Padres prospect Abrams injured, done for season
San Diego Padres minor leaguer CJ Abrams, one of baseball’s top prospects, will miss the rest of the 2021 season with a fractured left tibia and sprained MCL.
He sustained the injury Wednesday in a ninth-inning collision at second base while playing for Double-A San Antonio against the Corpus Christi Hooks.
The Padres selected Abrams, a shortstop, with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft. He is listed by MLB Pipeline as the No. 8 overall prospect in baseball, and second in the San Diego organization behind left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore (No. 6).
With the San Antonio Missions, Abrams was hitting .296 with two home runs, 23 RBIs, 26 runs scored and 13 stolen bases in 42 games. He spent spring training with the Padres before being assigned to Double-A ball.
The expected recovery period for Abrams is three months.
He will miss the All-Star Futures Game, which he was selected to on Wednesday morning.
St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez exited Sunday’s game against the host Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning with a bruised right thumb.
The Cardinals said he sustained the injury while batting during the third inning. Martinez struck out.
The Cardinals said Martinez is day to day.
Martinez exited with one out in the fourth after experiencing trouble gripping the ball.
He gave up one run and one hit — a homer to Trevor Story — and struck out two and walked one.
The Rockies came from behind to win the game 3-2.
The Oakland Athletics placed first baseman Mitch Moreland on the 10-day injured list and activated outfielder Stephen Piscotty from the same list.
The team did not disclose Moreland’s injury. He missed 11 games in May with a rib injury.
Moreland, 35, is hitting .238 with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 57 games this season, his first in Oakland.
Piscotty, 30, was placed on the IL on June 19 with a sprained left wrist.
Miami Marlins right-hander John Curtiss was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a stick neck.
Right-hander Jordan Holloway, who was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville on Saturday, returned to the Marlins’ active roster.
Curtiss owns a 3-1 record with a 2.67 ERA in 29 appearances (one start) this season. He sports a 6-2 record with a 3.32 ERA in 64 career appearances with the Minnesota Twins, Angels, Tampa Bay Rays and Marlins.
Holloway is 1-2 with a 4.35 ERA in nine appearances (three starts) this season.
The Kansas City Royals activated outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the 10-day injured list.
Benintendi, who turns 27 Tuesday, had been sidelined since June 14 with a fractured right rib.
In a corresponding move, the Royals optioned outfielder Edward Olivares to Triple-A Omaha. Olivares, 25, hit .242 with a home run and two RBIs in 11 games for Kansas City this season.
At the time of his injury, Benintendi was batting .283 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs in 60 games this year. The 2018 World Series champion with the Red Sox is a career .274 hitter with 59 home runs and 291 RBIs in 545 games with Boston (2016-20) and Kansas City.
The Chicago Cubs activated versatile Nico Hoerner from the 10-day injured list and optioned infielder Sergio Alcantara to Triple-A Iowa.
Hoerner had been sidelined since sustaining a strained left hamstring on May 25.
Before he was injured, Hoerner, 24, was batting .338 with seven doubles and nine RBIs in 21 games this season. He has made starts at second base and shortstop as well as in the outfield.
The Baltimore Orioles activated right-hander Cesar Valdez from the 10-day injured list.
Valdez, 36, had been sidelined since June 21 with a lower back strain. The Orioles closer earlier this season, Valdez is 2-1 with a 5.74 ERA and a team-leading eight saves in 12 chances over 25 appearances.
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