The Hot Corner

A's sign Bartolo Colon to a one-year deal

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:58:00 +0000

The Oakland A's have agreed to a one-year deal with pitcher Bartolo Colon, according to ESPN's Jayson Stark.

Colon finished last season with a record of 8-10 and an ERA of 4.00, but he started the season much better than he finished it.

Here are his splits of first three and second three months:

April-June: 5-3, 3.10 ERA, 8.27 K/9
July-September: 3-7, 4.81 ERA, 6.59 K/9

While he may fade toward the end of the season again and he loses the run support provided by the Yankees, Colon moves to a more favorable stadium.

Last year, A's pitchers more than a full run differential when comparing their ERA at home (3.18) vs. on the road (4.26).

Nationals, Gio Gonzalez agree to extension through 2016

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:35:00 +0000

The Washington Nationals announced via Twitter that they have agreed to a contract extension with starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez through the 2016 season.

In addition, there is a team option for the 2017 and 2018 season as well.

Gonzalez, who was acquired for four prospects last month, would have been eligible for arbitration this offseason.

In the past two seasons, Gonzalez has won 15-plus games, pitched 200-plus innings and posted a sub-3.25 ERA each year. Last season, he set career highs in wins (16) and strikeouts (197) and a career low in ERA (3.12).

Among qualified pitchers, Gonzalez ranked 11th in MLB in K/9 (8.78) last season. But only Toronto's Brandon Morrow (10.19), Seattle's (now New York's) Michael Pineda (9.11) and Detroit's Justin Verlander (8.96) had a better K/9 among A.L. starting pitchers.

That said, only Pittsburgh's James McDonald had a worse BB/9 (4.11) than Gonzalez (4.05) last year among qualified starters.

Report: Ryan Braun faces 50-game suspension for PEDs

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:54:00 +0000

Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, according to a report by ESPN's Outside the Lines.

Per the report, the failed test has not been announced since Braun is appealing the result through arbitration.

Braun's spokeman released the following statement (via ESPN): "There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program. While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident he will ultimately be exonerated.

Per the report, Braun failed an initial test and MLB had the World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Montreal conduct a second test, which revealed the testosterone was not produced naturally within Braun's body.

In the offseason, Braun signed a five-year extension worth roughly $105 million. Braun, who was named the 2011 N.L. MVP, hit a career-high .332 with 33 home runs, 111 runs batted in and scored 109 runs.

Braun also stole a career-high 33 bases and was one of four players to finish with 30-30 seasons. The other three were Matt Kemp, Ian Kinsler and Jacoby Ellsbury.

Angels, Jered Weaver agree to five-year deal worth $85 million

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 03:35:00 +0000

Per Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times, it is believed that the Angels and ace Jered Weaver have agreed to a five-year deal that is worth $85 million. Bolch notes that Weaver's agent Scott Boras would not confirm that news over the phone.

That said, the Angels have scheduled a news conference for tomorrow afternoon.

Despite his poor performance on August 13th (eight earned runs), Weaver has a 2.10 ERA and is 14-6 on the season. He leads the A.L. in ERA and is second in all of baseball behind Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto (1.89).

Weaver's ERA has declined every year since 2008: 4.33 to 3.75 (2009) to 3.01 (2010) to 2.10 (2011).

Last year, Weaver led all of baseball in strikeouts (233). This year, Weaver has struck out 158 batters in 188.1 innings pitched.

Giants place Brian Wilson on the DL

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 22:30:00 +0000

The San Francisco Giants have placed closer Brian Wilson on the 15-day disabled list (DL).

Since he last pitched on August 15th, Wilson is eligible to come off the DL on August 31st.

"We put him on the DL so we did not have the urge to push him," [Giants manager Bruce] Bochy said, per Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. "Or to have Willie go out there when he's not right. He wanted to try to get through it. Long term, it's the best thing for his career."

While Wilson is out, it appears that Jeremy Affeldt is most likely going to get the ball in the ninth.

On the season, Affeldt is 1-2 with three saves, 12 holds and 49 strikeouts in 54 2/3 innings pitched. His ERA is 2.63 and WHIP is 1.15.

Rockies trade Ubaldo Jimenez to Indians for four prospects including Drew Pomeranz

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 12:57:00 +0000

The Colorado Rockies have traded starter Ubaldo Jimenez to the Cleveland Indians for four prospects: pitchers Drew Pomeranz, Alex White and Joe Gardner and first baseman Matt McBride.

All three pitchers rank in the top six of the Indians prospects by MLB.com with Pomeranz, the fifth overall pick in 2010, ranked second behind third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall.

Technically, Pomeranz can't be traded until August 15th.

