CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Guardians placed starting pitcher Cal Quantrill back on the injured list Thursday with right shoulder inflammation.
The team also recalled right-hander Cody Morris from AAA Columbus.
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Quantrill allowed five runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings to suffer his sixth loss of the season and fall to 2-6 in an 8-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves Wednesday night.
“He is getting to his velocity, but he’s not commanding it,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “And his work in between is lacking because he doesn’t feel like he can do it. So we put him back on the IL. The good part, this time we’re not going to shut him down. We’re going to let him play catch and when he’s ready we will start his side days again. When that is is dependent on how he feels and we’ll try to do a little better job this time of not trying to get him back so quick.”
In two starts since returning from a previous stint on the IL, Quantrill allowed 11 earned runs on 19 hits in 7 2/3 innings.
Morris, who started the year on the 60-day injured list with a right teres major strain, is up for the second time this season.
“[He’s] Not mid-season form and I think we called him up when he was still on rehab and then we sent him back,” Francona said. “So we’re trying to get him going, but he’s more stretched out than other people and he hadn’t pitched last. There’s a few reasons. Sometimes it’s not just who has the lowest ERA, it’s who fits and for what reasons.”
Morris has appeared in two games for the Guardians in 2023 where he allowed two hits with three strikeouts over two innings of work. For Columbus, Morris is 1-0 with a 5.19 ERA in five games, including one start.
Good news – Triston McKenzie got a second opinion on his right elbow and the news was positive and he won’t have to undergo Tommy John surgery – yet.
“I was kind of hopeful from the beginning that nothing was too bad,” McKenzie said Thursday.
“They pretty much told me that it’s common in hard throwers. It’s common in the game right now and more just like you can go about it regularly without surgery, but at certain point a lot of guys have the surgery, so it’s not something to be scared of.”
McKenzie opened the season on the 60-day injured list with a right shoulder strain but after making two starts his right elbow started bothering him causing the team to shut him down again and put him back on the injured list.
“It’s a tough situation mentally to go through, but I think it’s part of the game and I think I’ve been doing a good job of just trying to stay present,” McKenzie said. “I think it’s something that happens and I’m starting to just think back through when I should have said something when I initially felt something. I think there’s a lot of things that come into play when you’re a competitor and me coming off injury might have played into this one.”
Although the news was positive and McKenzie, who will resume throwing on July 27, expects to return this season, the odds he will need Tommy John surgery remain.
“I think you see plenty of guys go out there, have it and still have success,” McKenzie said. “[Jacob] deGrom literally just had a second one. So I think it’s more about just being able to go into with a positive mindset and knowing that guys come out of it, successful guys come out of it healthy.”
Naylor returns – Josh Naylor was back in the lineup Thursday evening at first base and hitting cleanup after missing the previous two games with a right wrist injury.
Naylor suffered the injury in the sixth inning of Monday night’s 4-2 loss to the Braves.
Additional moves – McKenzie was moved to the 60-day IL to make room for RHP Chris Vallimont, 26, acquired from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for cash considerations. Vallimont was placed on the 40-man roster and optioned to AAA Columbus.
Impromptu tribute – Wednesday marked the anniversary of Larry Doby integrating the American League in 1947 with Cleveland and the team is spending the week honoring him.
With Doby’s family on the field prior to the series finale with the Braves, Francona came up with his own tribute to Doby.
“His family was like 10 feet away from me, and I’m sitting there and I’m thinking, you know what? His dad couldn't eat at the same place my dad could,” Francona said. “And I marched in and grabbed a pen. Not that that’s the biggest statement in the world, but me and DeMarlo [Hale] grabbed a silver pen and put a 14 [on our hats] because I think it’s a shame we can’t do that. We've tried and it hurts me a little bit. Just man, it’s just hard to fathom [what Doby endured].”