Tendinitis In Finger Will Cost Johnson A Start
Randy Johnson’s sore finger was “swollen and tender” Thursday, enough so that Johnson will miss his next start that was scheduled to come on three days of rest Monday against Boston.
Officially, Johnson’s ailment is tendinitis. His finger was splinted and he underwent ultrasound treatment.
If the problem was with another finger, Johnson likely wouldn’t be effected by it. But the tip of his middle finger is the last part of his hand that touches the ball upon release and is crucial, especially when applying a bit more pressure when throwing his slider.
“It’s not a minor problem anytime you have an injury to the upper extremities that are involved in throwing,” said Seattle Mariners team physician Larry Pedegana.
Pedegana stressed that pitching with the ailment could lead to injuring something else through compensating for the soreness. It’s known in baseball as the Dizzy Dean syndrome. Dean, a Hall of Fame pitcher with the Gas House Gang St. Louis Cardinals, injured his toe, but continued to pitch. That led to a shoulder injury that ended his career.
The Mariners already had to shuffle the pitching rotation a bit after the doubleheaders last week in Baltimore and Chicago, and now have another dilemma to figure out.
Johnson is 17-4 with a 2.32 earned-run average and is obviously crucial to Seattle’s title hopes in the American League West. It is not likely he will miss more than one start and that would leave him with six or seven more depending on when he returns to the rotation.
Grab an eraser
The Mariners roster went through a major transition Thursday.
Seven players were involved in transactions.
Roberto Kelly, an outfielder acquired late Wednesday from the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later, reported Thursday and was activated. In order to make room for him, pitcher Felipe Lira was optioned to Tacoma.
Seattle also had to clear a spot on the 40-man roster to fit in Kelly. Relief pitcher Tim Scott, who was acquired off waivers but never appeared with Seattle because of arm trouble, was moved from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL, which eliminates him from the 40-man.
Going on the disabled list Thursday was outfielder Lee Tinsley, who officially is experiencing pain in his surgically repaired right elbow. To replace him, shortstop Andy Sheets was recalled from Tacoma for the third time.
Sheets will replace Brent Gates as the primary backup infielder. Gates was sent to Tacoma to make room for outfielder Rob Ducey, who was activated from the DL now that his bruised foot has healed.
Lineup shuffle
Kelly moved into the second spot in the batting order in his Mariners debut and Alex Rodriguez was dropped to fifth.
Rodriguez, who hit near the bottom of the Seattle lineup last season before moving to No. 2 and winning the American League batting title at .358, had seen his average drop to .296 prior to Thursday.
The move was made with hopes that Rodriguez - with a bit of speed on base - would see more fastballs batting ahead of Jay Buhner.
Notes
Johnson’s 1-0 victory Wednesday was his fourth as a Mariner, setting a team record. … The last time Cleveland had lost a 1-0 game was May 20, 1990. The loser of that one was the same as Wednesday, Charles Nagy.
xxxx On deck The New York Yankees enter the Kingdome today for a 7:05 p.m. game. New York sends sometimes reliever, sometimes starter Kenny Rogers (5-4, 5.18 ERA) to the mound to face Jeff Fassero (12-7, 3.83). The game will be televised on Fox Sports Northwest. Both today’s and Saturday’s games are sold out.