Royals 1B Shealy put on DL

Jul 1, 2007 - 2:58 AM KANSAS CITY (Ticker) -- Kansas City Royals first baseman Ryan Shealy went back on the disabled list on Saturday with a hamstring injury.

To take his spot, the Royals activated Ross Gload, who had been out since May 14 with a right quadriceps tear.

Shealy has a left hamstring strain. He was on the disabled list from May 1-16 also with a strained left hamstring.

"I felt a little give in there this time," Shealy said. "I think it was healed last time. It feels like it's in a different spot. As everybody knows, hamstrings can be tricky. I'm going to work hard and I'll get through it. I'll do whatever treatment they want me to do, try to do some cardio, do whatever I can really."

Shealy was hitting just .221 with three home runs and 21 RBI in 52 games. A righthanded hitter, Shealy has just a .125 average with no extra-base hits against lefthanded pitchers.

"It's very, very frustrating," Shealy said of his injury-plagued season.

Shealy hit .280 with seven home runs and 36 RBI in 193 at-bats last season with the Royals after being acquired in a July 31, 2006 trade with the Colorado Rockies.

Royals manager Buddy Bell said he doesn't think he has seen the true Shealy this season because of the hamstring injuries.

"Physically, he's been hurt," Bell said. "It's not really any kind of tear, just a lot of bleeding around it. Mentally, he's gotten down on himself at times. He's struggled with that. It hasn't been an easy year for Ryan.

"We still view him as a big part of our future. I'd like to see him get healthy and start playing the way we know he can play. We all know he had a real good second half for us last year when he came over here. And we expect him to do the same thing this year before it is over."

Shealy had not played since Monday, so the Royals made his DL retroactive to Tuesday. Bell said he did not know when he would be healthy enough to play again. He had been using third baseman Alex Gordon and right fielder Mark Teahen at first base.

Gload, who missed 42 games, went 2-for-4 with a home run and single in a minor league rehab game on Friday night with Class AAA Omaha against New Orleans.

"Ross is healthy," Bell said. "We missed Ross for sure. Now he's going to play pretty much everyday at first with Ryan out. It's nice to have him back. He's kind of an energy guy. He gets big hits for us."

Gload hit .284 with two home runs and 17 RBI in 30 games before going on the disabled list.

The Royals also transferred righthanded pitcher Luke Hudson from the 15-day to the 60-day DL after he underwent arthroscopic season-ending shoulder surgery on Thursday. Dr. Timothy Kremchek performed the surgery in Cincinnati. He also performed surgery on Hudson's shoulder on April 11, 2003 and he missed the entire season.

Lefthander John Bale, who has been on the disabled list since a shoulder injury in spring training, allowed one unearned run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings on an injury rehab start on Friday for Omaha. He threw 33 pitches, 21 for strikes.

The Royals have 10 players on the disabled list, but are hopeful they will get designated hitter Mike Sweeney (right knee inflammation), second baseman Mark Grudzielanek (left knee meniscus tear) and outfielder Reggie Sanders (torn left hamstring) soon after the All-Star break.