Results tagged ‘ Mat Gamel ’
Looper, Gagne, Gwynn, Salome on injury report
Brewers skipper Ken Macha came armed with a note for his Thursday morning meeting with reporters because there were so many injuries to update. Among them:
- The team’s medical staff is encouraged by Braden Looper’s recovery from a tight oblique muscle, and he might be kept off the mound for seven days instead of 10-14. Macha also noted that Looper has been able to participate in plyometric throwing exercises since he tweaked the muscle, meaning he will not have to start from scratch when he gets back on the mound. Perhaps he’ll be in the rotation on Opening Day, after all.
“It’s going to be small steps every day and there won’t be any giants jumps forward,” Macha said.
- Reliever Eric Gagne was sent out for an MRI exam Thursday on his sore right shoulder. Gagne’s Minor League contract includes a March 26 out date on which he can elect free agency if he’s not placed on the roster, and Macha conceded that it will be tough to evaluate Gagne in that tight timeframe.
When a reporter commented that his injury will make it difficult for Gagne to make the team, Macha responded, “That’s an excellent observation. … Talking to Eric, he wants to play. How they figure this all out, they will start to develop a path once they read the MRI and see what’s going on.”
- Outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr., who had an MRI scan on Monday, received a cortisone shot Thursday morning for his right shoulder injury and will be shut down for three days. It’s another setback for Gwynn, who is way behind in the race for reserve outfield spots, but at least it comes at a good time. Gwynn will travel home to San Diego, where his wife, Alyse, will give birth to the couple’s second child.
“He got a shot, and hopefully that will clear [the shoulder inflammation] up,” Macha said. “If it doesn’t, then how they read that MRI was going to determine how they go on after that.”
- Catcher Angel Salome, who has served as a designated hitter in Cactus League games but has yet to play defense, is sidelined by tightness in the middle of his back. Salome departed Maryvale Baseball Park early Thursday after seeing Raasch, presumably for an x-ray and additional off-site tests.
- Third baseman Mat Gamel is making steady progress in his return from a sore right shoulder. He played catch with head athletic trainer Roger Caplinger on Thursday and remains about seven days away from full activity. Gamel served as the designated hitter in Thursday’s exhibition against the Australian national team.
- Reliever David Riske threw 40 pitches of live batting practice on Thursday, and it could be his final hurdle before appearing in a game. Riske and Gagne are the only pitchers in big league camp yet to pitch in a game.
Injury updates galore
Lots of injury news today, and much of it is not very promising:
- Both assistant GM Gord Ash and manager Ken Macha raised the possibility that Braden Looper’s oblique injury will force the right-hander to the disabled list for the start of the season. The team plans to shut him down for two weeks, meaning Looper will have to start from scratch about a month after the start of camp.
- Eric Gagne developed shoulder soreness late last week, throwing a wrench into his chances of making the club. He can opt out of his Minor League contract if he’s not placed on the 40-man roster by that date, but he has to pitch before the Brewers can make a decision.
“The date is his call,” Ash said. “If he wants to depart, he can. If he doesn’t want to depart, he doesn’t have to. Clearly, and I spoke to him this morning, he’s running out of time.”
- Tony Gwynn Jr.’s shoulder injury might be more serious than originally thought, though Ash declined to offer details until head doctor William Raasch reads the results of Monday’s MRI scan. Raasch will be back in camp on Thursday and will also examine Gagne.
- The Brewers are encouraged by Bill Hall’s recovery from a slight left calf tear, but he will not play in a Cactus League game until late next week at the earliest. Hall took part in some running drills on Tuesday.
- Reliever David Riske, who underwent surgery last fall to remove a bone spur, is scheduled for another live batting practice session on Thursday and then should be ready to appear in games.
- Third base prospect Mat Gamel returned to camp this week after going home for the birth of his first child, but he continues to rehab a sore throwing shoulder. Gamel was to appear as a pinch-hitter against the Rockies on Tuesday and will also get at-bats in a Minor League intra-squad game on Wednesday.
