BaseballTalkOnline.com

Chad Cordero entered a 6-2 game tonight against the Braves and immediately struggled. Cordero struggled to find any velocity and following a 3-2 pitch to Kelly Johnson, Cordero called the trainer out to the mound and was showing signs of pain around his shoulder of his pitching arm and was promptly removed from the game.

Cordero was topping out in the low-to-mid 80s with his fastball and left the game with runners on first and second and a full count to Kelly Johnson. Jon Rauch entered the game and finished the inning, despite having one of the inherited runners score.

Another visit to Dr. Andrews may be in order for Cordero followed by a lengthy stay on the disabled list. The Nationals can’t afford to keep him in their bullpen if they can’t rely on him to get through an inning, save situation or not.

In the meantime, Rauch will continue to be the team’s closer until they make a decision on Cordero.

Filed under: Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, Washington Nationals | No Comments »

After being released by the Pirates on Sunday, Matt Morris has decided to call it a career.

“It’s over and I’m happy where I am right now,” Morris said. “In my heart, I’m happy. At the end, it all came to a head very quickly, but I’ve had a great career. It was time to move on and, obviously, the Pirates felt the same way.”

Morris was 0-4 through his first five starts of the season and hand a 9.67 ERA. The Pirates are still on the hook for paying Morris about $11 million, the remainder of his salary and the buyout of his option for the 2009 season.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Morris resurface as a coach somewhere, probably in the Cardinals organization.

Filed under: Matt Morris, Pittsburgh Pirates | No Comments »

The Rockies shuffled their rotation today, sending left hander Franklin Morales to Triple-A and announcing that Mark Redman would have his next start skipped because of a Thursday off-day.

Morales walked five batters and allowed six hits, getting through just 4.1 innings against the Giants on Monday. That outing turned out to be the final straw for Morales this time around.

Redman will be skipped over to keep the rest of the Rockies staff on normal rotation. Jeff Francis will pitch on Friday, while Aaron Cook goes on Sunday against the Dodgers.

Morales’s spot would have come up on Saturday, but right now the Rockies aren’t sure who will make that start.

Filed under: Colorado Rockies, Franklin Morales, Mark Redman | No Comments »

The Atlanta Braves have placed John Smoltz on the disabled list with a “severely inflamed biceps tendon and an inflamed rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder.”

Smoltz had his shoulder examined by Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday and will be re-evaluated after giving his arm some rest.

Smoltz will turn 41 in two weeks, and given his past injury trouble, now coupled with age, the outlook on his shoulder can’t be too good. It had been reported that Smoltz had hoped to pitch a few more seasons, but it seems as if he’s going to have a hard enough time getting through 2008 before worrying about 2009 and beyond.

Filed under: Atlanta Braves, John Smoltz | No Comments »

The Mariners appear to be set to recalling Jeff Clement from Triple-A Tacoma. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer suggested it could be a matter of days before Clement is called up to help the struggling Mariners offense.

Clement is batting .384/.526/.685 - 1.211 through the team’s first 22 games at Triple-A, suggesting he’s all but ready for the major leagues. Clement, who has split time as the catcher and designated hitter for the Triple-A club, would likely take the spot of Jose Vidro in the Mariners every day lineup as their designated hitter. Last week’s contract extension given to Kenji Johjima signaled the end of Clement’s catching career as a major leaguer, though he may see some time behind the plate to give Johjima the occasional day off.

When Clement comes up, it probably means Jamie Burke will be sent out, because American League teams will rarely keep three catchers on their roster. When Johjima needs a day off, it would probably be Clement moving behind the plate instead of Burke.

Filed under: Jamie Burke, Jeff Clement, Kenji Johjima, Seattle Mariners | No Comments »

Barry Zito’s early season struggles will land him in the bullpen for the time being. Zito fell to a Major League worst 0-6 record after allowing 8 earned runs in the first inning of the Giants game versus the Reds on Sunday.

Zito and manager Bruce Bochy had a meeting today to discuss the move earlier in the day and by meetings end, Zito was in the bullpen.

Bochy didn’t put a timetable on Zito’s return to the rotation, but when asked if Zito would miss just one start, Bochy replied by saying, “Sure, that’s my hope.”

For now, Pat Misch will pitch out of Zito’s spot in the rotation.

Filed under: Barry Zito, Pat Misch, San Francisco Giants | No Comments »

The Texas Rangers are going to be without their often injured third baseman for the next three to four weeks after an MRI on Hank Blalock’s left hamstring revealed a small tear in the muscle.

The Rangers are expected to place Blalock on the disabled list Tuesday. They will likely use a platoon at third base, rotating Ramon Vazquez and German Duran at third base while Blalock is out.

Filed under: German Duran, Hank Blalock, Ramon Vazquez, Texas Rangers | No Comments »

Jorge Posada’s recurring shoulder problems are going to land him on the disabled list for the first time in his career.

A few weeks ago, Posada had an MRI done on his shoulder which revealed a small tear in the subscapularis muscle in his shoulder. Dr. James Andrews and two other doctors reviewed the MRI and instructed Posada to rest his arm for a few weeks. During his time of rest, Posada continued to hit, playing most games as the team’s designated hitter and received a cortisone shot in his shoulder last week.

However, Posada couldn’t make the throws he wanted warming up yesterday and had to be scratched from the lineup. With the latest setback, Posada is going to see Dr. Andrews sometime this week to get his shoulder evaluated. Dr. Andrews performed surgery on Posada’s shoulder in November 2001 to repair a small tear in his labrum.

Chris Stewart will be called up to replace Posada on the roster and be the backup to Jose Molina while Posada is out.

Filed under: Chris Stewart, Jorge Posada, Jose Molina, New York Yankees | No Comments »

All indications point to the Red Sox activating Mike Lowell from the disabled list prior to the start of Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays.

Lowell finished up a three-game rehab assignment yesterday, going 3-for-13 with three RBIs during the three games.

“I don’t have any pain,” Lowell said. “Overall, I feel pretty good. I passed the tests they wanted me to pass. I’m looking forward to getting back.”

Filed under: Boston Red Sox, Mike Lowell | No Comments »

The Pirates gave up on their struggling veteran, Matt Morris, releasing him after he dropped to 0-4 last night with a loss to the Phillies.

Morris had a 9.67 ERA through 22.1 innings, leaving the Pirates with no other choice but to let him go.

The Pirates will be on the hook for the remainder of Morris’s contract – $10.03 million for 2008, plus $1 million buyout for the 2009 season – because they released him. Any other team can take a chance on Morris for major league minimum, now.

The Pirates called up John Van Benschoten to take Morris’s place. Van Benschoten will work out of the bullpen and will likely be sent back down on Thursday when the team will call up Phil Dumatrait to take Morris’s spot in the rotation.

Filed under: John Van Benschoten, Matt Morris, Phil Dumatrait, Pittsburgh Pirates | No Comments »