• Not much injury-related news to write about since most information coming out over the past week or so has been associated with trades.

• Mookie Betts is on the 7-day concussion DL after falling over a wall to make a catch. There will be fairly constant updates on him since the Red Sox aren’t in the playoff picture and the Boston media needs to cover something.

• Manuel Banuelos is on the DL from pain caused by a bone spur.

The Braves gained some concern as Banuelos’ velocity steadily dropped as he made the first five appearances of his Major League career this month. His fastball averaged 90.3 mph during his July 2 Major League debut. But that number dropped with each subsequent appearance and stood at 87.8 mph during last Friday’s start against the Cardinals.

It seems like the Braves and Banuelos are waiting for his elbow to calm down before giving a full evaluation.

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• Just about no one went on the DL this past weekend, so a short MASH report today.

• During his Hall of Fame speech, John Smoltz said the following about young pitchers and Tommy John surgeries.

“Before I hand it over to next inductee, I’d be remiss if I did not talk about Tommy John. I’ve been given an opportunity as one of the only players, the only one right now, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame with Tommy John Surgery. It’s an epidemic. It’s something that is affecting our game. It’s something that I thought would cost me my career, but thanks to Dr. James Andrews and all those before him, performing the surgery with such precision has caused it to be almost a false-read, like a band-aid you put on your arm.

I want to encourage the families and parents that are out there that this is not normal to have a surgery at 14 and 15 years old. That you have time, that baseball is not a year-round sport. That you have an opportunity to be athletic and play other sports. Don’t let the institutions that are out there running before you guaranteeing scholarship dollars and signing bonuses that this is the way….

I want to encourage you, if nothing else, know that your children’s passion and de-sire to play baseball is something that they can do without a competitive pitch. Every throw a kid makes today is a competitive pitch. They don’t go outside, they don’t have fun, they don’t throw enough — but they’re competing and maxing out too hard, too early, and that’s why we’re having these problems. Please, take care of those great future arms.”

I agree 100%

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• Here is a starting point for a dataset I have wanted to put together for a while, the return times for various injuries. I started with just a few requests today, but if you want more, please feel free request more in the comments.

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• Over the weekend,s reports have really been slowly coming in on the status of several players so make sure to check out the spreadsheet at the end.

• Chad Bettis is on the DL with an inflamed elbow. It seems like more information will be available soon on the injury.

• Chase Anderson was placed on the DL because he has been pitching horribly with an inflamed tricep. This DL trip totally looks to be a phantom DL trip.

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• No real injury news has been released over the All-Star break so far. I did though add a few status updates to the spreadsheet. Today, I am going to focus on the some updated PAIN and HURT reports.

HURT (Hitter’s Under-performance from Recent Trauma) Rankings (introduction/explanation) :

Any player with a HURT value over 100 (red) has the traits of a batter playing through an injury.

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• Well, I am back from my vacation and ready to dive into some injury news. I may be brief on some players as some news on them is almost two weeks old. Make sure to check the spreadsheet for the latest information. Today, I will be heavy on belated news and on Thursday, I will run some my PAIN and HURT reports since not as many players expect to get hurt over the All-Star break.

• Steven Matz will be out for over a month with a torn lat muscle. He will not throw at all for three weeks and then will need to build up his strength.

Matz will miss his scheduled start Sunday against the D-backs and refrain from throwing for three weeks.

It may take him another 3 weeks to get back up to speed. Don’t be surprised if it is late August or early September when he finally rejoins the Mets.

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• Heads up, I am off for a long vacation in the Rockies with limited to no internet access, so no MASH Reports next week.

Today is “Activate Your Injured Pitcher from the DL” Day.

• The big name coming off the DL will be Jose Fernandez. Players coming back from Tommy John surgeries usually struggles with command when they return. At the Hardball Times, I reported the following:

The first season back from Tommy John is by far the worst for the pitcher, with all major stats headed in the wrong direction. By the second year, most stats have stabilized, except strikeouts. It’s not surprising to see strikeouts decline, since velocity is also declining.

Besides a drop in production, Fernandez will likely have his innings limited.

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• Dustin Pedroia was just placed on the DL with a strained hamstring. Currently, there is no news on a possible return date.

• Freddie Freeman was eventually forced to the DL because of his bruised wrist. He could be out for as long as two months.

While the Braves and Freeman were comforted that Monday’s MRI exam showed no structural damage, there is uncertainty regarding how long he will be sidelined with the bone bruise. The veteran first baseman would be eligible for activation July 3. But as of Tuesday, it would be optimistic to assume he could return on that date.

“We’ve had a couple of those [bone bruises] and it takes a while,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

The Braves filled Freeman’s roster spot by recalling Joey Terdoslavich, who was sidelined for nearly two months after he suffered a bone bruise when he landed awkwardly on his left wrist during a March 21 Grapefruit League game.

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• Freddie Freeman will have an MRI today to see what exactly is wrong with his wrist which has cost him to miss four straight games.

“[My wrist] is not worse, it’s just not getting better,” Freeman said. “I really don’t have an answer until I can maybe get an X-ray or an MRI. I just want to know what is wrong.”

Freeman is expected to undergo an MRI on Monday, before the Braves travel to Washington, D.C., for a three-game series against the Nationals that begins on Tuesday.

• Jered Weaver is on the DL in with an inflamed hip.

Weaver allowed four earned runs over 5 2/3 innings in a loss to the A’s on Saturday, but he said the hip injury did not have any effect on his performance. He has given up 19 runs in his last four starts, all losses.

Well, at least we will know he will continue to suck once he comes back since the injury wasn’t causing the loss in production.

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• Jose Fernandez is scheduled to join the Marlins rotation on July 2nd.

Fernandez is scheduled to make two more rehab starts, on June 22 with Jupiter and on June 27 with Double-A Jacksonville.

After that, the 22-year-old will return to Miami’s rotation on July 2.

• Corey Dickerson is back on the DL with his plantar faciitis.

As for now, his immediate future remains cloudy. Dickerson said he’ll be back in a walking boot, but that surgery still isn’t being considered. Weiss, however, said he has “no idea” when Dickerson will return.

“It did feel better after awhile, but after I played a couple games in Miami, it just didn’t recover as well.” Dickerson said. “It’s kind of that back-and-forth. It feels good one day and hurts the next. It won’t get better until it has time to rest.

“When you have tears or whatnot in your plantar fasciitis, you have to let it scar-tissue over and let it heal. But I just didn’t really have enough time to do that.”

This injury just never seems to clear up. If I owned him in a keeper league and an in the hunt for first, I may look to move him to a non-contending team for a more reliable player.

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