Weekend Update: Ryan Doumit (Rotoworld.com Error)

I logged on to Rotoworld this morning and found an update for Ryan Doumit, reading:

"Doumit has his whole rehab process laid out, including a July 5 return. "We are very pleased with his progress," GM Neal Huntington said last week. The catcher has been out since April 23."

Just to be clear, the source for this blurb (the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) doesn't clearly say that Doumit is coming back to the big club on July 5th. The arctile states the following of Doumit's return:

"As catcher Ryan Doumit's rehabilitation schedule stands, he will report Tuesday to Pirate City for a minimum of four days of catching and designated hitting in Gulf Coast League games followed by additional at-bats in simulated games.

Doumit, after late-April wrist surgery, projects to head north July 5 for the rest of his assignment if everything works out well. Then, he would report to Class AAA Indianapolis or Class AA Altoona, both of whom play at home that day. The rest will depend upon his progress, "how he feels and how he does," Russell said. "Once we do send him down, we don't want him to have really a scheduled day off."

As far as I can tell, the Post-Gazette's sources indicate the Doumit will BEGIN a Triple-A or Double-A rehab assignment on July 5th. My best guess (as well as the best guess of many others writing about this today) is that Doumit is (as he always was) looking at an All-Star Break return.

Here's what some Pirates' bloggers are saying about the Doumit situation:

"Ryan Doumit will start his rehab assignment next week for the GCL Pirates. He will alternate between C and DH. The plan is then to send him to Altoona or Indianapolis On July 5th, since the Baby Bucs have an off day. Manager John Russell says, 'Once we do send him down, we don't want him to have really a scheduled day off'" (Northside Notch Blog).

"Ryan Doumit will start his rehab on Tuesday, and is shooting for a return just before the All-Star Break, but will probably be back right after the break" (BuccoFans.com).

And here's a DL-based blog talking about Doumit's looong recovery:

"RYAN DOUMIT is set to go on a rehab assignment this week and has a tentative return date of July 5. This would put him just past the original 10-week recovery period for his broken right Scaphoid (wrist) bone. The fact that he is even able to return this soon is pretty impressive, as Scaphoid fractures tend to be one of most hit-or-miss fractures as far as good healing is concerned. The surgeon who performed the procedure to stabilize the fracture must have done an exceptional job stabilizing it. Those of you who held onto this catcher who can rake will be rewarded handsomely. He was dropped in many leagues, so take a quick look to see if he’s out there - he is easily a top-ten catcher" (Disabled List Informer).

Thanks to all the above bloggers/sites for clarifying this issue. Rotoworld's vague report will probably result in a large quantity of teams grabbing Doumit sooner than necessary. I'm not for useless moves at such a pivotal point in the season, so please take note of the several caveats revolving around Ryan Doumit.