The Spruce Bruce is for real , Ortiz going DL

06/03/2008
BY Aaron Gleeman

Indians' Blake homers twice, drives in seven

Big Papi to go on DL with tendon injury

Utley homers in fifth straight as Philly wins

Indians' Westbrook to go back on DL

Nats' Zimmerman has minor tear in shoulder

Smoltz rejoins Braves as reliever

Braves' Hudson exits with hamstring injury
David Ortiz
opened the season in a 3-for-43 (.070) slump, but hit his usual .299/.387/.575 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs in 42 games since then. Unfortunately, his rapid rise has been put on hold after Ortiz felt a "pop" in his left wrist during a swing Saturday. Initially deemed day-to-day after X-rays came back negative, Ortiz underwent an MRI exam Monday and was placed on the disabled list with a partially torn tendon.There's no indication that he'll require surgery and manager Terry Francona suggested that Ortiz could return following the minimum 15-day stay on the DL, but it's worth noting that wrist injuries often prove to be trickier than expected. With Ortiz out, Coco Crisp, Sean Casey, and Jacoby Ellsbury all figure to see slightly increased playing time and 29-year-old rookie Jeff Bailey could also work his way into the mix after hitting .318/.412/.665 with 16 homers in 50 games at Triple-A.While an injury proves to be the only thing that can keep Ortiz below a .900 OPS, here are some other notes from around baseball . John Smoltz returned from the disabled list Monday after being sidelined for over a month with shoulder soreness and immediately took over as the Braves' closer, coughing up two runs in the ninth inning to blow his first save attempt since October 2, 2004. He may not be asked to pitch in back-to-back games initially, but there's little doubt that Smoltz will once again have a very strong grip on ninth-inning duties if healthy. Keep an eye on his velocity and be patient. Chase Utley began the season by homering 13 times through 31 games and then went into a three-week slump during which he batted just .194 with one long ball, but he's back to tearing the cover off the ball again. Utley went 3-for-4 with a two-run blast Monday, giving him homers in five straight games and seven of the past eight games. He's driven in 19 runs over those eight games and leads baseball with 21 homers, giving him just eight fewer than the Royals have as a team. Not only was Joe Mauer's game-tying homer in the seventh inning Monday against Andy Pettitte his first long ball of the season, it was just the third time in his career that he's taken a left-hander deep. His previous two homers off southpaws both came in 2006, when he hit a dramatic three-run blast to straight-away center field against Neal Cotts on July 24 and smacked a two-run shot against Adam Loewen on September 24. Mauer has 33 career homers versus right-handers. Meanwhile, Mauer's teammate Delmon Young is still homerless with the Twins, but did hit three opposite-field doubles Monday while driving in three runs. Young is hitting .273 overall and has gone 42-for-144 (.292) since mid-April, but the supposed big-time power threat is slugging a measly .356 this season and .405 for his 248-game MLB career. Like Mauer, Young produces a ton of ground balls and rarely looks to pull pitches, which isn't a recipe for power development. Mauer finally got off the schneid Monday, leaving Victor Martinez and Jason Kendall as the only catchers with at least 150 plate appearances and zero homers. That's nothing new for Kendall, but Martinez went deep 25 times last season while driving in 114 runs. Manager Eric Wedge explained Martinez's lack of power Monday by saying that the Opening Day hamstring injury he suffered has lingered for two months. Martinez is hitting .289 while continuing to play through it.
Ryan Zimmerman sat out his seventh straight game Sunday and underwent an MRI on his sore left shoulder Monday. He's been diagnosed with a small tear , but so far at least he continues to avoid the disabled list and has been advised to simply rest. It's an odd situation, because Zimmerman has been "day-to-day" for two weeks and many hitters have taken cortisone shots while playing through similar injuries to non-throwing shoulders. For now, Aaron Boone fills in.AL Quick Hits: Rich Harden racked up eight strikeouts Monday and has now made five straight starts without missing a turn in the rotation for the first time in over two years . Jorge Posada (shoulder) went 1-for-3 with a walk in an extended spring training game Monday and hinted that he could return from the disabled list this week . Manny Ramirez homered Monday for the third straight game and is now just two long balls behind Eddie Murray for 23rd place on the all-time list . Perhaps responding to increased pressure for playing time from Andy Marte, Casey Blake homered twice Monday and tied a career-high with seven RBIs . Vladimir Guerrero got Monday off after jamming his right knee Sunday, giving Juan Rivera a rare start . After allowing a total of just three runs through his first five starts, Daily Dose favorite Aaron Laffey got rocked for eight runs Monday . Meanwhile, Laffey's rotation spot figures to be safe for a while thanks to elbow soreness forcing Jake Westbrook back to the DL . Joel Zumaya (shoulder) and Fernando Rodney (shoulder) are both scheduled to begin minor-league rehab assignments Tuesday.
NL Quick Hits: Showing no signs of slowing down, Jay Bruce went 2-for-4 with a homer Monday and is now hitting a ridiculous .577/.667/1.038 through seven games . Jake Peavy (shoulder) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session Sunday and reported no! problems . Prince Fielder went 3-for-4 with a game-winning homer Monday and also stole his first base of the season . Along with notching his eighth victory Monday, Carlos Zambrano went 3-for-3 with a triple and is now hitting .366 . Chris Carpenter (elbow) threw a 41-pitch simulated game Sunday and could be less than a month away from beginning a minor-league rehab assignment . Ken Griffey Jr. was scratched from Monday's lineup with what the Reds called "general soreness" . Jim Edmonds smacked a pair of doubles Monday and is now 10-for-35 (.286) since joining the Cubs . According to the Denver Post, the Yankees are interested in Brian Fuentes as a potential bullpen replacement for Joba Chamberlain . On the long road back from shoulder surgery, Kris Benson was scratched from his scheduled rehab start Monday at Single-A because of biceps soreness.