Tom Gorzelanny May Have to Write With His Other Hand For a While
Chicago Cubs pitcher Tom Gorzelanny took a comebacker off his left (pitching) hand today. After trying to make a play on the Jose Tabata ball, Gorzelanny went to the dirt, and was pulled from the game. X-rays haven’t shown much yet.
X-rays of Tom Gorzelanny’s left hand were inconclusive Wednesday but did show there was no displacement and the Cubs pitcher will have a CT scan on Thursday. Gorzelanny was hit by a line drive by Pittsburgh’s Jose Tabata in the third inning Wednesday. The pitcher will undergo more tests on Thursday once the swelling has subsided. Muskat Ramblings.
Inconclusive does not necessarily mean his hand is jacked; it could just be incredibly swollen. If Gorzelanny is out for an appreciable period of time, Casey Coleman may get a reprieve to stay in the rotation when Carlos Silva returns next week.
God’s Wrath Watch: Marlon Byrd’s Hand is Probably OK
Marlon Byrd inadvertently took one off the hand last night, and was quickly removed from the game, as he was in obvious pain. The good news is he’s just day-to-day, and is probably going to be fine.
The ball ricocheted off Byrd’s hand and struck him on the top of the right foot. Byrd jumped holding his injured hand, then limped away from the batter’s box. He spent a couple of minutes being looked at by a trainer, but eventually went to first base and later scored on a two-run, bases-loaded single by Tyler Colvin.
In the bottom of the inning, Colvin moved from right field to center and Kosuke Fukudome took over in right. A Cubs spokesman said Byrd’s X-rays were negative. cubs.com.
Marlon Byrd has been the Cubs’ most consistent hitter all year (and a plus defender in center field, to boot), so any extended absence would certainly hurt the team.
God’s Wrath Watch: Aramis Ramirez Out a Few Days with Thumb Injury
At this point, you could almost call this mercy.
Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez has been dealing with a bruise of his left thumb, though he claims it is not affecting his performance. He had x-rays yesterday, and although they came back clean, he’s still going to sit for a few days.
X-rays of Aramis Ramirez’s left hand were negative Sunday, but the Cubs’ third baseman will sit for the next few days to give him time to heal and also a chance to work on his hitting.
Ramirez, who is scuffling at .160, did not play Sunday in the Cubs’ Interleague series finale against the Rangers, which they won, 5-4. He has a bruise and mild sprain of his left thumb. The problem is at the base of the thumb.
“We’re going to give him a little time off,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said after Sunday’s win. “He’s struggled at home plate. We need to give him some time. Sometimes time heals wounds. You work and you work and sometimes it’s better to get away from it totally and just relax.”
However, Ramirez’s thumb is not bad enough to prompt the Cubs to put him on the disabled list.
“According to what the trainer has told me numerous times, it’s just a bone bruise,” Piniella said. cubs.com.
Ramirez has been out of the lineup several days already in the past week, and with today’s off-day, that’s a lot of time off. So far, it hasn’t helped.
As for Ramirez being out of the lineup, the Cubs will play Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker in his absence, and will get more offensive production of the position than they’ve been getting from Ramirez. Which is sad.
God’s Wrath Watch: Tom Gorzelanny’s Finger is a Bit Jacked
The Lord has resisted the urge to smite the Chicago Cubs this year – the Cubs have pretty much been doing the work for Him.
Until last night that is, when Cubs starter Tom Gorzelanny was cruising against one of the best lineups in the National League. That’s when he took a line drive off his left ring finger.
“I definitely wanted to stay there as long as I could,” Gorzelanny said. “I should’ve caught it. I should’ve moved my hand out of the way.”
X-rays taken on the finger came back negative. The finger was slightly swollen with some blood underneath the nail. With a day off on Monday, the Cubs have the option of skipping or pushing back Gorzelanny’s next start if need be.
Gorzelanny had been pitching magnificently for Chicago — 6 2/3 shutout innings with only three hits and two walks allowed.
“But I couldn’t feel my finger, so it probably wasn’t a good thing to stay and throw,” he said. cubs.com.
If Gorzelanny is not able to grip the ball properly in the next few days, the Cubs will likely skip his next start.
The injury comes at a highly unfortunate time for Gorzelanny; not only because he is pitching so well, but because Carlos Zambrano is returning to the rotation. At present, it’s a bit of a mystery whom the Cubs would bump in favor of Zambrano, but a Gorzelanny injury – if serious enough – could make the Cubs’ decision for them.
God’s Wrath Watch: Derrek Lee Has a Jacked Up Thumb
The magnifying glass had been pointed elsewhere for a couple of weeks and we all became complacent.
Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek was pulled from today’s game against the Brewers due to some swelling in his thumb. He had x-rays, and although they turned up negative, he might still miss a game or two while the swelling goes down.
