• Reminder, the first table of players are ones who aren’t on the DL, but should be.

• The Phillies say Cliff Lee should be ready for the start of spring training.

Amaro was asked to rate his confidence level that Lee will be ready to contribute next season.

“High,” he said.

Lee was seen by top orthopedists James Andrews and David Altchek. Both agreed that the pitcher has a strain that can heal with rest and rehab. Lee was treated with a platelet-rich plasma injection and will begin throwing in November. If all goes well, he should be ready for Day 1 of spring training.

Or he may not be. I would at least ding Lee a couple weeks of production on next year’s production.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Just a reminder, I have an unofficial DL list near the article’s end. Some of the players, Gomez and Jaso, look like they may pinch hit a small bit, but they will miss a considerable amount of time.

• Miguel Cabrera has been dealing with bone spurs in his ankle. He may have surgery on his ankle after his season is over.

The right ankle injury that has hobbled Miguel Cabrera for the better part of the last month could well lead to a second consecutive off season surgery. Cabrera is dealing with at least one bone spur in his right ankle, which could require surgery to correct.
…..
“We don’t know if he requires surgery,” manager Brad Ausmus said after Sunday’s 6-1 win over the Giants. “We don’t know if it’s going to be [healed by] rest, or if surgery would help, and that’ll be determined when the season’s over.
…
The normal timetable for recovery from an ankle surgery to remove spurs, according to injury expert and national sports medicine writer Will Carroll, is four to six weeks. It’s obviously not as severe as core muscle surgery, but with Cabrera’s body frame, explosive swing and the weight put on his ankles, full recovery is crucial.

The signs (power and contact down) pointed to a problem during the season. I expected his core to still be an issue, but I guess it is bone spurs. It will be interesting to see where he gets valued in 2015 after two injury seasons in a row.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I just got done with the second most time consuming MASH report of the year when it seems everyone moves off the DL or onto the 60-day DL when the rosters expanded. I hope I got it all. Additionally, I have added a third table for players who will miss significant time, but are not on the DL.

• Carlos Beltran will have elbow surgery at the season’s end to remove some bone spurs in his elbow. Beltran may be a player I target in 2015. His value may be so low that he has the potential to generate surplus value like Victor Martinez did in 2014.

• The D-backs Archie Bradley is finally healthy and available to pitch in the Double-A playoffs.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Heads up, the DL list is basically going to become a moot point in a few days when the rosters expand. Teams have no incentive to put a player on the DL unless it is to the 60-day DL to make room on their 40-man roster. I am going to have an unofficial DL list in the MASH Reports until the season’s end so people can know which players will or won’t be available.

Also, read up on players coming off the DL in September. Many will return without being 100%. John Mayberry is one such example. The Phils pretty much say he is still hurt and they don’t know where he will fit into their outfield.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Jeff Passen looks at the playoff contenders and how the health of their pitching staffs have helped with their 2014 playoff runs.

Of the top 10 in each category, opening-day-rotation starts have more playoff teams than starters’ ERA or team ERA. Seven of the teams with most starts from opening day rotations would make the playoffs if the season ended today, whereas only six of the top 10 in starters’ ERA and team ERA would get to the postseason. And the three non-playoff teams on the healthy list include Detroit (one game back of the second AL wild card), Atlanta (one game behind for the second NL wild card) and Cincinnati (every theory needs an outlier).

Read the rest of this entry »

As promised, here are the updates reports on some of my injury finding metrics.

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Like Monday, a really light on material today. Tomorrow, I promise to have a bunch of PAIN, SLOW, HURT and Zone% reports for consumption.

• Daniel Hudson is making some minor league rehab starts and is throwing his fastball around 93 mph.

His velocity has returned to pre-surgery levels. Arnsberg says Hudson has routinely pitched in the 93 mph range, even hitting 95 mph on consecutive pitches.

The velocity is close to his pre-TJS days. Stayed tuned to see if he can get back to his 2009 to 2010 production levels.

Read the rest of this entry »

The MASH Report is little low on content today and the same will be true for Thursday. I will release a full PAIN and HURT reports on Friday when I get some extra time (kids are finally back in school).

• Gerrit Cole is expected to come off the DL on Wednesday.

• Yonder Alonso is done for the season, he is droppable in all redraft leagues.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Justin Verlander is out collecting opinions on his sore shoulder. Dave Cameron and Eno Sarris both looked at Verlander’s velocity decline. Right now, I think Verlander is trying to find anyway to continue pitching this season. If he does continue to pitch, I would expect the same lower production from earlier in the season to continue.

• Manny Machado is on the DL with a sprained knee and he doesn’t expect to be back in just 15 days.

The O’s haven’t given a timetable for Machado’s return. He’ll be eligible to return from the DL on Aug. 27, but chuckled at the suggestion that he could return in two weeks. He says he’ll return when he’s able “to go out there and be Manny Machado.”

So in a couple of weeks, team rosters expand and all the players on the 40-man rosters can be added to the MLB club. Even if Machado isn’t Macado yet, he could be taken off the DL and pinch hit. Just remember, if he comes back September 1st, it doesn’t mean he is 100% ready to go.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Good news on the production front from Gerrit Cole. In his last start he struck out three, walked none and allowed no runs. It seems like there are differing opinions on his velocity tough.  Here is a tweet from his last start.

Gerrit Cole has another 1-2-3 inning in 3rd. His velocity was 91-92 consistently, and reached 93 and 94 on a few pitches.
— Brian Peloza (@BrianPeloza) August 10, 2014

While the team is reporting his velocity to be higher.

As for his velocity? His last pitch of the game was clocked at 95 miles per hour.

“I’m sure there was more in the tank,” Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor said. “That was a good sign.”

Cole’s velocity was consistently in the 95-96 mph range during the first few innings of his rehab start on Tuesday, but dipped to 91-92 mph during the late innings. The dip in velocity was labeled as intentional and ordered by the organization after Cole said he felt “brutal” following his first rehab outing.

“He wasn’t tied down to anything like that (on Sunday),” Treanor said. “What was good when he felt he needed some velocity, he was able to ramp it up a little bit and he had the OK to do that.”

Cole consistently reached 93-94 mph over the final three innings of Sunday’s outing, throwing 73 pitches, 49 for strikes. He was scheduled to throw either 90 pitches or six innings, whichever came first.

At least both were an improvement over his previous start.

Gerrit Cole’s velocity at the end of his rehab outing last night was 91-92 mph. Potential red flag there. #Pirates — Jason Shetler (@Jason_Shetler) August 6, 2014

His 2014 season average before the injury was 95, not a peak of 95 mph. He could be down one to three mph once he returns.
Read the rest of this entry »