MASH Report (6/23/16)

• The Rangers rotation is a mess right now. Yu Darvish is already down with some shoulder discomfort. Colby Lewis is now out a couple months with a strained lat muscle.

Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis is expected to miss up to two months with a strained lat muscle in the back of his right shoulder.

The injury showed up during an MRI on Wednesday. The Rangers originally thought Lewis was dealing with soreness in the right triceps area, but the examination showed it was a problem with the lat muscle.

So with two starters on the shelf, the Rangers decided to also put Derek Holland on the DL with an inflamed shoulder he has dealt with for a bit.

The Rangers placed left-hander Derek Holland on the 15-day disabled list with left shoulder inflammation ….

Holland has allowed seven earned runs over his last two starts, both of which he wasn’t able to make it through five innings, and has a 5.20 ERA this season.

“We are doing it as a precaution,” Holland said. “It’s been going on a little bit. It’s not something I couldn’t pitch through. You see Adrian Beltre play through stuff, but I wasn’t doing a good job. It’s nowhere near the pain level of last year, that’s definitely on the plus side.”

• Matt Duffy will be out until after the All-Star break.

Bochy’s lofty opinion of Duffy came through Tuesday when it was pointed out that Duffy, who’ll be sidelined for at least two weeks, could be idled for up to three weeks, which would lead into the All-Star break. Thus, it was suggested to Bochy that Duffy, who officially went on the disabled list Tuesday with a strained left Achilles, might as well remain inactive through the July 11-13 All-Star break.

• Mallex Smith is out eight to 10 weeks with a broken thumb.

The Braves placed outfielder Mallex Smith on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured left thumb and recalled Emilio Bonifacio from Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday.

Smith is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.

Unless your redraft league with unlimited bench spots, I would look at releasing Smith. The 10-week point is mid-September and who knows how much he will play with the minor league callups.

• After becoming a decent option in 15-team or bigger leagues, Steve Pearce is out with a strained hamstring.

• Dexter Fowler is also out with a strained hamstring.

“We don’t think it’s a long-term injury,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said. “I hate to put timetables on it but, ultimately, we knew it was going to be something that was going to side-line him for at least the next handful of games, week or so. When that’s the case, playing short-handed for what would be a significant part of a DL stint doesn’t make a lot of sense.

“Dexter was great about it,” Hoyer said. “I think he’s in good spirits. I think he feels like he’s going to be 100 percent when this is over. I don’t think he wanted to risk playing at 80 to 85 percent for too long. Ultimately, it was a prudent thing to do at this time of the season. I think we’ve got some options in the outfield that we can play in the meantime.”

Reading between the lines seems to put his return time soon after the 15 required days off.

• Here is the latest report from Noah Syndergaard

The Mets rushed Syndergaard to the hospital for tests, which revealed a best-case scenario: no structural damage. Team orthopedist Dr. David Altchek prescribed Syndergaard with anti-inflammatory medication, and the right-hander celebrated his relatively clean bill of health with a cheery Instagram post.

This was not Syndergaard’s first elbow scare. Earlier this season, Syndergaard quietly visited Altchek for an examination after feeling discomfort during his worst start of the year, a May 1 loss to the Giants. Syndergaard came away from that outing with a clean bill of health, and did not miss a start. The right-hander also saw the start of his 2015 season delayed due to forearm tightness, a condition is often related to elbow issues. He has undergone multiple MRIs on his elbow over the past three years.

But so far, Syndergaard has come away without any major damage to the joint.

Syndergaard is one of the few pitchers who would not surprise me if he blows out his UCL on any given pitch because of how hard he throws.

• Tim Lincecum is with the Angels and the results have been great with a 1.50 ERA and a Win. That is it for the good news. His velocity is sitting at 88 mph which close to the results from ’14 to ’15 when he posted around a 7.5 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9. It has only been 6 IP so far, so not too many conclusion can be drawn. I don’t see any reason to roster him except in the deepest leagues.

• Clayton Richard is out with a finger blister.

• Brian Duensing is on the DL for four to eight weeks with an inflamed elbow.

• Jim Henderson is back on the DL with a shoulder issue.

• Zach Putnam is out with ulnar neuritis in his elbow.

• Some Tampa Ray named Mikie Mahtook is out with a broken hand.

Fastball velocity reading for pitchers returning from the DL

• Michael Blazek’s average fastball velocity is fine.

• Raisel Iglesias’s velo is up, but expected as he has moved to the bullpen for now.

• Seth Maness’s velocity is up from earlier this season, but still down from last season.

• Shelby Miller’s fastball is up and back in the range of his ’15 values.

Report of Total DL Trips

Players on the 2016 DL

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.