Lee was taken out of Monday’s game after the fourth inning because of pain and inflammation in his thumb. He grimaced after he singled in the third inning of the Cubs’ 9-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, and again after he singled in the fourth. He was replaced at first by Xavier Nady, who started the game in right field.
“[Lee] hit a ball that jarred his finger a little bit so we got him out of the ballgame,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. “He had some swelling in it.” cubs.com.
Apparently Lee has been dealing with the thumb issue since Wednesday, when he jammed it at second base against the Braves. Obviously it hadn’t been affecting him much at the plate, as he’s been one of the Cubs’ best hitters thus far (which is, of course, a tallest midget type of situation). The scary part is that it appears todays removal was not the product of a singular event – but instead the gradual worsening of his thumb.
Hopefully a day or two off will cure what ails him.
Nationals Have Talked to Cubs About Kosuke Fukudome
When the Washington Nationals dismissed outfielder Elijah Dukes, they opened up a gaping hole in their lineup. At present, they plan to fill right field with some combination of Willie Harris and Willy Tavares, which is oh-so-very Nationals-like. But they aren’t necessarily satisfied with the status quo, and have been discussing trade options, which includes discussions with the Chicago Cubs.
A club source said the Nationals have discussed a trade for right fielder Corey Hart with the Brewers, and talked to the Cubs about outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. They have even inquired about Rays outfielder B.J. Upton, though they came away feeling Tampa Bay wouldn’t part with the 24-year-old speedster unless it was out of the AL East race this summer.
But none of those talks have been particularly substantive; the Nationals and Brewers haven’t found common ground on a deal for Hart, who is making $4.8 million in his second year of arbitration. Fukudome, who has underperformed in Chicago since coming over from Japan, still has two years left on a deal that will pay him a combined $26.5 million this season and next year and offer him limited no-trade protection. Unless the Cubs were willing to eat a decent portion of the 32-year-old’s contract, it’s unlikely the Nationals would land him. MASNsports.com.
Even taking the money out of the equation – which would be a significant hurdle to actually making a deal – there are two huge problems with a Cubs/Nats Fukudome trade.
First, the Cubs would have to be confident that trading Fukudome doesn’t make them worse. And for that to happen, they’ll need to know that Xavier Nady is fully ready to go, and they’ll need to know that Tyler Colvin is a Major League caliber hitter. Neither is a certainty at this point.
Second, Fukudome has a no-trade clause, and the likelihood of him accepting a trade to Washington is, at a minimum, questionable.
Remember Joel Guzman?
Filed under: Cubs Minor Leagues and Prospects, MLB News and Rumors
There was a time when a kid named Joel Guzman was basically the top infield prospect in all of baseball. He was 19, 20 years old, and he had the world laid out before him. Guzman was a lock to man shortstop or third base for the Dodgers for years to come.
And then, well, he just kind of stopped being awesome. A year later, he was marginalized, traded to the Rays, and hasn’t been heard from since. Until now, when he signed a minor league deal – sans Spring Training invite – with the Baltimore Orioles.
The Orioles have signed corner infielder/outfielder Joel Guzman, once one of baseball’s top prospects, to a minor league deal. He will not receive an invite to major league camp.
The former Los Angeles Dodgers’ ballyhooed prospect was dealt to Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006 as part of the Julio Lugo, trade-deadline deal.
He was with the Washington Nationals organization last year, batting a combined .268 with 12 homers at Double-A and Triple-A. Guzman, 25, batted .232 in 24 big league games with the Dodgers and Devil Rays. baltimoresun.com.
Why am I bringing this up?
I love the idea that Starlin Castro is the future for the Chicago Cubs at shortstop. I really do. He’s clearly got all the skills, but he still has to actually develop into the player we’re all projecting him to be. A lot can happen along that road.
And when folks talk about refusing to trade Starlin Castro in any deal, I would just ask: remember Joel Guzman.
No Joe Nelson for the Cubs
Free agent reliever Joe Nelson has signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox, effectively taking him off the Chicago Cubs’ radar, if he was ever on it to begin with.
The Red Sox reached agreement with veteran reliever Joe Nelson on a Minor League deal with an invitation to Spring Training on Monday, the 35-year-old right-hander confirmed to MLB.com.
After a solid bounceback year for the Marlins in 2008 — when he sported a 2.00 ERA in 54 innings — Nelson struggled with the Rays this past season, posting a 4.02 ERA in 42 relief appearances before spending August and September in the Minor Leagues.
In 2009, Nelson sported an 8.53 ERA in May, but an ERA no higher than 3.00 in April, June or July.
For his five-year career, Nelson is 7-2 with a 4.07 ERA.
As of now, Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima, Daniel Bard, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez (the one who posted a 2.84 ERA in 70 games for the Red Sox last season) look to have solidified spots in Boston’s bullpen. redsox.com.
Nelson was recently quoted as saying he really wanted to come to the Cubs, and given that he accepted a minor league deal on a team with a relatively crowded bullpen, we can surmise that the Cubs never made him an offer.
