Massage Table Mentionables: MLB Week Two

"MTM" is designed to give you a heads up on the latest injury news; check it out every Thursday at thesportspa.blogspot.com. Currently, our topics are MLB related.

Here are the top injury stories as of April 15, 2009.

First up is Chris Carpenter, our cover boy for Week Two.

Man, he looked so good in his first start, too. He didn't even make it four innings in his second start of the season, leaving after "straining his rib cage" while batting in the third inning.

That, of course, is one of the downsides to an NL pitcher—they have the added risk of getting hurt at the plate.

An injury to Carpenter shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone though, as we all know he has had his fair share of them. He made only four starts in 2008 after elbow surgery, and then went under the knife again after the season to try and fix a nerve problem in the same elbow.

The Cardinals weren't sure whether Carpenter would go on the DL or not, but his morale after the incident suggested that he most likely would.

Its not a good sign when a player responds "I don't know how long," when asked about the degree of his injury. No optimism at all kind of scares me.

Needless to say, the Cardinals placed Carpenter on the 15 day DL on Wednesday. Sometimes it's just too good to be true. Sorry, Carpenter owners, but it's looking like another disappointed season already.

For fantasy purposes, feel free to stash him on your DL and pray that he comes back at some point, but I wouldn't bet on it. I like the guy; he just can't stay healthy.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Where is the Dice-K from a year ago? So far he's 0-1 with an ERA of 12.79. He couldn't even make it past the second inning in his second start.

The Red Sox have decided to place him on the 15 day DL for what they are calling "arm fatigue." Arm fatigue, seriously?

This is the point in the season where you should feel great, and your arm should be in shape. I don't know if I'm buying the fatigue story, but something is definitely wrong with Dice-K.

Jed Lowrie

Another Red Sox tragedy.

Lowrie looked promising as the Sox SS of the future towards the end of the 2008 season, but that promise died quickly in 2009 after he went 1-for-18 with eight SO.

Then he tops that off by landing himself on the DL with a wrist injury.

The important thing to realize is that he's only 24, and could still turn out to be a solid option at SS. However, you know you are performing pretty bad when Red Sox fans are wondering when Julio Lugo, who had a dismal 2008 season, will be back from the DL.

On that very point, Julio Lugo is expected to play in some extended spring training games over the upcoming weekend, so we should know more on his status over the next week or so.

Xavier Nady

Nady has landed on the DL with an elbow injury, and could miss a significant amount of time.

Of course, the Yankees already have A-Rod on the DL, so this is horrible news for the Bronx Bombers.

The only bright spot of the Nady injury is that the Yankees won't have to find a way to keep Nick Swisher, and his incredibly hot bat, in the lineup.

Speaking of A-Rod, he is scheduled to start taking batting practice soon, and they have him marked for a May 15 return.

I bet he comes back sooner, but that's just me. This is one of those things that could come back to haunt him, and Yankee fans, if he rushes it.

Brandon Webb

Webb landed himself on the 15 day DL with stiffness in his pitching shoulder. However, he is eligible to return as early as April 22, and seems pretty confident that he will return at that point.

I wouldn't worry too much about this one. Webb is a great pitcher, and the injury does not seem to be serious at all at this point.

Any time a pitcher has arm trouble it's scary though, so just keep an eye on it in the future. If you see signs of the arm trouble again at all, you might want to sell high on him while you still can.

BJ Upton

This one is actually good news. Upton was activated by the Rays on Sunday, and it appears that he will be back in the lead off spot soon.

Upton owners, keep an eye on it, because he's someone who can provide your fantasy team with a spark. Of course, I'm talking about the BJ Upton from the 2008 postseason, not the 2008 regular season. Which one will show up this year?

Jesse Litsch

The 24-year-old Blue Jay has also landed on the 15 day DL with a "strained forearm." Litsch said he first felt the pain in the first inning, but didn't come out of the game until the fourth inning.

That's a big no-no for a pitcher, as you are never supposed to pitch, or throw period, with arm pain. As a result, he won't get to do any throwing for the next two weeks.

Evan Longoria

No, he's not injured; you can breathe now.

However, he is expected to miss two games, Wednesday and Thursday, due to a death in his family. He should be back in the lineup for Friday's game against the White Sox.

Just a heads up for all you Longo owners so you can adjust your lineups accordingly, because I know he's not riding anyone's bench. This kid is good, real good.

Those are pretty much all the big injury names as of now. Hope you enjoyed. Health for everyone (especially everyone of my fantasy teams)!