Much-maligned Angels outfielder Vernon Wells tweeted out tonight that he has a torn ligament in his thumb. LA Times beat writer Mike DiGiovanna then tweeted that he expected Wells to be out at least eight to ten weeks with the injury. Wells injured the thumb on a stolen base attempt in the second inning of Sunday's game against the Padres.

Angels fans (including our own Scotty Allen and Garrett Wilson) are rather excited about the news, as harsh as it sounds, due to Wells's struggles this season and the negative effect he's had on the team's offense this year. His stat line for the year is .244/.282/.422, just a year removed from an abysmal debut campaign in Los Angeles that saw him post a line of .218/.248/.412. One thing Wells can still do well is hit for power, as he hit 25 homers a year ago, and has six this season. But his absolutely horrendous plate discipline, awful defense, and massive contract has made Angels fans detest the man since he's come into town.

The only problem with the injury is that it's come with Torii Hunter currently on a sabbatical from the team while his son deals with sexual assault charges in Texas. The injury to Wells will allow Mike Trout to continue to play every day and ignite the Angels offense, while Peter Bourjos will probably rejoin the lineup after being benched due to offensive struggles. With Hunter out, Mark Trumbo has been playing right field, with the team sacrificing defense for offense. Considering the struggles of their offense this year, I think that's a trade that the Angels will have to make. When Hunter rejoins the team, they'll have an interesting case on their hands when it comes to Trumbo and Bourjos, as well as struggling third baseman Alberto Callaspo.

Photo courtesy of Daylife.com

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The banged up Boston Red Sox outfield took another hit today, when Cody Ross was placed on the 15-day DL with a fractured bone in his left foot. Ross is the sixth Boston outfielder to be placed on the DL, joining starters Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury, as well as Jason Repko, Darnell McDonald, and Ryan Kalish. Of Boston's four outfielders on the Opening Day roster, only Ryan Sweeney remains off the DL, but that might not last for long, with Sweeney out of tonight's lineup against the Orioles due to a minor concussion.

I'm not saying that the Red Sox are screwed, but tonight's starting outfield consists of Daniel Nava, Marlon Byrd, and Che-Hsuan Lin. Nava has played well in his 11 games in the majors this year, OPSing 1.008 with eight walks to only six strikeouts. Byrd on the other hand, has a .618 OPS since coming over from the Cubs (24 games, including just two extra base hits and one walk), and Lin is a defensive specialist who had only a .716 OPS in AAA Pawtucket.

Ross's injury is a huge blow to Boston's outfield, as he was actually hitting pretty well for them with an .883 OPS and eight homers, tied for second on the team. This injury will create an interesting situation when Kevin Youkilis comes off the DL from a back injury, potentially in the next couple of days. The team has Adrian Gonzalez and Will Middlebrooks currently hitting well at the corners, and one of them (or Youkilis) could be forced into an outfield position to help the thinned corps there. 

Could this be what it's come to for the Red Sox: playing Adrian Gonzalez in right field? Maybe. I mean, he did play two games in right field this weekend in Philadelphia, with David Ortiz playing first base due to the lack of a DH. I'm sure the Red Sox front office will be very nervous if their high-priced first baseman is traversing the outfield, though.

Photo courtesy of Daylife.com

[h/t: Hardball Talk]

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I was considering four matchups for this series spotlight. Two of them featured the teams included in the last series spotlight. One was a matchup I had already looked at. The fourth matchup features a team I have written about extensively in series spotlights, and a team under .500. After giving it some thought, I decided to go with this Blue Jays-Rays matchup, just because I haven't done a spotlight on the Blue Jays yet this year, and because they actually have the best run differential in the AL East. Some love for that seems like a necessity at this point.

When you think of the Toronto Blue Jays, offense is usually the first thing to come to mind. And sure enough, Toronto's 200 runs are the second highest in the AL East, and the third highest in the American League. But yet, their .722 OPS in 12th, their .313 OBP is 19th, and their .241 batting average is 24th...huh? Well, this is where Toronto's advantage is: homers. The Blue Jays have smacked 57 homers this season, fourth most in baseball. Now, while that's not an absolute barometer for runs scored, there are six teams with at least 50 homers this year, and four of them have at least 200 runs. It is what it is.

The Blue Jays offense has been largely stagnant this year on a rate stat standpoint, with just one starter having an OPS above .800 (Edwin Encarnacion at .897). However, in May, three starters have an OPS above .800, including catcher JP Arencibia (six homers in May) and outfielder Jose Bautista (eight homers in May). The Blue Jays made a tweak to their offense by demoting first baseman Adam Lind to AAA Las Vegas last week, and promoting Yan Gomes, who is 4/10 with a homer and two walks in four games in the majors this. Starters like Colby Rasmus and Eric Thames continue to struggle offensively for Toronto, but their jobs appear safe - for now.

