National League notebook -- May 2, 2012
Arizona: Class AA Mobile RHP Trevor Bauer was named the organization's pitcher of the month for April after going 5-0 with a 1.26 ERA. Bauer, the third player taken in the 2011 draft, struck out 37 and gave up 18 hits while walking 17 in 28 2/3 innings. Opponents hit .184 against him. The first minor-leaguer to reach five victories, Bauer lost Tuesday for the first time this season. ... SS John McDonald received his second intentional walk in his last three starts Tuesday. Those are his only intentional walks in 894 career games. He spent his first 12 1/2 seasons in the American League before being acquired from Toronto last August.
Atlanta: RF Jason Heyward hopes to return to the lineup today after taking batting practice Wednesday for the first time since he strained a muscle in his right side. He was out of the lineup for the third straight day and still has not figured out how the injury occurred. ... 3B Chipper Jones, trying to play his final major league season on a surgically repaired left knee, has become a gametime decision almost daily. Manager Fredi Gonzalez told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution his morning routine goes like this: "Wake up, roll over, give (wife) Pam a kiss, say good morning, go get a cup of coffee. On the way in about 11, check with Chipper, see how he feels."
Chicago: RHP Ryan Dempster (right quad) will come off the disabled list today and start at Cincinnati. Tuesday's rainout forced manager Dale Sveum to tweak the rotation -- RHP Jeff Samardzija started Wednesday's game and LHP Paul Maholm was bumped from Wednesday to Friday. ... 1B Bryan LaHair has reached base safely in a team-high 20 straight games. Before LaHair, the last time a Cubs first baseman had a longer streak of consecutive games reaching safely was a 21-game run by Derrek Lee on July 31 to Aug. 22, 2009.
Cincinnati: SS Paul Janish was placed on the disabled list at Class AAA Louisville because of a broken left wrist that will not require surgery. He's expected to miss four to six weeks. Janish was hitting .315. ... SS Didi Gregorius, who is hitting .333 in 22 games for Class AA Pensacola (Fla.), was considered for a promotion to Class AAA to take Janish's spot. That would have meant Billy Hamilton, who is hitting .398 with 24 runs and 29 steals in 23 games for high-A Bakersfield (Calif.), would get bumped to Class AA. "No, we're going to keep where they are," GM Walt Jocketty said. "If it had been a month later, we might have moved them. But it's still early."
Colorado: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (right shoulder sprain) played catch Tuesday at 200 feet but still felt some stiffness although he also said it feels better every day. Before being cleared to return, Guthrie will have to throw a bullpen session. Otherwise, he would need a short rehab assignment before being deemed ready. ... 3B Chris Nelson's run-scoring double in the seventh Tuesday was notable because it came against the Dodgers' Kenley Jansen, a right-handed pitcher. Nelson was 3-for-34 against righties before that hit.
Houston: CF Jordan Schafer left the game after the fourth inning because of lower back tightness. With a walk in his first at-bat, Shafer reached base safely for a 24th consecutive game, one shy of tying the team record to start a season, set by Denis Menke in 1969. ... RH reliever Rhiner Cruz (sprained right ankle) was put on the disabled list, and RH reliever Enerio Del Rosario was called up to replace him. Cruz rolled the ankle while playing catch in the outfield in Milwaukee and tested it Tuesday, only to be deemed a no-go.
Los Angeles: 3B Juan Uribe will go on the disabled list Friday if his sore left wrist doesn't respond to a cortisone shot, manager Don Mattingly said. Uribe, who hurt the wrist sliding into home plate last month, got the cortisone shot Tuesday night. ... SS Dee Gordon led off the game Tuesday with his first major league home run, a 403-foot shot off the facade of the upper deck in right field at Coors Field. It came in his 79th big-league game and 312th at-bat. Gordon, 24, was never a power hitter in the minors, either, hitting seven homers in 1,643 at-bats.
Miami: CF Emilio Bonifacio went into Wednesday with 22 hits this season -- all singles. That's the longest stretch of singles to start the season in team history. Chris Coghlan had 21 straight in 2010. ... RHP Ricky Nolasco allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 win over the Giants on Tuesday to improve to 4-0 with an 0.87 ERA at AT&T Park. Why so successful there? "I wish I could tell you," he said. "But as long as I can keep doing it, that'll be fine."