Gamel is a proud papa
Brewers PR boss Mike Vassallo passed along the news that third baseman Mat Gamel and his fiancee, Julianne, welcomed a healthy baby girl, Audrey Maddox, into the world on Friday night in Jacksonville. Gamel was there for the birth of his first child, and is expected back in Brewers camp on Monday.
Gwynn still out; Gamel, Coffey to head out
Brewers outfielder Tony Gwynn, Jr. remains sidelined in camp and Mat Gamel and Todd Coffey are about to leave.
Gwynn continues to feel some pain in his right shoulder and will be limited from throwing until he’s completely pain-free. Manager Ken Macha said there was “some concern” that Gwynn is not improving more quickly, but that he was showing some signs of improvement. Gwynn will see the doctor again on Thursday.
Gamel and Coffey, meanwhile, were set to take a few days off to attend births back home. Coffey’s wife, Nikki, is to give birth to the couple’s third child and first son on Friday, the same day Gamel’s fiancee was to deliver the couple’s first child.
Emptying the notebook…
- Outfielder Ryan Braun is the Brewers’ resident fashion mogul. A story about his new clothing line, Remetee, will be on Brewers.com later today.
- The Brewers were unable to find a willing opponent for a “B” game on March 4 so manager Ken Macha instead scheduled an intrasquad game to keep his pitchers on track. For now, that’s left-hander Manny Parra’s day to pitch, and he will face a lineup of Minor Leaguers assembled by farm director Reid Nichols.
The Brewers do have a “B” game scheduled for March 10 in Surprise, Ariz. against the Rangers. They will play another intrasquad game on Tuesday in advance of the Feb. 25 Cactus League opener.
- Assistant general manager Gord Ash had his sit-down with Mat Gamel, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Macha was also there as the Brewers laid out their expectations for Gamel, who once again has a surprise injury. The good news is that his right shoulder impingement is not considered serious, and while Gamel is limited from throwing he was able to take part in batting practice on Thursday.
- Brewers pitchers faced hitters for the first time on Thursday. R.J. Swindle’s slow, looping curveball elicited some awkward swings, and some of the club’s baseball officials gathered to watch Trevor Hoffman face a group that included Brad Nelson.
- A downright skinny Ray King dropped by Maryvale Baseball Park and said he’s looking for a job. King, a left-handed reliever who pitched for the Brewers from 2000-2002 and again at the end of 2007, appeared in only 12 games last season for Washington but posted a 2.25 ERA in 32 games for the Astros’ Triple-A club and then pitched well in the Dominican Republic over the winter. He said he has been throwing at his nearby home in Litchfield park, Ariz. and is open to even a Triple-A job. The offseason market has not been kind to the 35-year-old.
“Crickets,” King said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
- Brewers Minor Leaguer Alex Periard was thrilled when the Brewers signed Eric Gagne and assigned him a spot in the clubhouse four lockers away. Periard and Gagne are both natives of Quebec, and Periard has never had a Franch-speaking teammate. Gagne has; he teamed with catcher Russell Martin in Los Angeles.
- Jeff Suppan took the “gold medal” in a bunting competition earlier this week between Brewers pitchers. Lindsay Gulin won the silver medal and Mark Rogers took home the bronze.
- Macha plans to control opponents’ running game from the bench this season. Last year, then-bench coach Ted Simmons allowed catchers Jason Kendall and Mike Rivera to do it themselves, meaning the players didn’t have to look into the dugout for signs calling for pickoffs and the like. Macha thinks coaches have a better perspective of what opponents are trying to do from the bench.
- Third base coach Brad Fisher started a new camp tradition on Thursday. Every morning before the Brewers stretch, one of the team’s Minor Leaguers will be subjected to a question and answer session. Judging by the laughter coming from the group that surrounded catching prospect Angel Salome, there were some good questions.
- The MLB Network is making the rounds in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues and will feature the Brewers on Sunday, March 15 at 7 p.m. CT. Former FSN Wisconsin sideline reporter Trenni Kusnierek will file the report.
