Weekend Injury Updates and Breakng News More Go DL

Notes From the Weekend

06/09/2008 BY Aaron Gleeman

A's DH Sweeney to undergo knee surgery

Chipper out of lineup with quad strain

Crede hits two homers in second straight game

Wainwright leaves with strained finger

Tigers' Bonderman likely out for season

Indians' Westbrook to undergo Tommy John

Blue Jays activate Wells from DL

Lots of stuff to get caught up on from a busy weekend, so let's get right to the notes from around baseball .

* Jake Westbrook missed more than a month with a rib injury earlier this season, returning from the disabled list last week by holding the White Sox to three runs over five innings. Unfortunately, following that one start back he's now set for a much lengthier stay on the DL after complaining of elbow soreness. Westbrook is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery, which would end his season and likely keep him sidelined through the All-Star break next year. For now Jeremy Sowers will replace Westbrook, but will no doubt be bumped from the rotation once Fausto Carmona returns in a few weeks and may even struggle to keep the job that long. Sowers was roughed up Sunday against the Tigers and is now 1-7 with a 6.50 ERA in 16 starts since going 7-4 with a 3.57 ERA in 14 starts as a rookie in 2006. Sowers is capable of being a passable fourth or fifth starter, but his lack of stuff simply won't allow much beyond that.
* Justin Masterson turned in his third Quality Start in four tries Sunday, improving to 3-0 with a 2.59 ERA by holding the Mariners to one run over six innings. Masterson has recorded at least 18 outs in each of his four MLB starts, making up for a mediocre 18-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio by inducing a grounder on nearly 60 percent of his balls in play. For comparison, Brandon Webb leads baseball with 65.1 percent ground balls.Masterson beginning his big-league career as an extreme ground-ball pitcher is no fluke, as he used his heavy fastball-slider combo to induce 2.5 ground balls for every fly ball over the past two seasons in the minors. Masterson likely has 2-3 more starts to impress until Daisuke Matsuzaka returns from the disabled list and could work his way into the team's second-half plans regardless of Matsuzaka's status. His upside looks like a cross between Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson.
* Chipper Jones has yet to slow down offensively, beginning this month by going 11-for-23 (.478) after hitting .410 in April and .417 in May, but as has been the case for the past 3-4 years nagging injuries have started to cut into his fantasy value. After missing five of the Braves' first 63 games, Jones was scratched from Sunday's lineup with a slightly torn quadriceps. That probably sounds a whole lot worse than it actually is, but he may still be sidelined for much of this week.
* Already ranked 11th in the AL with a 4.87 ERA, the Tigers' rotation got more bad news Friday when Jeremy Bonderman underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from his shoulder. He'll likely miss the remainder of the season and may need additional surgery to remove a rib. Bonderman has hardly performed like an ace, but his 4.29 ERA ranks second-best among Tigers starters behind Armando Galarraga (3.70), who secures a long-term rotation spot thanks to the injury.
* When the White Sox got June 2 off Joe Crede was sporting a .264/.333/.467 line that topped his career OPS by 50 points, but he's gone 11-for-18 (.611) with five homers and 12 RBIs since, including back-to-back two-homer games Friday and Saturday. In the span of five games Crede raised his OPS from .800 to .929, beating up the Twins to push the White Sox's lead to 5.5 games in the AL Central. Not bad for a guy the White Sox were trying to unload all winter.
* Joba Chamberlain's second start wasn't especially impressive Sunday, but it was a step up from his rotation debut last week. Still on a limited pitch count as he continues to build up arm strength, Chamberlain lasted just 4.1 innings against the Royals while allowing three runs. After issuing five walks in his first start he handed out just one free pass Sunday, totaling five strikeouts while allowing five hits. He's still several starts away from an unlimited pitch count, but it's progress.
* Ray Durham had the worst season of his career in 2007 and the 36-year-old appeared to be at the end of line after beginning this season with a measly .680 OPS through May 12, but after four hits Sunday he's now 29-for-79 (.367) in two-dozen games since. He hasn't shown much power during that stretch and Durham's days of being a 20-homer threat are likely gone for good, but he has done a great job controlling the strike zone and is on pace for his most steals since 2002.
AL Quick Hits: Activated from the disabled list Saturday about a week earlier than expected, Vernon Wells (wrist) combined to go 5-for-7 with a homer in his first two games back . After nearly no-hitting them earlier this season, Gavin Floyd racked up a season-high nine strikeouts in Sunday's win over the Twins .
Matt Garza was pulled from his start Sunday after four innings following a dugout scuffle with catcher Dioner Navarro . Billy Butler went 2-for-4 with a homer Saturday at Triple-A and is now hitting .375/.429/.688 since his surprising demotion . Alexei Ramirez went 3-for-4 with a homer Sunday, notching his ninth multi-hit game since mid-May while going 28-for-72 (.389) over that stretch . After another impressive outing Sunday against the Angels, Rich Harden now has a 2.85 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 47.1 innings . Kevin Slowey got knocked around for eight runs Sunday against the White Sox, watching his ERA balloon from 3.76 to 5.15 . Mike Sweeney is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after undergoing knee surgery and may not have a job once he returns.NL Quick Hits: Given with a very favorable on-paper matchup Sunday against the Padres in San Diego, Pedro Martinez allowed four runs on 10 hits over five innings . Ryan Howard doubled three times while driving in four runs Sunday, putting him on pace for 125 RBIs despite a .214 batting average and .775 OPS . Barry Zito put 11 runners on base Sunday, but picked up a rare victory to make him 2-9 with a 5.83 ERA . Matt Holliday (hamstring) went 4-for-4 in a minor-league rehab game Saturday and looks ready to come off the disabled list Tuesday . Jake Peavy (elbow) threw a 61-pitch simulated game Saturday, but indicated afterward that he may not be ready to rejoin the Padres' rotation this week . Playing in his first game since being demoted to Triple-A, Ronny Paulino went 5-for-5 with two homers Saturday . Carlos Delgado came up a homer short of the cycle Sunday, making him 15-for-39 (.385) during the past 11 games . No doubt cursed by being highlighted in this space last week, Todd Wellemeyer has been scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday with elbow soreness.