Gabriel Moreno, Merrill Kelly, Drey Jameson Health Updates

Torey Lovullo spoke at length today giving updates on several players dealing with injuries of various severity and in different stages of the recovery process.

Gabriel Moreno, Shoulder Inflammation, 10-Day IL

Moreno was placed on the 10-day IL before yesterday's game. Lovullo clarified that Moreno injured his shoulder on a batting practice swing about two weeks before the All Star break. Imaging today showed no structural damage. He is in the therapy and treatment stage and there is no timetable for his return until they can be sure they've gotten the inflammation out of the shoulder.

Lovullo addressed previous communications with the media and admitted that he was less than forthcoming in revealing why Moreno had been losing playing time. He stated that while Moreno was available to play in those games if absolutely needed, Lovullo did not want to give away any competitive advantage. 

"He was banged up, I was trying to rest him....I was asked a lot why he wasn't catching.....I was  trying to protect him the best way that I knew how to get him back on his feet and it just became too much"

Drey Jameson, UCL Sprain, 60-Day IL

Jameson received his third opinion and is still in the decision phase. The conservative approach is rest, and then come back out and throw and test it out.  Lovullo talked mentioned Luke Weaver as a pitcher that opted for the conservative route and was just firing 97 MPH fastballs at them the other day and seems perfectly healthy. 

The other approach is of course surgery, and he's still mulling over both options. It becomes a question of timing. If Jameson has surgery now or three months from now he's missing 2024 either way. The cutoff point to make that decision might be as late as October before the recovery time would start to impact his availability for 2025. So it's conceivable Jameson could opt for rest and a throwing program in another couple of months and see where he stands. 

Merrill Kelly, Blood Clot in left calf, 15-Day IL

Lovullo confirmed that the blood clot has dissipated and Kelly is medically cleared to pitch. He threw 85 pitches in his  last rehab outing in the Arizona Complex league. Lovullo unofficially said that Kelly will be named to fill tomorrow's TBA spot but they need to wait until after the game to announce a roster move to make room for his return.  

Cole Sulser, Shoulder, 60-day IL:  Sulser threw one inning, 11 pitches on Saturday in Reno and is scheduled to pitch again tomorrow in Reno. He is expected to throw another inning or up to 25-30 pitches in his next appearance.