Michael Cuddyer is out 6-8 weeks with a fractured shoulder socket - MLB

Yesterday the Rockies placed Michael Cuddyer on the disabled list with a left shoulder strain. Turns out it’s more than a strain: Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports:

. . . an MRI revealed that he has a non-displaced fracture of the glenoid socket in his left shoulder. The glenoid is commonly called the shoulder socket.

Ouch.

Cuddyer, the defending NL batting champ, suffered the injury while diving for a ball at third base last Thursday. Probably worth noting that Cuddyer, while having played 76 games at third base in his career before this season, hadn’t done so since 2010. Between the time away from the hot corner, his age and the fact that his bat has become pretty darn valuable to the Rockies, you wonder why Walt Weiss has felt the need to put Cuddyer in that position this season.

But I suppose now that’s academic. It’s just the latest bit of bad news in what is turning into a lost season for the the 35-year-old Cuddyer. He has already served time on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring and has played in just 31 games this season.

Cuddyer is in the final year of a three-year, $31.5 million deal.

Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.