by The Giants placed it LaMonte Wade Jr. returns to the list of injured with persistent inflammation in his left knee, according to a team announcement. Outfielder Luis GonzalezThe player, who was selected earlier in the week after a hot start to his term in the Giants, is returning to take his place in the roster. NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic reports that Wade underwent an MRI scan and will see a third-party doctor next Monday for a second opinion. The 28-year-old has already missed almost four weeks of the season due to left knee problems and has appeared in just 10 games with San Francisco this year. It hits 0.240 / .375 / .360 in a small sample of 32 plate appearances, which is consistent thanks to five walks and a hit-by-pitch, but is far from last year’s rhythm in the energy section. Wade won 18 homers, 17 doubles and three triples in just 381 appearances with the Giants last season.
While there is certainly concern throughout the Giants about Wade’s knee, his return to injury list paves the way for 26-year-old Gonzalez to try to prove that 0.349 / .397 / .492 starts the season (73 plate appearances) has some legitimacy. One should not expect Gonzalez to maintain an average of 0.370 on the balls he puts in the game, but his 8.2% gait rate is stable and his 13.7% strikeout rate is quite small by current standards . While there is definitely some setbacks, Gonzalez was a prospect for a note on the White Sox system before landing in San Francisco, but only made 13 appearances on the South Siders’ long lists.
Some more injury notes worth watching throughout the league…
- A recent MRI scan was performed on Tigers lefty Eduardo Rodriguez did not reveal any significant damage to his oblique or medial muscles, writes Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. On the one hand, this is good news, but on the other hand, it leaves some mystery as to what afflicts the southern foot. Rodriguez made his debut against the Rays this week in the first inning, allowing six of the seven batters he faced to reach the base. His fastball speed was significantly reduced, sitting at 89.8 mph as he averaged slightly better than 92 mph in his first seven exits. He is probably committed to IL and it seems that the Tigers will continue to evaluate him as they look for the root of the issue.
- As if the suffering of the Tigers’ injuries were not bad enough – Rodriguez is probably committed to IL, where he will join Casey Meez, Matt Manning, Tyler Alexander, Michael Pineda and Spencer Turnbull – outbreak start Tariq Skubal left tonight’s game after pulling a 100.4 mph return from his foot at the end of the fifth inning. The 25-year-old Skubal practiced Cleveland in five frames before leaving, dropping his ERA to 2.22 to 42 2/3 frames. He has admired 28.4% of his opponents against just 4.5% of walking in the season. The Tigers announced that Skubal was initially only diagnosed with a fracture, but MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets that he will undergo an additional test tomorrow. Skubal he tells reporters that he is optimistic about its next start, but there is enough swelling that doctors have not yet done imaging (hence the additional evaluation tomorrow).
- Nautical catcher Tom Murphyin addition to his shoulder dislocation on May 6, he had a setback in his recovery and is not expected to leave the injured list soon, tweets Seattle Times Ryan Divish. Further details have not yet been announced by the team, but it is a remarkable blow as Murphy started 0.303 / .439 / .455 in his season, albeit through a small sample of 42 record appearances. He has played 0.240 / .321 / .440 in a total of 687 record appearances since joining the Mariners in 2020 and his absence will leave the team relying on young backstops. Cal Raleigh and Louis Torrensboth have had a hard time on the plate this year.
