• Holy cow. The Reds have finally placed Devin Mesoraco on the DL with his hip injury.

Mesoraco hasn’t caught in a game since April 12 due to an impingement in the hip. He was able to pinch-hit in 13 games and start as designated hitter in four, hitting .178 in 45 at-bats.

A month and half to determine if he should go on the DL.  Additionally, there is good chance he will need surgery and miss the rest of the season.

• David Wright came out and said he is dealing with spinal stenois.

Wright will cease baseball activities and take medication for the next week, while continuing a program of core strengthening and back stabilization exercises. The Mets believe it will be enough to eliminate the flare-ups of lower back tightness that Wright has recently been experiencing. They do not consider Wright’s condition degenerative, according to assistant general manager John Ricco.

“The doctors aren’t that worried about it,” Ricco said. “It’s just something that seems to be taking longer than we initially thought. The way it was progressing, they thought it would be gone by now.”

He is making little to no progress on getting better and has decided to relocate to California to be closer to his doctor.

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• Drew Smyly is going to rehab his shoulder instead of having surgery on it.

Smyly said the rehab process should take about eight weeks and believes he could pitch again for the Rays by late July or August, but added that there is a possibility surgery may be needed later if the rehab does not work.

I guess we will all know more in eight weeks.

• Jacoby Ellsbury’s knee is hurting and now he is on the DL. More information is to come out today once he visits the team doctor.

• Corey Dickerson’s plantar fasciitis (foot) finally forced him on the DL.

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• Doug Fister is out with forearm tightness. He is to undergo some tests today and may eventually need Tommy John surgery.

• Chase Whitley and his strained elbow are also under consideration for Tommy John surgery.

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• Not many moves to and from the DL over the past few days. There has been quite a few player updates, mostly bad, which are all in the spreadsheet.

• Mike Minor is having surgery performed on his shoulder and is finished for the 2016 season.

Now that he has spent more than a year frustrated by the fact that he has not found a remedy for his nagging left shoulder discomfort, Braves pitcher Mike Minor has decided to undergo season-ending surgery later this week.

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If you are looking for analysis here, sorry but there is none. What follows though is the information that might help others do their analysis. At the very least, you’ll have better information on shifted hitters and which teams which employ the shift the most.

Top 30 Players (Basically, any slow left-handed hitter)

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• Alex Cobb is going to need Tommy John surgery and will be out until late 2016.

Cobb expects to have the surgery performed by Dr. James Andrews on Thursday. Based on that date and the normal recovery from Tommy John surgery — 14 to 15 months — the Rays are hopeful he can be back by around September 2016.

The general public thinks a year in the normal time to return from TJS, but recently, the time table has been pushed back to a 14-month timetable. It may be a little less for relief pitchers. Of the fourteen major league pitchers who had the operation before 5/11/14, only Luke Hochevar is back and his operation was on 3/18/14.

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• Stephen Strasburg was removed from his last game with shoulder irritation.

“As [Strasburg] finishes pitches, it grabs him every once in a while. Tonight it got a little bit worse,” Williams said. “He said he feels like there is a rib out, like an alignment issue. We didn’t want to take a chance and have him change mechanics and hurt something.”

It appeared that something was wrong with Strasburg from the outset. In the top of the second, with two outs and the Marlins leading, 2-0, Williams, pitching coach Steve McCatty and athletic trainer Lee Kuntz went to the mound to check on Strasburg. But he stayed in the game until right-hander Doug Fistercame in as a pinch-hitter in the third inning. Fister singled to right field in his lone at-bat.

There was no signs of a velocity decline. I looked for possible injury factors and didn’t find any. Even without any glaring red flags, I have my concerns about his health. In the 2013 Hardball Times Annual, I found hard throwers had major arm injuries between 400 and 900 innings after Tommy John surgery. Strasburg right now is at 633 IP.

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• Desmond Jennings was finally forced to the DL with his hurting knee. He wasn’t even able to DH, so he will now rest for a bit.

“It’s always disappointing to go to the DL, no matter what happens, no matter how close you get [to recovery]. It’s just frustrating,” said Jennings, who hopes that added rest will enable him to return to action in eight days, when he’s eligible.

“Before the game, it was hurting. It’s been hurting, but I thought I could go out and DH and play, but I couldn’t,” said Jennings.

The 28-year-old outfielder has not played since being forced to leave last Saturday’s game vs. the Blue Jays with knee soreness.

I am worried about his stolen bases once he returns.

• Chad Billingsley will come off the DL and start for the Phillies on Tuesday. His current fastball velocity looks to be in line with career average of 91.6 mph.

Billingsley's line today w/ IronPigs: 5.2IP, 5H, 2R, 0ER, BB, 6K. Threw 99 pitches. Fastball sat 90-92, touched 93, according to stadium gun

— Stephen Gross (@Stephen_Gross23) April 30, 2015

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I will continue to implement player grading on the scouting scales of 20-80. I will use Kiley McDaniels scale he discussed in this article.

I will give a value for where I think the pitcher could currently fit in on the average team (CV=current value) and where they could end up (FV=future value). I am sure I will disagree with some grades from others, but I am only looking at one game.

Note: If I say a pitch moves 11-5, it is from the pitcher’s perspective.

Michael Lorenzen (CV: 50/FV: 60)
4/29/15 vs Brewers

Game Thoughts
• This game was the 23-year-old righty’s first MLB start.
• His fastball was 93-95 mph with either no break or just a bit on the release side. It was his only called strike pitch of the night. He nibbled with it around the zone seeing a ton of full counts. Also, he got too much of the plate at times with it thereby giving up three homes.
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• Since my last MASH Report, 11 players have gone on the DL and not one came off. Injuries every-where.

• Masahiro Tanaka will be out until at least the end of May with wrist tendinitis and a forearm strain. His damaged elbow hasn’t gotten any worse since his last MRI.

Tanaka had been scheduled to start Wednesday against the Rays, but instead went on the 15-day disa-bled list a day after he arrived at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday reporting discomfort in his wrist. The Yankees said that the MRI showed no changes to Tanaka’s partially torn elbow ligament.
…
Tanaka will refrain from throwing for seven to 10 days and then will have to rebuild his stamina with a Minor League rehab assignment.

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