Royals righthander Kyle Zimmer, the fifth overall pick in the 2012 draft, had surgery yesterday to remove loose bodies from his right elbow, the team announced today.

The Royals said Zimmer, 20, is expected to recover in 6-8 weeks and that the "procedure on Zimmer was anticipated based on physical exam during the draft process."

Zimmer, who signed for $3 million, had made nine starts in pro ball between the Rookie-level Arizona League and the low Class A Midwest League, posting a 2.04 ERA in 39 2/3 innings with 29 strikeouts and eight walks between the two stops.

Twins righthander Adrian Salcedo took a batted ball off his face in the first inning of his Monday start for high Class A Fort Myers, but fortunately, the damage doesn’t appear too serious.

The Twins confirmed that Salcedo was taken to the emergency room and given a CT scan which revealed a nasal fracture, but he didn’t show any signs of a concussion. The 21-year-old has remained with the team, and he’ll be reevaluated when Fort Myers returns from its current road trip on Friday. It's likely he'll miss his next scheduled start, though the team won't know a definitive answer until Friday.

Salcedo, who signed with the Twins out of the Dominican Republic in 2007, went 6-6, 2.93 with low Class A Beloit last season. The Twins’ No. 16 prospect entering this year, he’s 0-1, 5.82 with Fort Myers after Monday’s abbreviated outing.
 

UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that Trout's injury was to his elbow, not his wrist.

Angels outfielder Mike Trout has quickly put an illness-plagued spring training behind him with an excellent start to the 2012 regular season, but now he's facing another problem. Trout left Sunday's game after being hit by a pitch on his left elbow.

Trout had already tripled earlier in the game, raising his averages to .400/.463/.600. He has six steals in seven attempts. Trout remained in the game after the plunking, but was later removed. Trout later Tweeted that he's OK and expects to be in the lineup on Monday.

Before the injury, Trout was doing everything he could to top his 2011 season, which was good enough to earn the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year award. Trout had reached base safely in all 18 games this year and had picked up at least one hit in 17 of his 18 games played.

Padres top pitching prospect Casey Kelly was scratched from his scheduled start Monday with Triple-A Tucson and will be examined by Padres doctors in San Diego. He'll have an MRI taken on his elbow, according to a report in the North County Times.

The 22-year-old Kelly made two starts for Tucson, allowing just three runs on 12 hits through 12 innings. He notched an impressive 14-to-0 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Kelly threw six shutout innings against Sacramento in his last start on April 11 but felt elbow tenderness after that outing. Doctors in Tucson didn’t find anything wrong, but the Padres aren’t taking any chances with the prized righthander, and Kelly has been placed on the seven-day disabled list for now.
 

UPDATE: This story has been updated with new information since it was first posted.

Nationals infielder Anthony Rendon fractured his left ankle when he slipped and fell during a high Class A Potomac game on April 6. Washington general manager Mike Rizzo told CSN's Mark Zuckerman that Rendon will see a specialist tomorrow to further examine the injured ankle.

When contacted by Baseball America, Nationals farm director Doug Harris said, "We are assessing and treating him and his status is to be determined."

The left ankle injury is the latest in what has become a long-line of significant injuries for Rendon, the sixth pick in last year's draft and the 2010 College Player of the Year. Rendon was largely limited to DH as a Rice junior because of a strained throwing shoulder–an injury that eventually kept him from going to the Arizona Fall League. The year before he broke his right ankle while playing for Team USA and he also tore ligaments in his right ankle in 2009. [...] Continue Reading »

When Anthony Rendon is on the field, it's easy to see how he could become an all-star third baseman in the very near future.

Injuries are just about the only thing that have slowed Rendon, who suffered another one tonight for high Class A Potomac in his second professional game. Rendon, the Nationals' No. 2 prospect, left tonight's game after injuring himself while making the turn rounding third base and had to be helped off the field. Rendon reportedly has a badly sprained left ankle.

Since the issue is with Rendon's left ankle, that's at least different than the right ankle he tore ligaments in back in 2009, the same right ankle he broke in 2010. During his junior year at Rice in 2011, a strained throwing shoulder relegated him mostly to a DH role and chewed up his power. Despite being arguably the most talented player in the 2011 draft, Rendon fell to the Nationals with the sixth overall pick.

