Baseball Prospect Notes: Monday, May 11: injured pitchers, homers, and a freight train

Good afternoon everyone. We hope you had a good Mother's Day Weekend. Here are some news and notes from around the majors and minors.

***REMINDER! The Minor League Ball 2015 Community Mock Draft signup list will be posted at 1 PM Central today.

***Bad weekend for pitcher injuries. Drew Smyly of the Tampa Bay Rays and Kevin Gausman of the Baltimore Orioles are both down with shoulder problems. Smyly's injury appears more serious and he may require labrum surgery, though Smyly is seeking a second opinion and a final decision has not yet been made according to the Tampa Tribune.

Gausman's injury is reportedly some minor tendinitis according to the Baltimore Sun and is being treated with anti-inflammatory drugs. He is expected to be healthy within a couple of weeks and will be sent to Triple-A Norfolk to stretch his arm out and recondition for a starting role. One hopes this is true; Gausman has what it takes to be a truly outstanding pitcher but shoulder issues are inherently scary.

***Elbow injuries are no picnic either despite the tendency among some fans and pundits to regard Tommy John surgery as routine. This video of Athletics pitcher Jarrod Parker clutching his arm and collapsing in pain after throwing a pitch Friday should remind us of that. It is rather graphic.

Parker's injury is a "medial epicondylar fracture." SamYam, a medical student, wrote this article at Athletics Nation tells us what that means. The good news: ". . .the recovery from a fracture repair is much less intensive than from a third Tommy John surgery."

***That's all rather depressing so let's talk about something cool instead. Chicago White Sox prospect Courtney Hawkins hit a home run yesterday. But not just any home run. It hit a freight train. And there's video.

***More power on display: Joey Gallo of the Rangers of course. Since being activated at Double-A Frisco, Gallo is hitting .346/.433/.673 with six doubles, three homers, eight walks and 20 strikeouts in 52 at-bats. All three homers have come in his last four games.

***Indications are that the New York Mets could be promoting outfield prospect Michael Conforto to Double-A soon according to Lynn Worthy of PressConnects via Chris Schubert at AmazinAvenue. Conforto is off to a good start in High-A, hitting .286/.346/.471 for St. Lucie in the Florida State League.

***The 2015 Baseball Prospect Book: is still for sale. Find the next Devon Travis three years early (more on that tomorrow).