shoulder discomfort resurfaced in a rehab start. He will be shut down for a week and then begin his rehab again.

• Jose Abreu (link) and Ryan Zimmerman (link) are dealing with some lingering injuries which may keep their production down.

• Keep your eye on Johnny Cueto tomorrow. This start will tell show how healthy is his elbow.

• Maicer Izturis looks like will miss considerable time because he hurt his knee groin shoulder.

• Tim Beckham will miss a few weeks with a strained hamstring.

• Paco Rodriguez is on the DL with a strained elbow. Uh-oh Shaggy.

• Something called a Slade Heathcott (sounds like a pumping tool) has a strained hamstring.

• Another fake sounding name Tuffy Gosewisch (Game of Thrones character?) will like miss the rest of the season with a tear in his ACL.

• Brandon Kintzler will now spend time on the DL instead of being assigned to the minor leagues.

• Steve Tolleson is on the DL with a groin injury.

Velocity Readings

• Justin Verlander made his first rehab start where he struggled.

Verlander looked good with his velocity, consistently hitting 93-94 mph with his fastball, with a few peaking at 95-96 mph.

If these reading are right, he would be back to the 2013 Verlander which puts him around a 3.50 ERA.

• Casey Fien’s average fastball velocity is in line with his 2015 values, but down from his relieving values of 2014.

• Tim Stauffer’s velocity is the same compared to when he went on the DL. It is about 2 mph less than his 2014 values.

Players on the DL in 2015

The Red players have had updates since the last report. Click on the “Date” for a link to go to the latest article on the player.