Toronto's three starters in this series are Kyle Drabek, Drew Hutchison, and Ricky Romero. Drabek will start tonight's game, and appears to be the same guy as ever, struggling with his control but also showing the potential to dominate hitters. This month, Drabek has allowed nine runs in 16 1/3 innings, walking 13 and striking out 12. Yep, typical Drabek. Game two will be started by 21 year-old rookie Drew Hutchison, who has largely held his own this season. He's won his last two starts, allowing just one run over six innings in each. Hutchison also exhibited his first bout of command problems in those two starts, walking four hitters in each game after walking a total of six in his first four starts. The series finale on Wednesday will be started by Ricky Romero, who has seen his strikeout rate fall and his walk rate rise this year, a combination that signifies trouble. However, he's still gone at least five innings in every start this year, and has only allowed more than three runs just three times. The underlying peripherals signify trouble brewing, but Romero has survived thusfar.

The Rays are coming off their first home series loss of the series, coming at the hands of the Braves. Without Evan Longoria and Desmond Jennings recently, their offense has struggled. They lack the high impact bat like Longoria, and as a result, their bit players are having to pick up the slack. They are, to an extent. Matt Joyce, Sean Rodriguez, and Ben Zobrist each have three homers in May, while Eliot Johnson (Longoria's main replacement) has two, along with five stolen bases. Veterans BJ Upton, Luke Scott, and Carlos Pena are struggling, though.

Pitching for the Rays this series will be Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore, and James Shields. Hellickson has a 2.77 ERA this year, but has allowed eight homers in 48 2/3 innings, which is much too high of a rate. He's 4-0 on the season though, and has allowed more than three runs in a start just once. Moore has struggled vastly this year, with an "if it's not one thing, it's another" type of problem. In 45 innings, he's allowed eight homers and walked 23. His last start against the Red Sox on Thursday was one of his better outings this year, as Moore went six innings and allowed three runs, two homers, one walk, and eight strikeouts. Pitch counts have been a problem too, as Moore hasn't been able to complete the seventh inning once this year. The veteran James Shields will be starting on Wednesday, and he's coming off of back to back four run outings. Shields is striking out nearly a batter per inning, but like Hellickson and Moore, has allowed eight homers this year. He's thrown more innings than both though, tallying 59 2/3 this year. Shields has also thrown at least five innings in every start, and at least six in all but one.

I really don't know which direction to go with picks for this series. For as iffy as the Rays starters have looked so far this year, the Blue Jays' starters have looked equally as bad. Toronto's got the much better, and hotter, offense right now though. I'm going to say that the Rays sweep the series. I really have that little confidence in Toronto's starters right now, and while Tampa Bay's rotation doesn't give me much relief, I'd rather have any of their three over any of Toronto's trio.

Photos courtesy of Daylife.com

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San Diego Padres southpaw Cory Luebke will officially undergo Tommy John surgery on Wednesday to repair his 'significantly torn' ulnar collateral ligament.

For some reason, Luebke was considering rehabbing the injury and pitching later this season, and still needing surgery down the line to go along with likely poorer results until then. Luebke's decision to have the surgery is probably for the best, for him and the Padres, who extended Luebke at the end of spring training. 

Luebke isn't sure when the injury happened, but he believes it was at some point between his fourth and fifth start. After his fifth start (6 IP, 2 ER, 3 K), Luebke felt something was "a little off", but didn't think the prognosis would be as bad as it ultimately was.

Luebke had won three straight starts before moving to the disabled list and the Padres moved him to the 60-day DL on Sunday. He was 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA and 1.16 WHIP this season. Despite the better ERA and WHIP this year, Luebke's strikeout rate per nine innings was down to 6.7 from his breakout season last year as a 26-year-old (9.9). 

On Friday, Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis was taken out on a slide by the St. Louis Cardinals' Tyler Greene while Ellis attempted to turn a double play. The slide looked clean and Ellis was able to walk away from it to the point he was walking into the clubhouse as if everything was normal the next day.

But everything was not normal. He complained to the trainer that it was still bothering him and the trainer and her staff decided Ellis needed to go to the hospital. At the hospital, Ellis had emergency surgery that reportedly saved his leg:

Mattingly said LAD doctor told him that if they had waited another 4-5 hours to make cut to relieve pressure, Ellis might have lost his leg.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) May 20, 2012

Rather than being day-to-day with a leg contusion, Ellis ALMOST LOST HIS LEG and has an incision on his leg that is several inches long (and won't be closed until Tuesday) to serve as a reminder of how close he was. Ellis was placed on the DL today and will miss at least six weeks.

The Texas Rangers have placed starting pitcher Neftali Feliz on the 15-day DL with an undisclosed elbow injury. Feliz will be replaced in the Rangers rotation by Scott Feldman.