Jimenez, who was rocked last night (four walks and four earned runs in one inning), has a reasonable salary over the next couple of seasons: $2.8 million (2011), $4.2 million (2012) and $5.7 million (2013). There is a club option for $14 million in 2014, but Jimenez can void that due to the trade.

But ESPN's Keith Law thinks that the Indians made a bad move for two reasons. First, the Indians have struggled (23-36) since their surprising start (30-15), which came against relatively easier competition. Second, it's unclear which Ubaldo Jimenez the Indians will get.

Last year, Jimenez was 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA heading into the All-Star Break. Since then, Jimenez has a 10-16 record with an ERA of 4.19.

"He's been a little beat up this year," closer Chris Perez said of Jimenez (via Paul Hoynsie of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer), "but Colorado isn't the easiest place to pitch. His road numbers are much better and he's on a club-friendly contract.

"I think we gave up a lot of talent, but you have to give talent to get talent. Pomeranz has a lot of talent, but at the same time he's never pitched up here. In five years we might be kicking ourselves."

As of last night's game, the Indians are 53-51 and 1.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers (56-51).

Alex Rodriguez to have knee surgery Monday, out 4-6 weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:17:00 +0000

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will have surgery on Monday to repair his torn meniscus, per Peter Botte of the NY Daily News.

Rodriguez will miss the next 4-to-6 weeks while recovering from the surgery.

Although he considered playing through the injury, which initially occurred on June 19th, it makes more sense to get it taken care of now.

"Absolutely. That's what I would say, if you're going to have the surgery, let's get it done as soon as possible so some of the off-days you're having are during the (All-Star) break," [manager Joe] Girardi said. "If he decided not to have the surgery, we've seen how it's kind of affected him up to this point."

This means Rodriguez will have landed on the disabled list in four consecutive seasons.

A-Rod hasn't hit a home run in his past 85 at-bats, which is the longest drought of his career.

On the season, Rodriguez is hitting .295 with 13 home runs and 52 runs batted in.

Derek Jeter homers for 3,000th hit

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:44:00 +0000

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter homered for his 3,000th career (regular-season) hit off Rays starting pitcher David Price.

Jeter, who is the 28th player to reach the milestone, became only the second player to homer for his 3,000th hit. As noted by SI's Joe Posnanski, Wade Boggs was the other player.

In addition, Jeter becomes the first player in franchise history to reach the milestone while collecting all 3,000 hits as a Yankee.

Here are the other 27 players to have reached the milestone in Major League Baseball history:

1. Pete Rose (4,256)
2. Ty Cobb (4,189)
3. Hank Aaron (3,771)
4. Stan Musial (3,630)
5. Tris Speaker (3,514)
6. Cap Anson (3,435)
7. Honus Wagner (3,420)
8. Carl Yastrzemski (3,419)
9. Paul Molitor (3,319)
10. Eddie Collins (3,315)
11. Willie Mays (3,283)
12. Eddie Murray (3,255)
13. Nap Lajoie (3,242)
14. Cal Ripken (3,184)
15. George Brett (3,154)
16. Paul Waner (3,152)
17. Robin Yount (3,142)
18. Tony Gwynn (3,141)
19. Dave Winfield (3,110)
20. Craig Biggio (3,060)
21. Rickey Henderson (3,055)
22. Rod Carew (3,053)
23. Lou Brock (3,023)
24. Rafael Palmeiro (3,020)
25. Wade Boggs (3,010)
26. Al Kaline (3,007)
27. Roberto Clemente (3,000)

The next closest active player to reach 3,000 hits is Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who has 2,842 hits as of yesterday.

When it's all said and done, how high will Jeter finish on this list (vote on our poll here)?

Ryan Braun's MRI shows inflammation but no structural damage

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 03:11:00 +0000

Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun missed a fourth consecutive game on Wednesday. And although he won't play in the series opener against the Reds on Thursday, he could return as early as Friday, per MLB.com's Adam McCalvey.

Braun had an MRI today and the results showed inflammation in a tendon behind the knee -- but no structural damage.

"I think it was the best-case result," Braun said, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "They said the only thing that could have been better was if it was more in the muscle. It's kind of more hamstring than calf. It's in a tendon behind my knee that's in between the calf and the hamstring. It doesn't get as much blood flow as a muscle does.

"I'm not in pain or anything like that. It's just that, unfortunately, I'm not able to do baseball activities. The goal is to minimize the time missed. It's more beneficial to miss a little time now than a long time down the road."

If Braun doesn't play this weekend, he said he won't play in the All-Star Game next week.

