Valuing injured pitchers who plan on returning at a later date can be tough to do correctly. Yu Darvish an example of such a pitcher. After having Tommy John surgery in mid-March this past season, Darvish should return some point after mid-May (14-month rehab is the norm now). An owner can expect above replacement level from Darvish, but for a couple months, a lesser pitcher will be used. I will step through the process of valuing Darvish by combining his value with a replacement level pitcher.

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• The Mets Wilmer Flores fractured his ankle playing winter ball. He should be ready for the start of spring training, but his playing time may be limited with the addition of Asdrubal Cabrera to the team.

• The Brewers have been awarded the Martin-Monahan award for “keeping its players on the playing field and off the disabled list”. This is the second year in a row the Brewers have gotten the award.

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• It has been two weeks since my last report with almost no injury news updates. Hopefully, no news is good news.

• Ryan Braun doesn’t know how his latest back operation will affect his return timetable.

It was Braun’s first visit since undergoing surgery to relieve a bulging disc in his lower back.

“I feel pretty good, knock on wood,” said Braun, who is six weeks post-surgery. “The only surprise is the rehab is a little bit longer than I was anticipating, but other than that, everything went as planned and as expected. The first couple of days post-surgery weren’t fun, they were pretty painful. Other than that, I feel good.”

Braun is undergoing physical therapy four days a week. He downplayed the effect the prolonged rehab will have on his preparation for 2016, since he typically does not begin a throwing program until around Christmas, and he does not begin swinging a bat until January.

Asked when he expects his back to be 100 percent healthy, Braun said, “I have no idea. I’ll know when I get there. Certainly the goal is to be back to 100 percent. That’s my plan. I think it’s realistic, but until I get through the rehab and the physical therapy, I won’t know.”

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• Not much injury news this past week. One note, I finished my annual review of the disabled list and it has been sent to the Hardball Times editors. Expect to see it run sometime in the next couple of weeks.

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• Lance Lynn will miss all of the 2016 season after having Tommy John surgery.

General manager John Mozeliak, who detailed the team’s list of injuries and player surgeries two days after the Cards were eliminated from the postseason, did not disclose any concerns about Lynn’s health at that time. As it turns out, Lynn alerted the club to elbow discomfort more recently, saying he had pitched with it through much of the season.

The Cardinals sent him to Dr. David Altcheck, who confirmed the ligament tear. George Paletta, the Cards’ former medical director, then performed the surgery.

It is tough to determine when the injury happened, but he may have started the season with it. His injury indicators are all over the place. He started the season with a 1.5 mph drop in velocity, but also his best Zone% of the season.

Well, the 2016 season is already over for him and hopefully he will 100% ready for the 2017 season.

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• Curtis Granderson just had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb.

Granderson underwent surgery this week at the Hospital for Special Surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb, less than a week after swatting three home runs in World Series play.

Granderson, 34, injured his thumb sliding into a base in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He wore a wrap on it for Game 4, vowing that it would not affect him for the World Series.

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• My major accomplishment this week was to get the 2015 disabled list information finalized for public use. Let know if any of the information is incorrect or missing.

• Edwin Encarnacion had hernia surgery as soon as the Blue Jays were out of the playoffs. Reports say he will be 100% for spring training.

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• Well, I have taken the Tommy John surgery information Jon Roegele (mainly) and I (a small bit) and created a Tableau graph (full page view) out of the year-to-year values. I know it is simple, but it is the most common way I have seen the information.

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• I am really light on content today, but I am going to stick to my plan of publishing every Thursday no matter the news.

• Ruben Tejada is expected to be ready by spring training after having his leg broke.

The Mets announced Monday afternoon that infielder Ruben Tejada, injured on a slide into second base by the Dodgers’ Chase Utley in NLDS Game 2, won’t need surgery to fix the non-displaced fractured fibula in his right leg.

CBS MLB Insider Jon Heyman reports that Tejada instead will spend 6-8 weeks in a cast, and be ready for spring training in February.

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• I completed going through the DL instances and looked for players who will likely be on the DL to start the 2016 season. If the return dates are March then April, there is a good chance the player will come back healthy, but they are close to being 100% yet. I am taking the conservative route and want to see them playing before I remove them from the list.

• Carlos Santana played through the 2015 season with a bad back.

Not once this season did Carlos Santana mention to reporters that he was bothered by a back issue that was plaguing his offensive production. A few hours before the Indians’ final game of the year on Sunday, the first baseman admitted that the ailment was a persistent problem.
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Heading into Sunday’s action, Santana was sporting a .232/.358/.397 slash line to go along with 19 homers, 29 doubles, 72 runs, 85 RBIs and 107 walks. His overall showing was not far off his production from last year, though his home run total (27 in 2014) and slugging percentage (.427 in ’14) took a hit.

Historically, back injuries don’t linger too much into the next season. Since he is now only 1B eligible, his 2016 value is minimal.

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