Quite a few updates since pitchers and catchers have reported. If you are short on time, the big four updates are with Ryan Madson, Frank Francisco, Grant Balfour and Howie Kendrick.

Recent injury data

 • Grant Balfour is out 4-6 weeks with a meniscus tear in his knee. Ryan Cook could get a couple early season Saves.

 • Ryan Madson will not be ready for the season’s start. Don’t pay too much for Saves from him, but he may be a nice buy low candidate as other owners may be completely scared off.

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Recent injury data

 • Felix Hernandez’s new 7-year contract is under dispute because of an elbow condition the team found. Last season he did see a drop in his velocity mid-season which came back up.

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Recent injury data

 •  Matt Kemp is aiming to be 100% helathy by opening day after shoulder surgery on October 5th. I wouldn’t count on it. I would probably drop him a round when draft day rolls around. As a general rule, I try to start the season with healthy stars.

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Just a couple injury updates and a few reports on players returning from injuries sustained in 2012.

Recent injury data

 •  Corey Hart has stated his return to the field may be in late April instead of late May as originally reported. No matter what the timetable, his owners will need to find a replacement until he returns.

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Recent injury data

 •  Several reports are out about the health of Cole Hamels. First, he denies he was shut down this off season for shoulder soreness. The same article goes on and confirms he experienced some soreness while pitching this past September. No signs (low Zone% or loss in velocity) point to a major injury. Keep early tabs on him, but there is no reason not to draft/bid on him

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Today, I will focus on players who played through injuries in 2012 and how those players performed compared to their projections. I found players, who played through injuries, over performed their their projected power numbers the next season. From my last year’s FG+ article:

If a player persevered through an injury during the season, their overall stats probably suffered. Projections don’t know if a player played through injuries, though. The player’s projections might have been better if the player had simply gone on the disabled list to recover instead of trying to play through pain.

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Welcome to the first installment of RotoGraphs’ M.A.S.H. Report. This season, I will be putting out 2 injury reports each week (Monday and Thursday afternoons) which will be a one stop shop on injured players. I will contain information like updates on recent injuries, disabled list movement and player return times. Each post will grow in size each week as I add more and more information. This post will be a portion of the size of it during the season. Also, nothing is set in stone and I open to improvements. If there is any information you want added, let me know.

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One pitcher trait which is consistently desired through all the various fantasy formats is health. While hitters get hurt also, pitcher injuries can really put a damper on a fantasy team because pitchers are lost for longer periods of time. By knowing which pitchers are more at risk can help a fantasy owner make better decisions on draft/auction day.

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After establishing himself as a strong fantasy performer over his first three full seasons, Matt Kemp turned on his nitro boosters and took his play to an entirely new level in 2011. That performance, which included just a home run short of 40/40, made him a top five pick in fantasy leagues last year. Unfortunately, a left hamstring strain cost him two months, but he still had himself another fantastic season while he was on the field. Fantasy owners haven’t forgotten what a full season of Kemp could provide — our own Alan Harrison took him fifth overall in the early RotoGraphs mock draft, but he wasn’t the only one to select Kemp among the top 10 players in recent mocks. He went sixth and seventh in two other industry mocks and sports an ADP of six on Mock Draft Central. But, are fantasy owners forgetting a key issue?

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Freedom from shame at least. They were supposed to be bold. So let’s revisit those predictions.

[Sorry no chat today, gotta get my stuff done before heading to the city for the Bay Area meetup. And sorry for abrupt ending last week, got an important call.]

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