On the season, Braun is hitting .320 with 16 home runs, 62 runs batted in and 19 stolen bases. Along with Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, Braun is one of two players in baseball that is hitting at least .300 with 15-plus homers and 15-plus steals.

C.C. Sabathia becomes first pitcher this season to win ten games

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 22:58:00 +0000

Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia became the first pitcher in baseball to win ten games this season.

In today's 8-3 win over the Rockies, Sabathia allowed only one run, which came in the eighth inning, and struck out nine batters in eight innings.

“I wish I could say it meant something, but it don’t,” he said with a shrug and a sly smile, per the Associated Press. “We’re here to win championships. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Today's win means the Yankees have moved into a tie with the Red Sox for the best record (44-31) in the American League. Only the Phillies have a better record (48-29) in all of baseball.

Although Sabathia won two of his past three starts, today's performance was the first solid outing he had over his last four starts. Before today's game, he allowed 14 earned runs in 20 2/3 innings (6.24 ERA) in that three-game span.

On the season, Sabathia is 10-4 with an ERA of 3.25 and 93 strikeouts.

Cliff Lee has allowed only one earned run in 33 innings in June

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:17:00 +0000

Against the Pujols-less Cardinals, Phillies starter Cliff Lee threw a six-hit shutout last night.

It was the second straight shutout for Lee and his eighth career shutout (all since 2008).

“There’s total gratification,” Lee said. “Every time I want to throw the whole game, there’s no doubt about it. I think I could have gone the 10th and the 11th, too.”

Lee has allowed only one run in 33 innings over four starts in the month of June. For the month, he is 4-0 with an ERA of 0.27 and 29 strikeouts.

Per ESPN's Stats and Info, only four Phillies pitchers have an ERA under 1.00 for a month with five starts since World World II. The last to do so was Jim Bunning in August 1967 (0.87 ERA).

Lee should get his fifth start next week when the Phillies host the Red Sox from June 28-30.

On the season, Lee is the top seven in the National League in all Triple Crown categories: eight wins (tied for fifth), 2.87 ERA (seventh) and 114 strikeouts (third).

Red Sox place Carl Crawford on 15-day DL

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 23:23:00 +0000

The Boston Red Sox have placed left fielder Carl Crawford on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, per ESPN Boston.

"I think the medical people thought at best it was going to be 10 to 14 days [recovery time],'' [manager Terry] Francona said of Crawford, who was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain, the least severe. "I called him and talked to him this morning, he gets it.”

To take Crawford's roster spot, the Red Sox have recalled outfielder Josh Reddick from Triple-A.

This will be the second stint with the Red Sox this season for Reddick, who had five hits in 13 at-bats and four runs batted in during his first stint.

After getting off to a horrible start (.155, one home run and six RBIs in April), Crawford was hitting .295 with five homers and 25 RBIs in May and June.

On the season, Crawford is hitting .243 with six home runs, 31 RBIs and eight stolen bases.

Braves place Martin Prado on 15-day DL

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:25:00 +0000

The Braves have placed left fielder Martin Prado on the 15-day disabled list with a staph infection in his right calf, per David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Prado had a surgical procedure on Friday to clean out the infection.

“They sliced him, and he’s got to heal from the inside out,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “They pumped him with antibiotics. ... I think it was caused by a [bruise], from a slide.”

As O'Brien notes, the team's entire Opening Day outfield is now on the DL as Prado joins Jason Heyward (shoulder) and Nate McLouth (oblique).

On the season, Prado is hitting .277 and leads the team in home runs (eight) and runs batted in (33).

Matt Kemp out of lineup due to tight hamstring

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 01:28:00 +0000

Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp was scratched from tonight's game due to a tight left hamstring, per Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.

Hernandez also tweeted the team removed him from the lineup "as a precaution" so it doesn't seem to be serious.

In his previous nine games, Kemp had 16 hits (seven multi-hit games), six home runs and 17 runs batted in.

On the season, he is top five in the National League in the triple-crown categories: average (.329, fifth), home runs (18, first) and runs batted in (53, second).

Marlins place Hanley Ramirez on disabled list

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:26:00 +0000

For the first time in his major league career, Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez has been placed on the 15-day disabled list (DL) with a back strain.

The move is retroactive to May 30th, which means Ramirez will be eligible to come off the DL on June 14th when the Marlins open up a four-game series against the Phillies.

"I think I feel better today, way better than yesterday and the day before," Ramirez said (via the Miami Herald). "Today is the first day where I feel like everything is coming along. My lower back is getting looser and my hip is better."

So, how soon will he be back on the field?

While Ramirez hopes it's as soon as possible, Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said, "Nobody knows, not even him."

