According to an MLB.com report, Atlanta Braves management has considered the possibility of sending struggling outfielder Jeff Francoeur to the Minors to help him get back on track. The struggling Atlanta native finished up Wednesday night 0-for-4 with three strikeouts which dropped his season average to .236 with eight homers and 41 RBI in 84 games.
Mark Bowman of MLB.com acknowledged an unnamed team official "confirmed there has been discussion about sending Francoeur to the Minors to rediscover his lost swing." Bowman also stated in the report that while the idea was discussed, there was no indication the move would happen soon.
The topic was brought up due to the Phillies move on Tuesday to send struggling starter Brett Myers to the Minors to find his delivery. Francoeur is a huge fan favorite in Atlanta -- he won the Georgia High School Player of the Year award in baseball and football while growing up in the Atlanta suburbs. Although, there were signs during Wednesday's game that Francoeur's free pass with the fans could be running up as a few boos could be heard after each of his three strikeouts during their 7-3 loss to the Phillies on Wednesday night.
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The Colorado Rockies will have to avoid the NL West cellar without the services of starting pitcher Jeff Francis who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday. Inconsistent all season, the team revealed that Francis was struggling with left shoulder inflammation and would be shut down for at least two weeks. The Rockies recalled Mark Redman from Triple-A Colorado Springs to take Francis' place in the rotation on Thursday night in their series opener against the Marlins.
Francis, one year removed from a franchise record tying 17 wins, is just 3-7 with a 5.67 ERA and was winless in his first eight starts of the season. This is the first trip to the DL for Francis and his struggles are one of the key reasons the team is 17 games under .500.
Redman, 34, returns to the starting rotation after posting a 2-3 record in seven games with a 7.84 ERA in an earlier stint with the Rockies earlier this season. In his 10-year career, Redman is 68-83 with a 4.83 ERA and in his first full season with Colorado after finishing the 2007 season with the team.
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The Pittsburgh Pirates suffered two staggering blows in their desperate battle to break a string of 15 consecutive losing seasons when they lost two-fifths of their starting rotation. On Wednesday, they were delivered a knock down blow when it was announced that closer Matt Capps would need to miss two months with bursitis in his right shoulder. Just five games below .500 going into Wednesday's action, the Pirates would most likely turn to Damaso Marte to fill in for Capps in the closer role although no official announcement was made.
Capps complained of shoulder discomfort after Tuesday's game but later revealed he started feeling pain on May 24 following a three-inning outing against the Cubs. Capps converted his next five saves after that date but began to struggle on June 10 and since then is 2-3 with a 5.91 ERA and was 2-for-7 in save conversions following a streak of 15 consecutive save conversions to open the season.
Pittsburgh added an extra bat to their 25-man roster to replace Capps by recalling outfielder/first baseman Steve Pearce from Triple-A Indianapolis where he hit .259 with 11 homers and 50 RBI in 79 games. Pearce played 23 games with the Pirates last season and was 20-for-68 in 23 games.
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It is back to the 15-day disabled list for six-time Gold Glove winner Eric Chavez. The A's third baseman returned to the team at the end of May but the shoulder he had surgery on in the offseason is not healed and the A's placed him on the DL on Wednesday. The A's brought up first baseman Wes Bankston from Triple-A Sacramento to replace Chavez.
How long Chavez will be out this time -- his third stop on the disabled list since July 27, 2007 -- is a mystery. Chavez stated that the surgery he had to repair his torn right labrum "didn't fix anything." In an MLB.com report, Chavez described two different pains he experienced while throwing and hitting. Chavez said, "I'd describe (the shoulder pain) more like electrical. It's a shooting pain when I throw. When I hit, it's just like a weakness, and it obviously affects how productive I can be."
Bankston -- Chavez's replacement -- will see the first Major League action of his career. At Sacramento, Bankston hit .275 with 14 home runs and 51 RBI in 70 games. The 24-year-old Bankston was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the fourth round in 2002 and was signed by the Kansas City Royals when the Rays released him last September before the A's claimed him off waivers in November.
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Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes will seek a second opinion after learning the torn hamstring that landed him on the 15-day disabled list on Monday needs surgical repair that would end his season. Byrnes is expected to miss four to six months if he were to have the surgery to repair his injured hamstring.
The 32-year-old Byrnes is hitting just .209 this season and has been battling hamstring injuries since before the season started. Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin announced the team expects to know if surgery is the best option for Snyder before the week ends.
Arizona received good news on the Chris Snyder injury. It appears the Diamondbacks catcher will not require surgery to repair his fractured left testicle as previously expected. Snyder's testicle injury is expected to keep him out until after the All-Star break but should be activated soon after.
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The Cincinnati Reds announced shortstop Alex Gonzalez would undergo season-ending surgery to repair his right knee on Monday. Gonzalez was diagnosed with a compression fracture in his right knee during the opening days of Spring Training in February and the 31-year-old veteran was on the 60-day disabled list but was expected to be able to rehab his injured knee.
Gonzalez realized his knee was not progressing and opted for the surgery which will take at least five months of rehabilitation to recover from. Gonzalez was heading into the second year of a three-year contract worth $14 million.
In 2007, Gonzalez hit .272 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI in 110 games but suffered a bruise to the same knee that limited his playing time at the end of the season. Gonzalez's injury started a chain of injuries at shortstop for the Reds which most recently claimed Jolbert Cabrera. In addition to Cabrera, both Jeff Keppinger and Jerry Hairston Jr. spent time at shortstop and time on the DL.
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The rehab assignment is over for Rafael Furcal and it is not good news. The team announced Furcal would undergo surgery to repair a bulging disc in his back on Thursday after he was examined by doctors on Wednesday. The surgery could end Furcal's season.
Manager Joe Torre put the timetable at a minimum of eight weeks based on similar recovery times associated with similar back surgeries. That would give Torre his shortstop back in a Dodgers uniform at the end of August.
In addition to the Furcal news, the Dodgers activated pitcher Hideki Kuroda to start in Wednesday night's game and sent down Clayton Kershaw to Double-A Jacksonville.
Kuroda's return to the starting rotation on Wednesday night was a success. The 33-year-old rookie from Japan recorded his fourth win of the season pitching seven innings of five-hit scoreless ball. He is now 4-6 with a 3.73 ERA.
Kershaw became the roster casualty to make room for Kuroda's return. The 20-year-old prospect was 0-2 with a 4.42 ERA in eight starts and said he did not expect the team to make the move in an MLB.com report and seemed bitter about the move. "Any way you spin it, I'm getting sent down," said Kershaw.
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