Injury Report: Sometimes, you just don't know

So I take injury notes over the course of the week, just noting when I hear about someone getting hurt. Then, on Sunday, I bring up MLB.com's injury updates page, making sure I didn't miss anything. By Sunday night or Monday morning - whenever I start to work on this - I have a long list of player injuries and news. For each player, it is structured: "Player Name, Player Injury, DL Status, Expected Return."

For example, the Rangers put A.J. Pierzynski on the DL with a right oblique injury. It doesn't sound too serious, so he'll likely return later this month. So his entry says "A.J. Pierzynski, right oblique, 15-day, late May." (By the way, don't pick up Geovany Soto if you've lost Pierzynski. Please. There's got to be someone else out there. Someone who can hit.)

It's a simple system, but it works for me. The point of this story, though, is that sometimes a player's situation simply doesn't fit my template. I usually make it work, but I just wanted to show you all one particular listing from this week's file:

Roy Halladay, right shoulder, 15-day, who friggin knows

That's all I wrote. I didn't put the "g" on "frigging." Heck, I didn't even put an apostrophe there. I have no idea when Roy Halladay will be back. I don't know what he'll be when he is back. I don't know enough to even include that "g." I don't see how you can justify burning a DL spot on him if there's anyone else to put there, but I would also feel like crap dropping Roy Freaking Halladay if he comes back and IS Roy Freaking Halladay again. All I can do is apologize to his owners. Best of luck going forward, guys.

After Halladay, it at least got less weird in my notes this week. The most interesting grouping was the mess in the Red Sox bullpen, as Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan are both now on the DL. Last week, when Bailey was hurt but questionable and Hanrahan was ostensibly healthy, I said I'd pick Hanrahan for the season. I *ahem* wrote that just before Hanrahan went down himself, with a right flexor tendon injury. That means surgery, and that means no more 2013 for Joel Hanrahan. Bailey, meanwhile, could return reasonably soon. Junichi Tazawa was named the Boston closer for the time being, and if you need someone, sure, pick him up, but in general, I expect Bailey to get the job back and earn the saves for however long he can manage to stay healthy.

In other closer news, J.J. Putz hit the 15-day DL with an elbow strain. After initial panic, with surgery and "OMG HE'S OUT FOREVER!!!!!" tweets, it now doesn't look like we're in The Last Days Of J.J. Putz. For however long he's out, Heath Bell has taken the Diamondbacks closer role, and he has been strong since his disastrous first outing of the season. I mean, at this point, he and Tazawa are both owned in your league, but if they aren't - or if you have both and only room for one - Bell is the guy. Putz was struggling enough, and his injury situation is murky enough, that I think Bell is most likely to keep the job long term.

**Record scratch**

Sometimes, I write a draft of the injury piece before Sunday's games, then go back to review it on Monday morning. As you might be able to tell, that happened with this one, as Bell had a bit of an implosion in blowing the save against the Phillies. He gave up two runs on four hits in 2/3 of an inning before being replaced by Brad Ziegler, with Matt Reynolds coming in to give up two more runs in the tenth. I imagine Bell doesn't have the longest leash in the world, with Reynolds and David Hernandez both available to fill the role if his struggles continue, but I maintain that I'd rather have him right now than Tazawa. Maybe I'm nuts.

Okay, back to what I wrote on Sunday. Hi.

The Cardinals' Jake Westbrook was put on the DL Sunday, retroactive to Thursday, with right elbow inflammation. The team is emphasizing the "minor" nature of this injury, so it sounds like he won't be out too awfully long. But here's the thing: If you own Westbrook, either you started the season with him, which means you should have sold high by now, or you bought high on him, in which case you made a boo-boo. The past month is better than any month Westbrook will likely ever have again. At this point, I would be comfortable dropping him in any league.

In outfielder news, Jayson Werth and Josh Reddick both went on the DL. Reddick has been struggling through an abysmal early season, and while you can't blame those struggles on the recent injury, I can't help but think a break from the stress of the struggles will be a good thing for him. Just like Jason Heyward - out on a rehab assignment already, by the way - I think Reddick is a great buy-low opportunity.

Werth, meanwhile, has been plodding along. He's not been terrible. But he's also not been anything special. He's Jayson Werth. If you have him, he's your fourth, fifth outfielder. And he's fine in that role. If you've got the DL space, sit tight. Whatever. It's Jayson Werth, not Mike Trout.

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