• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• OK, this is the final MASH for the regular season. During the offseason, I will be posting MASH every Thursday. Hopefully by next Thursday, I will get the projected 2016 disabled list completed. Additionally, I will begin the process of putting together the 2016 disabled list information.
• Giancarlo Stanton is done for the season. Even though I didn’t say he would likely miss the whole season back in late June, the estimates were way low.
• Freddie Freeman has been dealing with a wrist injury since going on the DL to help heal it.
Freeman didn’t start on Wednesday against the Mets due to his bothersome right wrist, although he pinch-hit in the seventh inning and finished 2-for-2 with a homer and five RBIs. He then vowed on Friday that he’ll play through the injury, and started the past two games in Miami heading into Sunday.
However, he said the wrist felt worse than usual during pregame — eventually causing him to make a bunt attempt prior to lining out in his second at-bat.
“I still went out there and tried,” Freeman said. “It was a tell-tale sign when I tried to bunt, though. …I don’t know if it was because of the quick turnaround and it didn’t heal enough like it does with a night game.”
Said manager Fredi Gonzalez, “He’s tried to play through it, but I think today was just a little bit too much. I didn’t want to continue to run him out there.”
Before going on the DL in June for the injury he was hitting .299/.367/.520 and since the injury he is at .248/.380/.408. Just remember when the 2016 projections come out, they don’t know Freeman played through a wrist injury and will be on the low side.
Josh Hamilton is playing in the Rangers outfield.
“I’m surprisingly good,” Hamilton said. “I knew I would be swollen and I knew I would be stiff. The big tell-tale was this morning, and the swelling was down and the moving parts were better. It responded really well, a lot better than I thought, especially playing nine innings.”
Saturday was the first time Hamilton played left field since Aug. 15, and he went 1-for-4 with a single and three strikeouts. The original plan was for Hamilton to play five to six innings and get three at-bats, but he felt good enough to play the full game.
“I felt like I had good at-bats,” Hamilton said. “I felt comfortable at the plate. I didn’t feel overwhelmed or out of place. Three strikeouts but I felt OK. If I wasn’t seeing the ball or my timing was off, it would be a different story. But I didn’t feel out of whack.”
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“I thought it went well,” Banister said. “For him to complete the game and get the full complement of at-bats, and still feel good and no real issues, was good. The more at-bats he gets, the more locked in he’ll be.”
It looks like the Rangers will be deciding Hamilton’s playing time day-by-day so he may only be useful in leagues with daily lineups.
• Carlos Martinez will miss the rest of the season with a strained shoulder.
A season that right-hander Carlos Martinez opened with a promise to his late best friend ended abruptly on Saturday after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 strain in his throwing shoulder. The diagnosis came a day after he exited his start after just seven pitches, and it will preclude him from pitching in the postseason.
“If this happened, say, Aug. 1, he probably would pitch again,” said general manager John Mozeliak as he held yet another media gathering to address an injury. “But unfortunately, where we are on the calendar, it’s just not going to work out.”
The Cardinals are confident that the issue can be treated with rest, which means Martinez can avoid surgery, and he is expected to be fully healthy by the start of Spring Training.
Players who are now done for the year.
• Huston Street (Groin)
Non-player notes
Velocity Readings
• Jake McGee’s average fastball velocity is on the low side for this season which puts it 2 mph lower than 2014’s value.
Players on the DL in 2015
The Red players have had updates since the last report. Click on the “Date” for a link to go to the latest article on the player.
Players who should be on the DL
• It as been a slow few days for any important injury news. Most of my work was concentrated on the unofficial disabled list.
• Yadier Molina got some good news after injuring his thumb earlier in the week. He may be back before the season’s end.
Molina said his thumb isn’t as swollen or tender now as it had been a day earlier, and he’ll continue to ice it while refraining from all baseball activities. He’ll be reevaluated by early next week to determine what the next step may be. Asked if he thought he’d be back behind the plate before the end of the regular season, Molina said: “I think so. I hope so.”
“Obviously, you follow what the trainers say,” he added. “You want to follow their lead. But you have to be patient. You can’t rush things. Right now, I’m in that period. I want to take my time until it feels good.”
• Sorry about not getting Thursday’s MASH report out, so today’s post covers the past seven days.
• Jung-ho Kang will miss the rest of this season and probably part of next with a fractured tibia and torn meniscus.
Kang’s native Korea did not take the news well, either. The fans are reportedly irate over the Chris Coghlan slide that took Kang out at second, and out of action until possibly late-May of next season.
This injury sucks in so many ways.
• Troy Tulowitzki is expected to miss two to three weeks with a cracked shoulder.
Toronto won’t definitively know whether Tulowitzki can make it back for at least another week. His progress will be closely monitored, and not only does the bone have to heal, but some internal bleeding has to subside and the muscles need to recover.
“I think there is a chance,” Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Sunday morning. “Just talking to the doctors, they do think it is a little early to try to set a timetable on it.
“We’ll know more in the next few days, but if they had to guess, and it really is only a guess at this point, could be two to three weeks and then he could be back for October. Hopefully we’re playing at that time. That’s really all we have, but we’ll know more as the next few days come along.”
To me, it sounds like they have no clue when he will be back. I went and looked through my injury databases and only found one player who had a fracture in his shoulder. Carlos Gomez missed 37 games in 2011 because of a fractured shoulder.
• Ryan Zimmerman will miss significant time with an oblique injury.
Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman remains out of the lineup because of a left oblique injury. Although he is listed as day to day, two sources expected Zimmerman to miss a significant amount of time because of the injury.
• Manuel Banuelos will be shut down for the rest of the season with elbow discomfort.
Banuelos exited Sunday’s disappointing outing against the Nationals with some elbow discomfort. The Braves held out hope that the pain would subside as this week progressed. But before Wednesday’s series finale against the Phillies, Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez revealed the rookie left-hander would be re-evaluated by Dr. James Andrews next week.
“We don’t think there is anything significant there, he’s just in pain right now,” Braves assistant general manager John Coppolella said. “He wasn’t feeling great. We had hoped he might come in and feel really good today. That didn’t happen.”
• I better give my two cents on the Matt Harvey situation. In my opinion, there should not have been any big blow up on his innings limit this past weekend. Both sides should have gotten together before the season and discussed how Harvey should be handled in case the Mets make the post season. The general outline of this agreement should have then been made public so everyone has an idea of what is going on. This discussion should not be happening now in early September, but when the season started. The Mets, Harvey, and Boras created this mess and now they need to figure it out. Anyone who wants to point fingers needs to do so at all parties.