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Baseball Notebook: Top Cuban lefty prospect vanishes before tournament
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Published: July 4, 2009
■ Cuban National Team: A Cuban pitcher considered by many baseball scouts to be the No. 1 left-handed prospect in the world left his hotel and vanished before the first ball was thrown at a tournament in the Netherlands, leaving his whereabouts a mystery, a spokesman for the Dutch team said yesterday.
Aroldis Chapman, a player with a 100 mph fastball, was seen walking through the lobby of his hotel and climbing into a waiting car within an hour of the team's arrival Wednesday for a four-nation tournament, spokesman Loet van Schelbeet said.
Chapman, 21, failed to show up Thursday for Cuba's first game in Rotterdam, according to van Schelbeet.
■ Braves: Second baseman Kelly Johnson has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with right wrist tendinitis.
The move was made before Atlanta opened a three-game weekend series against the Washington Nationals yesterday.
■ Dodgers: Manny Ramirez has apologized to fans and his teammates. He's not talking about steroids, though.
His 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy ended yesterday and he was set to play for Los Angeles against San Diego last night.
"Well, I want to say I'm sorry to the fans and to my teammates," Ramirez said at a news conference about four hours before the first pitch.
■ Red Sox: Right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka will be going to Florida on Monday to begin a strengthening program that the Red Sox hope will get him back to the big leagues later this season.
Matsuzaka was 1-5 with an 8.23 ERA and an opponents' batting average of .378 before going on the disabled list June 21. He's been out with a shoulder strain, and the Red Sox have said he hasn't been right since helping Japan win the World Baseball Classic.
■ Reds: Cincinnati activated third baseman Edwin Encarnacion from the 60-day disabled list yesterday to replace infielder Danny Richar, who went on the 15-day disabled list with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Wilkin Castillo, who had surgery Wednesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, was moved from the 15-day DL to the 60-day to make room for Encarnacion on the 40-man roster.
■ Mariners: Seattle has activated right-handed reliever Shawn Kelley from the 15-day disabled list and optioned infielder Mike Carp to Class AAA Tacoma.
The team said the 25-year-old Kelley would be available for last night's series opener against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
■ Blue Jays: Toronto has purchased the contract of outfielder Dave Dellucci from Class AAA Las Vegas and cleared a roster spot by designating utilityman Russ Adams for assignment.
Dellucci, 35, hit .275 with one RBI in 14 RBIs this year for Cleveland, which released him June 1. Toronto signed him to a minor league contract nine days later. He batted .317 in 16 games at Las Vegas with three homers and nine RBIs.
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