Rendon, 21, is a gifted hitter whose hands work well at the plate and in the field, where he has the potential to be one of the better defensive third basemen in the league. He's oozing with talent and there's no reason to panic here as we wait to learn more information, but given his history, it's a legitimate question to ask whether Rendon is going to be an injury-prone player. It may end up just being a series of flukes along the road to a terrific career, but it's something to keep an eye on for now.

According to Matt Gelb of the Philly Inquirer, Phillies second base prospect Harold Garcia had microfracture surgery on his right knee and will miss 4-6 months. Garcia missed most of 2011 with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee.

Garcia had a breakout 2010 campaign, hitting .335/.397/.492 in high Class A Clearwater and .281/.340/.403 in Double-A Reading. He broke a 59-year-old Florida State League record by hitting in 37 consecutive games that year.

Spring training is the time of year when players can speed up their timetables. It's also the time when timetables can be significantly slowed by injuries. In the case of Rangers' righthander Matt West and Dodgers outfielder Alfredo Silverio, the news isn't good.

West, ranked as the No. 11 prospect in the Rangers organization, has been shut down for six weeks as he tries to rehabilitate and strengthen a strained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. As reported by BA correspondent Jeff Wilson, the Rangers are hopeful that rehab will allow West to avoid Tommy John surgery. If the rehab goes well, West would not be ready to start the season, but would be available to pitch again this year. If the program doesn't work, West will likely undergo Tommy John surgery that would sideline him for the entirety of the 2012 season and potentially part of 2013 as well. [...] Continue Reading »

Royals lefthander John Lamb will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair his elbow ligament in his pitching arm the team has announced. The surgery is scheduled for Friday, June 3.

Lamb was ranked 18th on our Top 100 Prospects list before the season on the heels of an excellent 2010 season that saw him climb from low Class A Burlington to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. But Lamb didn't show the same velocity this spring, touching 90-92 mph this year after touching 95 mph in the past. At the time, his reduced velocity was explained as a problem stemming from a strained oblique, but he left his May 19 start after only two pitchers because of elbow pain.

This is not the first time Lamb has had to deal with a significant injury. As a high school senior he was diagnosed with a fractured elbow that was discovered after a car accident. He did not pitch as a senior, which explained why he fell to the fifth round in the 2008 draft, but he had shown no ill effects since.

This week's rundown of players on disabled lists includes bad news for a couple of young big league pitchers–Brandon Beachy and Aroldis Chapman both are now on the DL–but even worse news for A's catching prospect Max Stassi, who needs shoulder surgery. [...] Continue Reading »

This week's Medical Report includes a lot of injured players who have been spending their time in extended spring training but are now popping up on official disabled lists. It continues to have plenty of bad news for the Orioles as eight of the O's top 30 prospects heading into the season are currently on the disabled list.. [...] Continue Reading »

This week's Medical Report includes some bad news for Orioles fans–seven of the Orioles' Top 30 prospects are currently on the disabled list. Six of the Mets Top 30 are also on the disabled list, including the past week's bad news about Jenrry Mejia needing Tommy John surgery.

The Mets announced that 21-year-old righthander Jenrry Mejia has a completely torn MCL in his right elbow that will likely require Tommy John surgery. Mejia was examined by Mets medical director Dr. David Altcheck today and had an MRI, though he is expected to seek a second opinion.

Mejia, the organization's No. 1 prospect and No. 44 prospect in baseball entering the season, had been pitching for Triple-A Buffalo, where he had a 2.86 ERA, 21 strikeouts and 14 walks in 28 1/3 innings through his first five starts. If Mejia does have Tommy John surgery, he likely wouldn't return to the mound for a year, costing him the rest of the 2011 season and part of the 2012 season. The surgery would probably push back his timetable to be able to pitch competitively in the big leagues until 2013.

It's not been a good week for some of baseball's better prospects. Twins' righthander David Bromberg was hit by a comebacker that broke his forearm; Giants outfielder Thomas Neal has a sore shoulder, and Diamondbacks outfielder Adam Eaton and catcher Travis D'Arnaud are out with the effects of a concussion.

