Pronk dealing with bulging disk in spine | indians.com: News
Yesterday Indians trainer Lonnie Soloff gave some details on Hafner's back injury:
Head athletic trainer Lonnie Soloff offered more detail on Friday, explaining that Hafner has a bulging disk in his lumbar spine. Hafner is currently taking anti-inflammatories and he received an epidural injection on Friday to help the swelling.
There's no timetable for his return, so we could have seen the last of him in an Indians uniform. The Indians are not going to pick up the $13M team option on Hafner's contract, so he'll be free to sign with any club this winter. If the Indians want to bring him back, I think he'd come back, but at this point, are the Indians going to want to bring back a player that usually is out of the lineup half the time?
Report: Will Middlebrooks to miss rest of season with broken wrist - CBSSports.com
Middlebrooks was hit by a pitch last night on his right hand/wrist, and it looks like the x-rays showed a broken bone. The 23-year-old third baseman was one of the main reasons why the Red Sox dealt Kevin Youkilis, and although the Red Sox probably weren't going anywhere with or without Youkilis, this injury makes the trade look even worse.The return was minimal, Youkilis started to hit almost immediately after being dealt, and now his replacement is done for the year.
Of course, you could say many of those things from the Indians' perspective on the trade, just flip around a couple phrases. Lonnie Chisenhall, who was going to be the starter at third the rest of the season, got hit by a pitch on his lower arm shortly after the Youkilis trade happened.
Derek Lowe would welcome a return to Red Sox - Extra Bases - Red Sox blog
He's now free to sign with any club, as the Indians have released him. The question now is whether anyone wants him.
Lowe said he will go back and work with his longtime personal trainer Chris Correnti, the man who also worked closely with Pedro Martinez for many years when they were all together with the Red Sox. Correnti did outstanding work with both Martinez and Lowe during their Red Sox years, but was allowed to leave. The Red Sox haven’t had someone of Correnti’s credentials since.
I suppose it could just be mechanics, but in that two month stretch, there wasn't a game when Lowe looked even remotely good.