Feliz was having a pretty good season after moving to the Rangers starting rotatoin from the bullpen, posting a 3.16 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. Feliz struck out 37 and walked 23 on the season, but in his last start on Friday against the Astros, he only lasted 4 2/3 innings, walking five and striking out six. Feldman had been working in relief for the Rangers this season, and threw 4 2/3 innings last Monday against the Royals in a spot start, allowing two runs (both unearned) with one walk and one strikeout. For the season, he's struck out seven and walked four over 15 innings.

Feliz's injury hurts the Rangers in the short-term, and is apparently just a precautionary move. Feliz got an MRI, but the results still aren't in yet. The Rangers aren't expecting this to be serious, but if the MRI reveals some unsavory results, the Rangers could make a play for Roy Oswalt to replace Feliz in the rotation. Alexi Ogando doesn't appear to be an option despite spending last season in the rotation, because of his overall dominance as a reliever for the Rangers this year, allowing just three earned runs over 25 innings, striking out 25 and walking just five.

Photo courtesy of Daylife.com

[h/t: Hardball Talk]

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It didnt' take long after Bryce Harper's first career home run for the young phenom of the Washington Nationals' pitching staff to take one deep.

Stephen Strasburg went deep during the Nats' Sunday game against the Baltimore Orioles. It was in the fourth inning off starter Wei-Yin Chen and it received a curtain call.

You can watch it below via MLB.com: 

Strasburg had to leave his start early, though, because of biceps tightness after five innings. Strasburg insists he is fine: 

"The biceps (is) fine," Strasburg said. "I think it was (about) throwing a lot of pitches early. I got a little tired. It got a little tight. But that's nothing different than any other outing. It's just part of coming back from Tommy John -- building up the innings, getting the stamina and everything. It's just something I've got to be smart about."

Strasburg is expected to make his next start. 

Baltimore Orioles
Hitters: B+. The Orioles are a year removed from a .729 OPS that was close to the middle of the pack in the league. This season, that team OPS is slightlt up to .749, and the main reason is center fielder Adam Jones. Jones was involved in trade talks this offseason, and his future in Baltimore was in doubt. The Orioles kept him, and Jones has responded by OPSing .963 and 14 homers. The 2.8 fWAR he's accrued already is just 0.1 off of his career high of 2.9, set last year. Catcher Matt Wieters has tapped into his limitless potential, and has an .800 OPS and eight homers. Even Chris Davis has gotten into the act, OPSing .790 with a career-low 26.8% strikeout rate. The only real disappointment so far for the Orioles has been third baseman Mark Reynolds, who has just two homers on the season with a .661 OPS, and strikeouts in a third of his at bats this yar.

Pitching: A. Last season, the Orioles had a 4.92 ERA. This year, they've slashed it by nearly a run and a half down to 3.48, though the team's FIP sits at 4.02 (regardless, a massive improvement over a year ago). The big change is in the bullpen, which GM Dan Duquette set out to improve over the offseason. Sure enough, the pen has a 2.15 ERA, which is a hair behind Texas as the lowest mark in baseball. The 3.85 FIP indicates that won't last very long, however. The rotation has also vastly improved thanks to the additions of Jason Hammel an Wei-Yin Chen, both of whom have ERAs in the low-3.00s. Throw in a vastly improved Jake Arrieta (whose 4.72 ERA is a run higher than his 3.76 FIP), and Baltimore's rotation suddenly looks formidable. Even Brian Matusz has improved from last year. The only sour point has been Tommy Hunter, but he's at least eating innings for the team. In the bullpen, five of the seven core members have double digit innings pitched an an ERA under 2.00. It's been a story of night and day in comparison to last year for the Orioles.

Intangibles: A+. It's May 21st, and the Baltimore Orioles have the best record in the American League, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers in all of baseball. With just a +14 run differential (tied for third best in the AL East), Baltimore's run at the top might not last too long, but right now, the team is just going to roll with it. I don't think anyone predicted that the Orioles would be leading the AL East right now, with the Yankees and Red Sox floundering around the .500 mark at the bottom of the league. Throw in the outright dominance of last year's first round pick Dylan Bundy in the low minors, and there is a level of optimism that Orioles fans haven't seen in years.

Overall: A. Baltimore's success through the first quarter of the season is inspiring to all fans of teams that have been doormats in recent years. The Orioles are really holding their own against the tough AL East too, with a 3-5 record against the Yankees, a 3-0 record against the Red Sox, a 2-1 record against the Rays, and an outstanding 5-1 mark against the Blue Jays. It's not going to get any easier for Baltimore, but they've held their own so far.

