Injury Report:

• Manny Ramirez left last night’s game early with a strained right calf after “running” out a single.  Joe Torre said Ramirez will likely miss a few days.  It’s unfortunate for the Dodgers who are struggling and Manny was ready to turn the corner.  The thing I don’t get is how he hurt himself?  Have you ever seen Manny run out a ground ball or even a hit?  He might be the laziest player to ever play the game; he should literally NEVER hurt himself due to running.
• Jacoby Ellsbury has been out of the Red Sox lineup since April 11th when he collided with Adrian Beltre.  It has since been determined that Ellsbury has a hairline fracture in 4 different ribs and it is unknown when the Red Sox leadoff man will return to the lineup.

Promotions and Demotions:

• The Red Sox announced yesterday that Dice-K has finished his rehab assignment and he is ready to join the Sox rotation.  Dice-K will likely make his 2010 debut sometime next week, possibly Tuesday or Wednesday.  The odd man out of the Sox rotation is going to be Tim Wakefield.  This is probably the right move since Buchholz has a lot of upside and room to develop but a knuckleballer in the bullpen is pointless.  Sure Wakefield can throw everyday a team that faces a knuckleballer twice in a series will romp on that knuckler the second time around.
• Chris Davis of the Rangers (who likely would have SHATTERED the strikeout record in one season) is being demoted for Just Smoak (one of the Rangers top prospects).  Smoak was smoak-ing the ball in Triple-A before his promotion Thursday night (15-46 with 2 HRs and 15 RBI).  Davis was batting .188 with no home runs and 1 RBI.  I DON’T think it’s too early to call Davis a bust, he’s giving me no reasons not to believe that.
• Mike Jacobs is basically done with the Mets (maybe even baseball at the Major League level).  He was demoted the other day and accepted his assignment to Triple-A to make room for Ike Davis.  Seriously, is Jacobs can’t play for the Royals or Mets I don’t think he can play on any team.  I wish him the best of luck though.

Contract Extension for Zobrist:

• Ben Zobrist was sent to Triple-A in 2007 while a member of the Rays, now in 2010 he is the starting second basemen.  After that demotion Zobrist dedicated himself to making to the Major League level again and performing to the best of his abilities.  He went from a guy who was on the verge of getting cut to the Rays 2009 team MVP after hitting .297 with 27 HRs and 97 RBI.  Today, Zobrist and the Rays have agreed on a 5-year contract extension that will keep him in a Rays uniform until 2015.  Zobrist is the ultimate utility man and he will continue to be valuable to this Rays team who has something to prove (before half the team leaves for free agency).

-Jason