The Royals placed Amir Garrett on the 15-day injured list yesterday, with a retroactive May 29 placement date. The left-hander is suffering from a valgus extension overload in his throwing elbow, which manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including MLB.com) is like a bone bruise. Garrett will miss roughly 3-4 weeks in total, and will be shut down for the next 5-7 days before being re-examined.
Since Kansas City already seems out of the pennant race, that means Garrett should be able to return well before the trade deadline, and perhaps establish himself as a trade chip for a Royals team that is already open to moving relievers. Garrett is a free agent this winter, making him even more of an obvious trade candidate as a rental player. Beyond his current health issue, however, the biggest obstacle in the way of a Garrett deal is his garish 17.7% walk rate, the highest yet for a pitcher who has struggled with control over most of his seven MLB seasons. While Garrett has only a 3.00 ERA over 21 innings and his strikeout (25%) and grounder (48.1%) rates are both respectable, the walk rate certainly stands out as a red flag for any interesting suitors.
More on other injury situations around baseball…
- Jose Altuve didn’t play today and likely won’t play on Sunday, as Astros manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle) that Altuve is dealing with a minor oblique problems. The second baseman felt discomfort after a swing in Friday’s game, and while the injury isn’t deemed serious enough to merit an MRI, the Astros are naturally being careful with Altuve given how oblique problems can linger or become easily aggravated. It’s a day-to-day situation for now, though Houston doesn’t have an off-day on the schedule until June 12.
- The Guardians removed Amed Rosario from today’s game in the fourth inning due to left knee soreness. Rosario is day-to-day for now, and since Cleveland has an off-day on Monday, it seems very likely that Rosario will be sat for Sunday’s game to give him two full days to rest and recover. Rosario has struggled badly this season, hitting only .224/.270/.314 over 226 plate appearances, and he has the fourth-lowest fWAR (-0.7) of any qualified player in 2023. Any of Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, or Brayan Rocchio could get more playing time at shortstop if Rosario has to miss an extended amount of time.
- Joely Rodriguez was warming up in preparation of entering tonight’s Rays/Red Sox game, but Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe) that Rodriguez had to halt his warmup due to soreness in his bicep and shoulder area. More will be known once some tests are run, but it certainly looks like Rodriguez could be headed back to the IL. An oblique injury in Spring Training already delayed Rodriguez’s season debut until May 17, and the left-hander has struggled to an 18.00 ERA over his four innings and five appearances.
- The Marlins told reporters (including Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base) that Avisail Garcia’s rehab assignment has been temporarily halted, as he will receive examination on his sore back. Garcia has already been on the IL since April 29 due to lower back tightness, so while the team described the setback as “minor,” it is a little worrisome to see Garcia further delayed. The outfielder has played in four games with Triple-A Jacksonville during his rehab assignment.