Roto Riteup: July 26, 2013

Some believe that July 26 is All or Nothing day. Really it is just a flimsy pretense in which to post some excellent early 2000’s boy band music.

On today’s agenda:
1. Brandon Morrow out for the season
2. A delay in Omar Infante’s return
3. Domonic Brown to the 7-day disabled list
4. An encouraging rehab start for Trevor Cahill

Brandon Morrow out for the season
After a visit to Dr. James Andrews the Toronto Blue Jays have decided to shut down Brandon Morrow for what will almost assuredly be the remainder of the season. Morrow hasn’t pitched in two months due to forearm soreness, though MRIs failed to show any structural damage. It was discovered that Morrow is suffering from an entrapped radial nerve in his throwing arm. At this point Morrow is droppable in all formats.

A delay in Omar Infante’s return
The Detroit Tigers had originally hoped on getting Omar Infante back as soon as today, however he has continued to feel pain in his ankle. Infante left yesterday’s rehab game in the fourth inning due to the pain and said that he is feeling pain even while walking. Infante is in the middle of the best offensive season of his career though it will be some time before he can add to his numbers. With no new timetable for his return, the best thing to do is to wait it out. Playing an up-the-middle position for one of the best offenses in baseball makes Infante worth holding on to or even picking up if you have the bench space for him. Currently Infante is owned in 62% of CBS leagues, 50% of ESPN leagues, and 36% of Yahoo! formats.

Domonic Brown to the 7-day disabled list
With Ben Revere and Ryan Howard already on the disabled list, Domonic Brown now joins them. Yesterday the Phillies placed Brown on the 7-day concussion disabled list after he was experiencing concussion like symptoms following a diving effort on Tuesday night.

The earliest that the Phillies and fantasy owners can expect Brown back is Wednesday, however there is no date set in concrete at this point. Brown hasn’t felt any dizziness or headaches, though he did say that he was sensitive to light. Given the nature of concussions and that the Phillies are 9.5 games out of the wild card race, there is no need for the club to rush Brown back on to the field. Stash him on your team’s disabled list or even the bench, as Brown has hit enough to warrant being kept. If he returns relatively soon, he may still eclipse the 30 home run plateau this season.

An encouraging rehab start for Trevor Cahill
It may have been against rookie level competition, but Trevor Cahill cruised for nine strikeouts against one hit allowed yesterday. This was his first rehab start of any sort and considering that Cahill hasn’t seen any game action since June 30, a few more rehab starts should be on the way.

Fellow starter Brandon McCarthy is scheduled to make a rehab start in Triple-A today and should be close to returning to the big league club. If both McCarthy and Cahill continue on track, the Arizona rotation could get very crowded in the coming days and weeks. General Manager Kevin Towers said that “we could be a little bit of a buyer and a seller both” at the non-waiver trade deadline. If the D-backs consider their rotation depth a strength worth tapping into, one of their starters could be on the move in a trade rather than a demotion to the bullpen or minors.