The Marlins called up left-hander Brad Hand, who was 7-1 with an ERA of 3.53 in Double-A this year. Hand will start Tuesday's game.

Ramirez has struggled -- .210 batting average, four home runs, 17 runs batted in and 11 stolen bases in 48 games this season.

David Wright to miss another three weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Mets third baseman David Wright went on the disabled list on May 16th due to a stress fracture in his back that occurred on April 19th.

Tonight the Mets announced that Wright will miss another three weeks after Wright was examined by team doctors Friday, per Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger.

“I think we were all hopeful, and perhaps they were as well,” [general manager Sandy] Alderson said. “But I think at this point, perhaps realism has ruled the day. We can’t argue with the fact that, look, this is typically how long it takes bones to heal.”

According to McCullough, it typically takes six weeks for a fracture of this type to heal, but the six-week period should be based on when Wright stopped playing instead of when the injury occurred.

In 39 games this season, Wright is hitting only .226 with six home runs and 18 runs batted in.

Matt Holliday, Kyle McClellan headed to DL

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 03:54:00 +0000

The St. Louis Cardinals are about to lose outfielder Matt Holliday and starting pitcher Kyle McClellan to the disabled list, per MLB.com's Matthew Leach.

Holliday strained his left quadriceps on May 18th and aggravated the injury on May 22nd.

"We were aggressive," [general manager John ] Mozeliak said. "We tried. And he still wasn't getting to the point where we're comfortable with just letting him continue to go through this same pattern. So now we'll give him a few days, try to calm it down, and we're very optimistic that after 15 days, he'll be ready to go.

"Nothing's changed, and frankly it looks like it's getting better, but it's still something he feels. And rather than push it as we sit here on June 1, it just doesn't make a lot of sense. Conservative treatment we will now try, after we tried to be aggressive. It's still something that he notices, and it's just not going away."

On the season, Holliday is hitting .342 with six home runs and 31 runs batted in.

McClellan, who has a strained hip flexor, had his worst outing of the season on Monday when he allowed seven runs in four innings.

On the season, McClellan has a 6-2 record with an ERA of 3.86 and 34 strikeouts in 67 2/3 innings.

"It's definitely the right thing to do," McClellan said. "The way I've [had it] explained it's kind of like a pulled hamstring -- if you don't give it enough time, it's going to keep occurring. There's two different things -- there's the strain and there's the swelling. So you have to pretty much right now let the swelling go down and then try to strengthen everything around the strain."

To take McClellan's roster spot, the Cardinals will call right-handed pitcher Lance Lynn, who was a supplemental first-round pick in 2008, from Triple-A.

Despite pitching on Sunday against Omaha, Lynn will get the start on Thursday against San Francisco.

Hanley Ramirez misses third straight game, DL decision to come Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 01:25:00 +0000

Earlier in the week, Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez described his back pain as the "worse pain I've ever had in my life, in my career."

Today he missed his third consecutive game.

Per Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post, the Marlins will decide whether or not to place Ramirez on the disabled list on Friday.

The Marlins have Thursday off and then begin a four-game series against the Brewers on Friday.

“We can’t keep going with only one shortstop,” manager Edwin Rodriguez said today (via Capozzi). “Pretty soon we have to make a decision.”

Ramirez is hitting only .210 and has four home runs, 17 runs batted in and 11 stolen bases.

Joakim Soria out, Aaron Crow in, as Royals closer

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Tue, 31 May 2011 03:14:00 +0000

Entering the 2011 season, Joakim Soria posted a sub-2.50 ERA in all four of his seasons as a major league reliever. And his career mark going into 2011 was a miniscule 2.01.

Things haven't gone so well for Soria in 2011.

In his 23rd appearance of the season today, Soria blew another save opportunity, his third in a row and fifth on the season, and in the process relinquished his role as the team's closer.

Not only is Soria's fifth blown save the most he's ever had in a season, but his ERA is 6.55 or more than three times what his career ERA was before this season.

“I went to his office and told him it’s the right time to do it,” Soria said, per Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star. “I don’t want to be (the reason for) this losing streak. The team is playing really well, and they need a man who can go after (the other team). Right now, that’s not (me).”

With Soria out, Aaron Crow will get the majority of save opportunities although he blew a save opportunity in his last appearance as well.

Crow has two blown saves this year but also has an ERA of 1.33, a WHIP of 1.04 and he's holding hitters to a .196 batting average.

Although Crow is only owned in 24 percent of Yahoo! leagues as of tonight, that number will skyrocket soon.

Twins place Francisco Liriano on the 15-day DL

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Mon, 30 May 2011 22:27:00 +0000

Per Phil Mackey of ESPN1500.com, the Minnesota Twins have placed starter Francisco Liriano on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation.

