After several inquiries about the health of Tampa outfielder Slade Heathcott, I decided to see what I could find out. After spending some time toward the end of the first half on Charleston's disabled list, Heathcott was activated and promoted to High-A.

He played one game with the T-Yanks before going back on the shelf, which seemed curious, to say the least. I e-mailed Mark Newman early this morning to find out the nature and extent of the injury, and he responded thusly:

"Left shoulder. Not sure when he will be back. We will know more later this week."

To me, that sounded pretty grim, so I decided to get in touch with someone who doesn't have to be as careful with what he says as Newman. I asked him what he'd heard about Heathcott, and his response was in line with what I'd expected, given what I believed Newman's comments had hinted at.

My source told me that he'd heard Heathcott was done for the year and that a second shoulder surgery was possible. Heathcott had surgery on the shoulder last offseason, but the problem had existed for much longer. Heathcott detailed what he'd been through in April, when the RiverDogs were in town to play the Lakewood BlueClaws.

Here's a snippet of the interview I conducted:

Q: I know you had a little bit of a shoulder thing in the offseason. Can you explain exactly what you went through?

A: I dove in high school and I separated my shoulder and tore my labrum. I tried playing through it and doing shoulder exercises throughout the year, but when I got to instructs I just couldn’t play through it anymore.

I went to Dr. (James) Andrews, and I had a complete tear in the front and the back, so I’m just trying to get back from that. I’m not 100 percent, not anywhere close. I’m good enough to play and not hurt the team.

Q: So you had that problem all of last year?

A: Yes.

Q: Did you know something was wrong?

A: Yep. I knew something was wrong. We knew it before I signed. We knew when I had my pre-signing physical that it was there. I just didn’t think it was bad enough (to do anything about). I could still throw at a high velocity, I just didn’t have much control on where it was going. The shoulder’s still kind of bouncing around, but it’ll get better.

Q: When did you get it fixed?

A: Middle of October. I got my 3.5 (month) release. My first game was about six months out.

Q: If you’re not 100 percent right now, what do you look for out of yourself that will tell you you’re getting closer to being 100 percent?

A: To be honest with you, I don’t have a clue. Knee surgery was easy to come back from for me. I had ACL surgery, but I was back in 3.5 months. With this, I don’t know, it’s just different. … I don’t know. I really don’t know what it will be to be 100 percent.

Q: When’s the last time you thought you were 100 percent?

A: I didn’t necessarily think I wasn’t 100 percent last year. It just gave me questionable throws sometimes. That’s no excuse. I thought I was pretty close to 100 percent last year.

So now the question is: Did the Yankees rush him back, and if so, is that to blame for his latest problem?

Second baseman David Adams, who had his broken foot/ankle improperly diagnosed last year, has gone through a similar set of issues this season, though his outlook, after a long road back, appears to be a bit sunnier.

Adams was held back in Extended Spring Training until April 21, when he went 2-for-4 in a game with the T-Yanks. It's the only non-rehab game he's played so far this year.

He went back on the disabled list after that contest and didn't appear in a box score again until June 20, when he played the first of 10 games with the Gulf Coast League Yankees. He hit .517 during that stint (16-for-31) and has been removed from the GCL's roster and placed back on Tampa's.

When I spoke with Newman last month in Trenton, he said this would be the first step for Adams on his way back to the Thunder, where he was starring before suffering the injury last May.

OTHER BAD NEWS: I also heard today that Nik Turley, the organization's leader in strikeouts, will miss up to a month with a broken hand he incurred when he was caught with a line drive back to the hill.

With Charleston and Tampa this year, Turley, a former 50th-round pick, was 4-6 this season with a 2.81 ERA (second best among the Yankees' full-season affiliates), though his numbers with Tampa weren't particularly good.

MINOR GOOD NEWS: Sean Black, also in Tampa's rotation, is on his way back from tendinitis. He was scheduled to begin a throwing program today.

After throwing just one inning and 30 pitches, Thunder starter Steve Garrison was removed from today's game. With so few pitches, there's a pretty good chance Garrison is hurt, but we'll know more after the game.

For Garrison, the disabled list is a familiar place. Since 2008, he’s had surgeries to repair a partially torn left rotator cuff, to clean up his left labrum, and to fix a tear in his right ACL.

A sprained ankle of July 18 of last year put him on the shelf until Sept. 6, when he was waived by the Padres and claimed by the Yankees at the suggestion of Kevin Towers, then a special advisor with the club.

The news broke this morning about Dellin Betances hitting the DL with a blister on his right pointer finger. Mark Newman, the Yankees head of player development, didn't seem terribly concerned, saying he expected the pitcher to miss "a start."

He was unavailable before the game -- in the training room, where no media are allowed -- but I caught up to him afterward and got the lowdown on what happened and how he feels.

For what it's worth, his blister looks markedly different than the one on Manny Banuelos' left thumb. Whereas Banuelos' looks like a yellow, pus-y mess, Betances' looks like he simply Sharpied over part of his finger.

