MLB Notes

This April 11, 2017, file photo shows former St. Louis Cardinals great Lou Brock being introduced before the start a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers.
This April 11, 2017, file photo shows former St. Louis Cardinals great Lou Brock being introduced before the start a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers.

CARDINALS

Brock has cancer

photo

AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File

In this July 9, 2015, file photo, Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez walks to the dugout before a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Miami.

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals said Hall of Fame outfielder and El Dorado native Lou Brock was recently diagnosed with bone cancer.

Brock, 77, was supposed to appear at a Busch Stadium event on April 25, but that has been canceled while he is undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma.

His left leg was amputated below the knee in late 2015 because of an infection caused by complications with diabetes. He was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes more than 15 years ago and has worn a prosthesis since the amputation to throw out the occasional ceremonial first pitch at Cardinals games.

Brock, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1985, said he and wife Jackie are thankful for the support they have received.

MARLINS

Fernandez statue planned

Jeffrey Loria revealed in an interview with ESPN.com posted Thursday that the Marlins are having a statue of deceased former ace Jose Fernandez made that they plan to place outside Marlins Park in the near future.

"We're having a big sculpture of Jose made for the plaza or maybe in front of the stadium," the team's owner told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. "William Behrends is doing it. He did the Willie McCovey and Willie Mays sculptures out in San Francisco."

Loria said the statue will be cast in bronze and will feature a red-orange painted glove like the one Fernandez used when he pitched for the Marlins.

The statue should be completed in about six months, Loria said, and he wants it to be about 9 to 10 feet high.

When asked why he chose that size for the sculpture, Loria said: "Because Jose was larger than life."

YANKEES

Prospect's surgery set

NEW YORK -- Top Yankees pitching prospect James Kaprielian will have Tommy John surgery next week and be sidelined until 2018.

The team's announcement Thursday didn't give details of the ligament damage. He'll have surgery Tuesday.

The 23-year-old right-hander was taken with the 16th overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft.

His 2016 season was cut short in April after his third start at Class A Tampa because of a strained right flexor tendon. He returned to pitch in the Arizona Fall League and went 2-3 with a 4.33 ERA in seven starts, striking out 26 in 27 innings.

He was limited to one major league spring training appearance, striking out three in two scoreless innings against Toronto on March 16.

He was assigned to Class A Tampa again for the start of this season.

-- Democrat-Gazette Press Services

Sports on 04/14/2017

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