But the worst news came for Padres outfielder Everett Williams. Williams banged his knee in an outfield collision with fellow Padres prospect Donavan Tate. At the time, it was thought that Williams would be back in just a week or two, but further tests have found that Williams has a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will miss the rest of the season. Tate isn't expected back on the field before June 1. [...] Continue Reading »

Here is this week's review of which prospects are currently on the disabled list. With five of their top 30 prospects on the disabled list, the Cardinals "win" the prize for the most prospects currently injured. There haven't been as many notable injuries this week, although it is notable that both Everett Williams and Donovan Tate are still on the disabled list after their collision 10 days ago.

[...] Continue Reading »

Here's a look at which prospects from the 2011 Baseball America Prospect Handbook are on the disabled list entering the third week of the minor league season. There are several additions to the list this week, including Padres' prospects Donovan Tate and Everett Williams. They were both hurt in an outfield collision last Tuesday night. Williams is expected to return to the lineup shortly, but it may be a little longer for Tate, who hyperextended his knee in the collision. [...] Continue Reading »

Astros righthander Vincent Velasquez, a second-round pick in June, had Tommy John surgery on Sept. 22 and will miss most or all of the 2011 season. Velasquez ranked just outside the top 10 in our recently-published prospect ranking for the Rookie-level Appalachian League.

The 18-year-old Velasquez, a product of Garey (Calif.) High, went 2-2, 3.07 in six starts and two relief appearances for Greeneville, showing fine control (1.5 walks per nine innings) of quality stuff (7.7 strikeouts per nine). He missed his final Appy League start when scar tissue broke loose from his previous elbow injury and caused discomfort.

Astros team physician Dr. Thomas Mehlhoff performed the surgery, and the club expects Velasquez to make a full recovery.

Michael Ynoa threw his first professional pitch this year, but it also appears that the 18-year-old righthander has thrown his last pitch of the year as well.

Ynoa, who sign with the Athletics for an international record $4.25 million in 2008, is scheduled to have elbow surgery on Aug. 24 that is expected to be Tommy John surgery, according to several tweets from reporters out of Oakland. The procedure is expected to cause him to miss the entire 2011 season.

Ynoa was scheduled to make his pro debut in 2009, but he missed the entire season with elbow tendinitis. He made three starts this year in the Rookie-level Arizona League, allowing five runs in nine innings with four walks and 11 strikeouts, and reports were that he had been clocked up to 95 mph before getting hurt.

The injury could also make for an interesting decision in a couple of years. Ynoa won't pitch next year, but the A's will have to decide whether to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after the 2012 season. At that point, even in a best-case scenario, Ynoa will likely have only pitched at the low Class A level in his first year after surgery, assuming no further setbacks.

Athletics correspondent Casey Tefertiller has the latest on star-crossed 18-year-old Michael Ynoa. The righthander signed with Oakland in 2008 for $4.25 million, an unsurpassed bonus amount for an amateur from Latin America. Tefertiller writes:

Ynoa will be visiting two or three doctors to receive different opinions on his sore elbow, A's farm director Keith Lieppman said. The organization has taken a conservative approach in trying to let the talented Dominican rest and rehabilitate his elbow without surgical intervention. But now they want insight from multiple doctors to determine the best course of action and evaluate options. “We don't know if it will be surgery, we just have to wait and see,” Lieppman said.

The A's have limited Ynoa's pitches and innings this year, but the teenager has been plagued by continued soreness.

The season has just begun, but several of the game's best prospects are already on the disabled list. We'll do our best throughout the season to keep you updated when prospects hit the DL.

• Desmond Jennings, cf, Rays: Jennings has been out with a sprained left wrist since he got hurt sliding head first into second base in a spring training game with the Rays' big league club. He will likely miss all of April before returning to Triple-A Durham to start his season.

• Tim Beckham, ss, Rays: Like Jennings, Beckham is also waiting for a sore left wrist to heal, though he isn't expected to miss much time. He'll start the year with high Class A Charlotte.

• Casey Crosby, lhp, Tigers: Crosby will miss time with a sore left elbow before joining high Class A Lakeland. After signing in 2007, Crosby missed nearly the entire 2008 season due to Tommy John surgery, but he returned throwing 92-95 mph and touched 98 last year to become the No. 47 prospect in baseball.

[...] Continue Reading »