On whether he was surprised the team placed him on the DL: "It was their decision. I'm just going with whatever they tell me and the doctors tell me. Whenever they tell me to start throwing, I'll be ready."

On whether he thinks a particular pitch caused the blister: "I was throwing spike curveballs, that's what usually (puts stress on that area). It was just something on Monday that happened. I'll just play it out how it is."

On whether cold weather in New Hampshire had anything to do with it: "No, no. I'm from New York, so I'm used to it."

On whether he'd had a history of problems with blisters in the past: "No. I've never had a problem. I've never had a problem. It's just one of those things. It's unfortunate that it came this early, but it's just a little bump in the road."

On how they treated the blister when it first arose: "We've just been doing a lot of iodine. We're trying to not do too much the last couple of days, just to see how it plays, but I'm sure I'll be throwing here soon."

As for pitchers who are still active, there's Naoya Okamoto, who, along with Kei Igawa, is part of Trenton's tandem of left-handed Japanese relievers. Aside from the first two hitters he faced, Okamoto didn't have a particularly good day on Thursday.

He walked four hitters in an inning, and gave up the final two runs in the Thunder's 4-2 loss to Harrisburg. Here's what he had to say afterward.

On whether anything distracted him out there, leading to the hiccup with his command: “It’s what you saw out there. After two outs, I walked a few batters and that’s about it.”

On whether he lost his mechanics, or the feel for the ball in the cold, or was unnerved by Jose Pirela' error: "No. Not really. I just didn't really feel it today.

Finally, some video of Brian Anderson, the former White Sox first-rounder now pitching with the Thunder

TRENTON -- The Thunder today placed Dellin Betances on the 7-day disabled list with what Yankees VP of Player Development Mark Newman says is a blister. He said he expects Betances to miss "a start."

In his place the Thunder received Brian Anderson from Staten Island. Anderson, a former outfielder with the White Sox, is trying his hand as a pitcher.

Betances, in his lone start of the year, in New Hampshire, allowed one earned run over four innings and took the loss. The disabled list move is retroactive to April 11.

BOWIE, Md. — It started on Opening Day when Christian Garcia tore a ligament in his elbow. Then, three weeks later, Damon Sublett needed season-ending thumb surgery.

A month passed before the Thunder’s next big blows, labrum surgery for No. 3 starter Jeremy Bleich and a high ankle sprain to David Adams that so far has cost the second baseman nearly two months.

From the last day in June until July 6, center fielder Austin Krum and late-inning relievers Grant Duff and Tim Norton each took their place on the shelf.

Then yesterday came what could wind up being the biggest blow of all, an ankle injury to Brandon Laird, the Thunder’s cleanup man and the circuit’s leader in RBIs.

Still, even with all that star power gone, Trenton finds itself just 1 ½ games behind New Hampshire for first place in the Eastern League’s Eastern Division.

After closing the first half yesterday with a series-salvaging win over the Bowie Baysox, the team believed that in order to retain its postseason, the starting pitching had to right itself.

“We need to pitch well,” Lance Pendleton said. “I think that, really, is the first step, making sure our starters to take of some business and hope (the offense) scores a few runs for us. That really is the thing.

Over their six road losses to close the first half, Thunder starters haven’t exactly given the team a lift. They’ve allowed 23 earned runs on 34 hits and 12 walks over 25 2/3 innings.

For those counting, that’s an ERA of 7.71 and a WHIP of 1.79, ghastly marks both.

“The last week or so, we haven’t commanded our pitches as well,” pitching coach Tommy Phelps said before yesterday’s game. “We’ve gotten behind in the counts, left some pitches in the zone and we haven’t pitched as well. We went through a stint like this early in the season for about 10 days, but we’ll get back on track after the break.”

Knowing Hector Noesi and Andrew Brackman — the latter of whom is throwing much better than his numbers indicate — will be in the rotation from the jump adds an element of certainty.

Add in the probability of receiving Adam Warren, the Florida State League’s ERA leader shortly after the break to join All-Stars Pendleton and D.J. Mitchell — whose seven wins lead the staff — and the starting five seems like it could be ready to improve quickly.

“We have a lot of younger guys throughout our organization who have stepped up, and come in and filled those guys’ shoes” Phelps said, referring to younger pitchers like Brackman and Noesi who have filled the holes left behind by Garcia, Phelps and Bleich “That’s the whole thing with development and everything — when a guy leaves, we have a lot of depth in our organization.”

Per Justin Shackil, David Adams, who injured his ankle in Game 1 of yesterday's doubleheader, is still with the team but will see doctors tomorrow. He also said that Adams can put weight on the ankle.

I have a text message in to Jeremy Bleich, who is in Florida receiving treatment for a stiff left shoulder. Don't expect a response back from Bleich.

The New York Post is reporting that there's a good chance that Thunder starter Jeremy Bleich will need surgery on his throwing shoulder. He was placed on the 7-Day disabled list and headed back to the Yankees complex in Tampa, Fla., before the Thunder's current road trip.

Here's a link to the article, which is part of the Beating the Bushes blog, run by Tim Bontemps.