After a horrible start to the season (1-4 record and 9.13 ERA in April), Liriano pitched well in three of his four starts in May.

Liriano, who was scratched from his start on Saturday, posted a 2-1 record with an ERA of 2.52 in his four starts in the month of May.

The move is retroactive to May 23rd since Liriano last pitched on the 22nd and the team has recalled righthander Anthony Salama from Triple-A.

Through May 29 games, the Twins have the highest ERA (4.77) while scoring the fewest runs (175) in all of baseball.

Not only do the Twins have the worst record (17-35) in the majors, but every team in the American League has at least six more wins than the Twins.

Adam Dunn now 0-32 vs. LHPs this season

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Wed, 25 May 2011 22:23:00 +0000

What do Adam Dunn and I have in common?

Neither one of us has a hit against a left-handed pitcher this season. To my credit, Dunn has 14 more strikeouts versus southpaws than I have.

With today's pinch-hit strikeout, Dunn is now 0-for-32 with one run scored, one run batted in, five walks and 14 strikeouts against lefties this season.

On the season, Dunn is hitting only .191 (he's hitting .242 vs. RHPs) with only five home runs in 152 at-bats.

Matt Holliday aggravated quad injury in today's game

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sun, 22 May 2011 22:19:00 +0000

Against the Astros on Wednesday, Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday suffered a quad injury that caused him to miss Thursday's game.

Holliday, who was used as the team's designated hitter against the Royals this weekend, aggravated the injury and left today's game in the fifth inning after beating out a potential double-play ball.

Per Matthew Leach of MLB.com, the Cardinals said the move to take Holliday out of the game was "precautionary."

The Cardinals begin a three-game series in San Diego tomorrow.

On the season, Holliday is hitting .349 with six home runs, 31 runs batted in and 31 runs scored although he is only 3-for-26 (.115) in his past eight games played.

Phillies to activate Chase Utley on Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sun, 22 May 2011 21:18:00 +0000

Although the Phillies have the best record in the National League, their offense has struggled recently. Today's shutout loss against the Rangers marked the ninth consecutive game in which the Phillies have scored three runs or less.

But help is on the way.

When the Phillies begin a four-game series against the Reds on Monday, second baseman Chase Utley will be activated from the disabled list and make his season debut.

When it comes to playing time, however, Utley will be eased back into action slowly.

“We might do one on, one off for a while, or two on, one off,” [manager Charlie] Manuel said, per Jim McCormick of Philadelphia Sports Daily. “I think that Utley and I will communicate, I think he will let me know.”

To make room for Utley, the Phillies have optioned Pete Orr to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Jose Bautista hits two more homers, ahead of last year's pace

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sat, 21 May 2011 22:18:00 +0000

Not many, if any, expected Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista to repeat his baseball-leading and breakout performance of 54 home runs in 2010.

In fact, here's what I wrote about Bautista in March in fantasy baseball outfielder rankings: "Although there's virtually no chance that he duplicates his 54-homer performance from 2010, Bautista could hit 35 or so homers with 100 runs batted in. Even better, he also has position eligibility at third base."

Although we are only 45 games into the season, it appears that I could be (very) wrong.

Despite missing eight games this season, Bautista belted his 17th and 18th home runs through 37 games played.

That means, Bautista is on pace for 64.8 home runs if he continues to hit 18 per every 45 games. Of course, it seems highly improbable that he'll maintain anything close to that pace.

But, then again, Bautista has hit 82 home runs since September 2009.

With 18 home runs in 132 at-bats, he's hitting a home run per 7.33 at-bats. Last year, he hit one in every 10.54 at-bats, on average.

Marlins place Josh Johnson on DL, retroactive to May 17th

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Hanson) — Sat, 21 May 2011 16:49:00 +0000

With the exception of a five-run outing on Cinco de Mayo, Marlins starter Josh Johnson has allowed only one or no runs in six of his last seven starts, the last of which was against the Mets on May 16th.

In that start, Johnson left after the fifth inning due to a forearm bruise caused by a Carlos Beltran groundball, but he had allowed only one run.

Instead of starting tomorrow as scheduled, it's going to be a while before Johnson gets his next start.

Per Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post, the Marlins have placed Johnson on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. Since he hasn't started since the 16th, the move is retroactive to May 17th.

The Marlins called up Jay Buente, who will take Johnson's roster spot and start tomorrow's game against Tampa.

In 60 1/3 innings this season, Johnson has struck out 56 batters while allowing only 39 hits. He has a 3-1 record with an ERA of 1.64, which is tied for the lead in the National League.