Milwaukee: Manager Ron Roenicke said he still has faith in RH reliever Francisco Rodriguez despite his shaky start. Rodriguez gave up the game-deciding two-run homer in the eighth inning to pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay on Tuesday and fell to 0-3 with a 6.57 ERA after allowing at least two runs for the fourth time in 14 outings. "His stuff is fine," said Roenicke. "He makes some great pitches and then when he makes a mistake, they're hitting the ball right now." ... LHP Chris Narveson had successful arthroscopic surgery Tuesday to repair a tear in his rotator cuff as well as some "wear and tear" fraying in the labrum. Narveson's recovery time is expected to be nine months, which would take him right to spring training in 2013.
New York: RHP Chris Young will not begin a rehab assignment Saturday, as originally expected. The Mets said this is not a setback for Young, who threw 75 pitches in a simulated game Monday -- the latest step in his comeback from right shoulder surgery. The team simply does not want to rush Young, who has not made more than 18 starts in any season since 2007. ... OF Lucas Duda was a late scratch because of the flu, after appearing in Tuesday's game only as a pinch-hitter. C Mike Nickeas, also battling the flu, did not appear in Wednesday's game but was at the park, unlike on Tuesday when he was too sick to leave his hotel room.
Philadelphia: 1B Jim Thome (lower back) was placed on the disabled list, and C Erik Kratz was called up from Class AAA Lehigh Valley (Allentown, Pa.), where he was hitting .294 with three home runs and nine RBI. Thome is 2-for-18 with 10 strikeouts this season. The Phillies hope regular at-bats during an eventual rehab assignment will help him get his timing back. ... RH closer Jonathan Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning Tuesday to record his ninth save in as many opportunities this season. That gave him saves in three-quarters of the Phillies' victories to that point, and he hadn't allowed a run while striking out nine and walking three in his last eight innings.
Pittsburgh: RH closer Joel Hanrahan and the rest of the bullpen will be handled more guardedly this season, manager Clint Hurdle said, after they wore down in 2011. Hurdle will try not to use any reliever more than two consecutive days, down from his hard-and-fast three-day rule last season. "We're trying to be a little more tactical, a little more smart with the bullpen," Hurdle said. ... OF Adalberto Santos, the top hitter in the Pirates' system so far this season with a .396 average and .484 on-base percentage with Class AA Altoona (Pa.), was placed on the minor league disabled list because of a sprained right knee.
St. Louis: 3B David Freese had 23 RBI in 21 games after his three-run homer Tuesday. Freese has had difficulty staying healthy in his young career, but if he does, "he's a .300, 30 (homers) and 100 (RBI) guy, for sure," 1B Lance Berkman said. "It's not even a question. He just hasn't been healthy do to it yet." ... C Yadier Molina, considered among the slowest players in the game, stole two bases Tuesday, marking the second time in his career he had done that in a game. It gave Molina four stolen bases for the season, matching his total for 2011.
San Diego: LHP Cory Luebke, who hadn't been expected to need a trip to the disabled list despite his elbow troubles, was placed on the DL after all when RHP Jeff Suppan's contract was purchased from Class AAA Tucson. Suppan replaced Luebke as the starter Wednesday. ... RHP Edinson Volquez, who is still looking for his first win as a Padre after six starts, lowered his ERA to 2.92 by allowing three hits over seven shutout innings Tuesday. He has allowed only one run on six hits over his last 14 innings. Rival hitters are batting only .170 against Volquez at Petco Park this season.
San Francisco: 1B Aubrey Huff (anxiety disorder) took batting practice Tuesday, and manager Bruce Bochy said Huff could be activated when eligible to come off the DL on Monday. "It's just a matter of whether he's mentally ready," Bochy said. ... LH reliever Jeremy Affeldt has his second freak injury in less than a year. Last season, he went on the DL after cutting his right hand when separating frozen hamburger patties. This time, he sprained his right knee when his 4-year-old son ran toward him at the front door, according to the pitcher. "The trainers are tired of getting that call -- 'Hey, I'm at home and I hurt myself,' " Affeldt said.
Washington: 3B Ryan Zimmerman's likely return from a sore right shoulder has been pushed back to Tuesday, manager Davey Johnson said. Zimmerman is expected to hit off a tee Friday. He has had no problems in workouts throwing a baseball but does feel a little discomfort swinging a bat. ... RHP Chien-Ming Wang (left hamstring) is scheduled to make his second rehab start today at Class AA Harrisburg (Pa.). Wang threw four innings and 49 pitches for high-A Potomac (Woodbridge, Va.) on Saturday.
