Minnesota placed Corey Koskie on the DL Friday with a torn right hamstring. Koskie injured his leg earlier in the week while sliding into second base in the 8th inning of Tuesday's game.

The Twins believe Koskie should be ready to return from his first ever DL trip as soon as he is eligible. Under other circumstances they may have chosen to keep Koskie with the team in hopes that he might recover sooner, but they played the Yankees over the weekend, and aside from four games against KC in the early part of this week, they have a rather tough schedule that includes a series in New York, two games against Texas, and a series at Anaheim over the 15 days he'll be on the DL. Koskie could need the entire time to rest his leg, and Minnesota did not want to be short a man against those opponents.

Minnesota called up Casey Blake to replace Koskie on the roster. The 28-year-old has spent most of the last three years in AAA aside from brief major league promotions. His plate discipline has shown some promise in the past but has been declining rather than improving recently. Blake has marginal amounts of both speed and power but won't contribute with either until he improves his strike zone judgment. He covered third during Spring Training when Koskie was sidelined with a wrist injury, so Minnesota decided to give him a shot at filling in now.

The Twins were able to activate David Ortiz from the DL on Sunday. He appears to have recovered from surgery to remove bone chips from his left knee, so he should be able to rejoin the lineup without lingering problems.

In order to make room for Ortiz on the roster they demoted Matt LeCroy. LeCroy performed well during his call-up. In 59 AB, he had 19 hits, including eights doubles, one triple, and three home runs for a .322 BA, .359 OBP, and .593 SLG. However, his BB:K was a bit disappointing at 4:12. I expect the Twins to recall him later in the season if they have another opening due to injury.

Detroit also lost another player to injury. Brandon Inge, recently called up to replace an injury Mitch Meluskey, hit the DL with a dislocated shoulder on Sunday. This is the third time in the last year that Inge has dislocated his shoulder. I believe all three times the injury has been the result of a headfirst slide.

He did not miss time because of either of the first two dislocations, one of which occurred in AAA last year while the other happened during the off-season in winter ball, and was reportedly surprised that he'd been placed on the disabled list this time. Detroit Free Press Sports Writer Gene Guidi quoted Inge as saying, "I couldn't believe it. They [the Tigers] didn't examine me enough. The Rangers' doctor saw me and he said this is pretty remarkable, you just dislocated your shoulder and you have full range of motion, no pain and you have great strength in your arm. I could have played today."

However, the Tigers remain concerned about the injury and feel that the frequency of these incidents could lead to more serious shoulder problems in the future. Inge may have the shoulder tightened in the off-season but plans to play out the rest of the year. By waiting for the surgery until season's end, Inge should be fully recovered by Spring Training, as the typical recovery time is about three months. Right now, Detroit plans to rest him for a week and then place him on a minor league rehab assignment for the remainder of his DL time. The Tigers have no schedule for Meluskey's return, so Inge will likely be recalled when he completes his stint on the disabled list.

Matt Walbeck received the call-up to replace Inge on the roster. The 32-year-old AAAA catcher seems to have found some time to improve his plate discipline while in the minors the last few years, though he's only applied this new knowledge sporadically. However, he has no power or speed and is primarily a defensive back-up. Inge's absence should allow Mike Rivera to reclaim the majority of the starting time behind the plate. Rivera was beginning to lose at-bats to Inge before the injury.

The Giants placed Shawon Dunston on the DL Tuesday. He left the Cincinnati/San Francisco game a week ago yesterday due to a strained rib cage. Dunston has rested the injury the last week and will now go on a short rehab assignment. The club expects to activate him as soon as he is eligible to return from the DL.

San Francisco called up Tom Goodwin to replace Dunston on the roster. He'll serve as the Giants fifth outfielder while Dunston is out. The team could decide to leave him up after Dunston returns, but he's the most likely candidate to be demoted when Dunston is activated.

I plan to discuss Manny Ramirez's injury and its effect on the Red Sox's promising position in the standings tomorrow. However, I'd like to wait until Boston has a better idea of how long the outfielder will be sidelined and who they plan to call-up, as the team has yet to even place Ramirez on the DL. Also, while Juan Gonzalez may return from the DL later this week, Texas continues to suffer new injuries so I will likely spend an article discussing their latest problems sometime this week.