Weekly Update 5/29 - 6/4 - WIN A FREE T-SHIRT

As an effort to get the comments and activity more involved in general, we will be giving away a free Tough with 2 T-Shirt to whichever reader can tell us what the connection is between each topic in this post. Don’t worry about including the injuries, but try and connect everything after that. Example: X player on the team discussed used to play for the team discussed next, these two teams are in the same division, or coach for one team now coaches the other. Get creative, connect the dots, and win a free T Shirt. We will announce the winner in next weeks Weekly Update.

Injury Bug Strikes Again – These are not all of the injuries from this past week. There were A LOT! If I covered them all than this would be as long as my prospect article. I know, I know it was too long. Duly noted readers!! That is why I am just going to highlight the ones that I thought were most important to their teams and lineups.

Eduardo Rodriguez, SP Detroit Tigers – Left Index Finger Pulley Rupture

- This is a big blow for Rodriguez and the Tigers as he had returned this season after dealing with personal issues last season and was truly looking like a Cy Young Candidate early in the season. It is expected to sideline him for 6 – 8 weeks.

Cedric Mullins, CF Baltimore Orioles – Right Groin Strain

- Huge blow to the Orioles losing their captain of the outfield and leadoff hitter. Mullins is tied for 10th in the AL in RBIs and has been having a productive season for the Orioles who are finally starting to realize their potential as a team after years of suckery.

Kris Bryant, OF Colorado Rockies – Left Heel Bruise

- Bryant had a solid first month of the season for the Rockies after missing most of last season due to injury. Injuries have really been the thorn of the side of this former MVP player. I really hope that he can come back and take more advantage of the thin air of Coors Field.

Lars Nootbar, OF St. Louis Cardinals – Lower Back Contusion

- Nootbar was having a productive season before landing on the IL this past week. The Cardinals were finally starting to turn their season around the last week or so after the dismantlement you have heard me mention in previous articles. The Cardinals surely hope they can get their leadoff, World Baseball Classic champion back and with no lingering issues. Anyone who knows my dad knows that those pesky back issues can linger! Just go ask Clayton Kershaw. No Clayton Kershaw is not my dad. That would be cool though right? No offense Dad.

Chris Sale, SP Boston Red Sox – Left Shoulder Inflammation

- This one hurts me the most. Not only because he is on my fantasy team, although it does help the team name reputation “Patients is a Virtue,” but this is one of my favorite pitchers to watch over the last decade. He was starting to turn the corner and look like his old self after a couple of lost seasons due to injury. Hopefully, for my own sake and the Red Sox, he can bounce back quickly and keep improving on his 2023 turn around.

Joey Votto begins rehab assignment with Triple A Louisville. I just wanted to throw this tidbit in here because Joey Votto is such a great personality for the sport of baseball. I certainly hope he gets back soon so that nobody has to put up with his god-awful TikToks anymore. No grown man should be doing the stuff he’s doing on any social media platform, but I guess he had to find something to fill the time.

And that is just a few of the injuries! Phew that was lengthy! All right, let’s get into THE MEAT of it! Craig Kimbrel picked up his 400th career save. This puts him in elite company as far as career marks go. He is now top 8 all time in career saves and one behind fellow veteran Kenley Jansen who accomplished the feat a few weeks ago. Kimbrel had some down years recently, but in his prime the man racked up saves like a fireman gunning for early retirement bonuses! (If you can’t connect this topic to the next one, you’re not a real baseball fan!)

The Atlanta Braves lost 2 of 3 games to the….wait for it…Oakland Athletics?? I can’t believe I am writing this, but anyone who has played baseball knows that anything can happen on any given day. Paul Blackburn returned for the A’s on Monday with 4 innings of 1 run ball while Mike Soroka’s return did not go as swimmingly giving up 4 runs in 4 innings. The Athletics walked it off on Tuesday night in a 2-1 victory. The Braves won 4-2 on Wednesday attempting to right the ship as best they could and avoided the sweep. Maybe the Braves are just so used to playing in front of a packed crowd that the empty seats in the Coliseum threw them off their game? It doesn’t help when the 5-hole hitter, Marcel Ozuna, went hitless in the entire series.

The I-70 series, which for those of you that don’t know, is the Kansas City Royals against the St. Louis Cardinals, got started on Memorial Day was one of the most interesting I have watched. The Royals 2 hit the Cardinals in a bullpen game! It was opened by Josh Staumont and taken over by Mike Mayers in the 2nd inning who proceeded to throw 6 innings of 2 hit ball. The Royals went on to win game 1 7-0 and the Cardinals split the series by winning 2-1. Cardinals…YA BETTER THAN THAT!

Minnesota Rookie Royce Lewis returned on Monday exactly one year after tearing his ACL after running into the wall making a play in centerfield in 2022. Lewis was a number one overall pick back in 2017. This poor kid has endured plenty of injuries throughout his journey to The Show, but he came back with a vengeance. He hit a 3 run homerun in his third at bat of the game. I think he pretended that ball was the centerfield wall that he crashed into. I know I would pay to see Royce duke it out with the centerfield wall. I haven’t seen an outfield wall lose a battle yet, but as I said previously, anything can happen in baseball. Place your bets people.

Lastly, the Texas Rangers went 5-1 on the week to finish with the best record this past week. Their offense has looked better than Jessica Simpson in Dukes of Hazard. Okay maybe not that good, but their offense has been about that hot since the beginning of the season. They are doing all of this without the best pitcher in baseball, Jacob DeGrom. This team is going to be scary come October is they can get him back healthy for the long run.

That’s is all I have for this week. Hope everyone enjoyed catching up on this past week as much as I enjoyed writing. Now remember, write your connections between topics from THE MEAT in the comments and win yourself a free Tough with 2 T-shirt! Until next time ya bunch of Jabronis!

--Keller Douglas