Gamel, Brewers officials to chat
Mat Gamel knows that Brewers officials were not particularly thrilled with him when he reported to camp on Wednesday with a shoulder injury. He hopes a little sit-down will help clear things up.
Here’s the background: Gamel was sent home last September with an elbow injury that club officials feel he concealed. But very interestingly, Gamel insisted on Wednesday that he did try to tell medical staffers that he was hurting but got little response.
Then, he was the last player to report for Spring Training and when he showed up, he said his shoulder was hurting. He said he didn’t tell Brewers officials this time because it only happened a day or so ago, and he figured it could be dealt with when he arrived.
As for his late arrival, which garnered him little talkings-to from veterans like Jason Kendall and Mike Cameron, Gamel explained that his fiancee is pregnant and due any day. He wanted to remain at home in Florida as long as possible.
He said he’s looking forward to sitting down to front office folks to clear the air.
“It’s fine, because I’d like to sit down and let them hear my side,” Gamel said. “I tried to fight through it last year, but I also felt like I let them know that my elbow was sore.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about [the current shoulder problem], but then I thought about the negative side of not saying anything, and figured I should let them know. … Now I want to sit down and let them know what’s going on. I don’t want them to think I’m “big-leaguing” my way through my first [Major League] camp.”
It’s an interesting side story to the first full-squad workout. Gamel is extremely talented, but my understanding is that the Brewers want to be sure that he knows his responsibilities.
Gamel sidelined by shoulder
One of the Brewers’ top prospects is beginning the 2009 season right where he ended 2008: On the sidelines.
Third baseman Mat Gamel was the last Brewer to report for Spring Training on Wednesday and he arrived complaining of shoulder pain. Gamel’s physical exam revealed an impingement similar to the one that is sidelining outfielder Tony Gwynn, Jr., and both players will refrain from throwing until the pain goes away.
Gamel earned a September call-up last season but was sent home early when he revealed a strained right elbow that apparently had been bothering him for some time. The shoulder problem came as a similar surprise.
“He gave no indication of it,” assistant general manager Gord Ash said. “He said it happened just before he got here.”
Hall suffers Crew's first spring injury
The Brewers did not get through Day 1 of Spring Training without the first injury news of the year.
Bill Hall, the frontrunner at start at third base, was diagnosed with a partial tear of his left calf muscle on Friday and will be sidelined 4-6 weeks for rehabilitation. Hall was injured while doing conditioning work before the start of Spring Training.
Assuming his rehab progresses on schedule, Hall still could be ready in time for the Brewers’ April 7 season-opener in San Francisco. Hall underwent offseason Lasik surgery and was hoping for a bounce-back season after two down years. His best season was 2005, when Hall mostly played shortstop and belted 35 homers while hitting .270 and driving in 85 runs.
Third base is a position of relative depth for the Brewers, who have Mike Lamb back for 2009 as well as utility man Craig Counsell, who started 38 games at third in 2008. Both bat left-handed, as does prospect Mat Gamel, though the Brewers may prefer to send Gamel to Triple-A Nashville to continue work on his defense. The top right-handed option is Casey McGehee, an offseason waiver claim from the Cubs.
UPDATE at 1:48 p.m. CT: Just got off the phone with assistant GM Gord Ash, who said Hall felt a “pop” in his calf during a working Thursday at a private training facility in the Phoenix area. He called head athletic trainer Roger Caplinger and underwent an MRI scan on Friday morning.
Asked about Hall’s availability for Opening Day, Ash said this: “We’ll know better about that [Saturday] when we see him for his physical. He’s recovered fast from injuries before, but to recover enough from this injury to get onto the field could be 30-45 days, so he might be touch and go.”
As for Plan B should Hall miss the start of the season: “We have a lot of choices. … These things will sort themselves out. You don’t like to start camp with an injury, but it is part of the game, no question, and we’ll adjust.”
Ash said Hall was the team’s only health concern that came to light ahead of Saturday’s physicals.
Adam McCalvy
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