The Chipper Jones farewell tour is in full swing, with pretty much every town that the Braves third baseman is visiting for the final time honoring him in some way, be it with a video package, gifts from the team, or a combination of both. The Cincinnati Reds are going in a different direction this week, and it's one of the more unique tributes to Jones that we've seen so far.

The Reds will be putting a jewel on the side of all of the bases for this week's series commemorating the career of Jones. Once the series ends, one of the bases will be given to Jones, one will be given to the Braves Hall of Fame, and one will remain in the Reds Hall of Fame.

This is a very cool thing that the Reds are doing, and is another great move from a classy, storied franchise. Hats off to Walt Jocketty and the rest of the Cincinnati front office and management.

[h/t: Braves Twitter]

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In yesterday's DD, I talked about how Dan Haren of the Angels had problems getting wins. Well, looking over the box scores today, I noticed that was true for another top MLB starter...Cliff Lee of the Phillies. In six starts this year, Lee is 0-2, and the Phillies are just 1-5. This however, isn't Lee's fault. He has a 2.66 ERA on the year, and has struck out 40 (while walking just five) in 44 innings. The issue once again comes down to run support. The Phillies have scored more than two runs in just two of his six starts. Lee pretty much has to be dominant in order to get a win. Yesterday, he allowed five in seven innings against the Red Sox. That's not good enough when your offense is only putting one run on the board like they did yesterday.

Game of the Day: Padres 3, Angels 2 (13 innings). This game was wacky, and when it ended in the 13th, Albert Pujols was at third base, Howard Kendrick was in left field, Maicer Izturis was at second base, and Bobby Wilson was at first base. Hell, Dan Haren pinch hit! Lord. At the end of the day, Kendrick's antics in left field ended up costing the Angels the game, as he misplayed a Will Venable single that led to pinch hitter Clayton Richard scoring. That's Clayton Richard, the pitcher.

Pitching Line of the Day: Colby Lewis of the Rangers had a great start against the Astros, allowing one run over eight innings on four hits and one walk, striking out six in the process. Max Scherzer of the Tigers had a dominant outing versus the Pirates, striking out 15 over seven innings while giving up four hits, two runs, and a walk. Tim Hudson and Jake Peavy also threw shutouts for their teams, with Hudson going 7 2/3 against the Rays, and Peavy going 6 1/3 against the Cubs.

Hitting Line of the Day: Jonathan Lucroy of the Brewers had a fantastic game, and is having an unreal season. In Milwaukee's thrashing of the Twins, Lucroy went 3/5 with three runs, seven RBI, and two homers. He's got a .939 OPS on the season. Lucroy's teammate, reigning NL MVP Ryan Braun, was also dominant, going 3/4 with two runs, four RBI, and two doubles. Another Brewer, Corey Hart, went off as well, going 3/5 with three runs, two RBI, and a homer. In non-Brewers action, Ryan Ludwick of the Reds went 3/5 with a run, three RBI, a double, and a homer.

Spotlight Series: The Braves took the series in Tampa, the first road team to win a series at Tropicana Field all year, via a 2-0 win. The Rays only had one extra base hit on the day (a double by Sean Rodriguez), and just couldn't get anything going against Tim Hudson. The Braves got their first run in the third on a solo homer by backup catcher David Ross, while they added their second on a Jason Heyward single in the sixth. Martin Prado had a pair of singles for the Braves, and Dan Uggla walked twice. For the Rays, BJ Upton had a pair of singles, wihle Matt Joyce walked twice and was hit by a pitch a day after a big grand slam. Rays starter David Price nearly matched Hudson's start, allowing two runs (one earned) over seven on six hits and three walks, while tallying seven strikeouts on the day.

Other Games: The Dodgers used four late runs to beat the Cardinals 6-5, and sweep the series. The Marlins stopped the red hot Derek Lowe, and earned a 5-3 win over the Indians. The Red Sox shut down the Phillies 5-1. The Tigers edged the Pirates 4-3. The Nationals salvaged a game from the Beltway Series, beating the Orioles 9-3. The Reds beat the Yankees 5-2. The Rangers beat up the Astros 6-1. The Mets edged the Blue Jays 6-5. The Brewers crushed the Twins 16-4. The White Sox shut out the Cubs 6-0. Wade Miley shut down the Royals in a 2-0 win. The Mariners swept the Rockies after a 6-4 win. The A's beat Tim Lincecum and the Giants 6-2.

Today's Games: Felipe Paulino starts for the Royals in New  York against the Yankees. Gio Gonzalez will start for the Nationals in Philly. Kyle Drabek vs Jeremy Hellickson is a solid matchup in Tampa Bay. Johan Santana versus Erik Bedard is as good of a matchup in 2012 as it was in 2009. Yu Darvish vs Felix Hernandez is far and away the game of the night. Matt Garza takes on Bud Norris in a solid duel. Madison Bumgarner will start for the Giants in Milwaukee. 

Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.

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