Another few days of little injury news (not even one pitcher came of the DL). I am looking at few players and running the SLOW values for just the last couple of months. Additionally, I am slowing making some changes to the DL table. When applicable, I am trying to be a little more precise when a player will return in 2014. So if they had a major injury (e.g. TJS), I am going to begin to put in some possible return dates (month/year). For players just shutdown for the 2013 season, I will put EOS (end of season).

• Jeremy Hefner was placed on the DL with a torn ligament in his elbow. Cases like Hefner intrigue me. He has been battling the injury since June (source).

Collins said the diagnosis likely explains Hefner’s recent ineffectiveness.

“This certainly had a lot to do with it,” Collins said before the Mets’ 5-4, 12-inning loss to the Dodgers last night. “I know he could pitch with it, that’s why he did, but we just saw a big difference that there had to be something that we tried to address.”

Collins said the organization was aware of Hefner’s elbow soreness since at least June.

At the start of the season, his fastball velocity was at 90.3 mph and his average game Zone% was 42.3%. Since the start of June, his fastball is up to 91 mph and his average game Zone% stood at 46.2%. Signs pointed to Hefner getting healthier as the season dragged on. I don’t see any way of predicting this injury.

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In my last MASH Report, I looked at the full season Zone% (Pitchf/x) laggards and found no additional useful information. Today, I have two new Zone% leaderboards, one for June, July and August and one for just July and August. A few more interesting name show up. Additionally, a bit more injury information was available to report on over the last few days.

• Hanley Ramirez stated he will likely play with a shoulder injury for the rest of the season (source).

Ramirez jammed his right shoulder last Sunday. He completed a full workout Sunday but said he still felt discomfort when extending his right arm on his swing and when throwing to first base … “I’m just worried if I am going to keep feeling that every time I throw the ball,” he said. “If I have to play like that, I’ll play.” … Ramirez said the Dodgers’ medical staff has assured him the condition should improve over time. Indeed, Ramirez said, “I’m getting better every day.”

Owners should expect a drop off in production for a few weeks and maybe lasting until the end of the season. The main drop in production will likely be in the power department.

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Injury information is again on the slim side. For some additional information, I decided to look at pitchers with Zone%’s under 45% and took a request from a FanGraphs writers.

• Chris Archer was removed from his start last night with forearm tightness after only 30 pitches. I went back and looked at the game data and nothing seemed out of place. His velocity and release points were consistent. The Rays may have caught the injury in time.

• Ryan Madson was cut by the Angels. He was coming off Tommy John surgery and was not going to be able to pitch in the majors this season.

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With Biogenesis dominating the news front, injury information again is a little scarce, but I was able to scape up a bit.

Pitchers returning from the DL

• Brandon McCarthy looks fine with his average sinker velocity consistent with his previous speeds.

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Not much injury news with the trade deadline taking all the headlines, bylines and small print. I looked at a few players (Moore, Beachy and Butler) and ran an updated SLOW ranking.

• Matt Moore was placed on the DL with elbow soreness. A 2-mph drop in his average fastball velocity from last season was a big red flag to go along with some command issues. Last off season I was able to identify his high walk rate as an injury red flag.

Moore looked to have a bright future a couple season ago, but it is getting dimmer and dimmer by the day.

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After updating the DL information and looking at some pitchers returning from the DL yesterday, today I will now examine at a few other players and publish an updated PAIN and HURT leader board.

• Jason Marquis’s season has ended with him needing Tommy John surgery. He had been dealing with pain for a little while before the final snap.

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After taking a week off to vacation with my wife, I have quite a bit of injury information to catch up on. With the excess amount of information, I will look at some timely information today (pitchers returning from the disabled list) and tomorrow I will look at the HURT and PAIN leader boards, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Jason Marquis and other injury information.

Pitchers returning from D.L.

• Jake Peavy returned from the DL and has made two starts so far. Peavy is probably the most popular and available trade target for teams needing starting pitching depth. A few issues could limit his value.

First his fastball velocity is down in 2013 compared to 2012 as Chris Cwik examines in an earlier article at Rotographs.

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With little new injury information because of the All-Star game, I will give a bit of information on three pitchers and look at the HURT and PAIN leader boards.

• Colby Lewis’s fastball is reported to be averaging 87 mph with 89 being his top end. This about 1 mph less than he threw in 2012 which was a career low.

• Chris Carpenter’s fastball in his rehab starts is averaging between 90 and 91 mph. This value would be near his 2012 when his ERA and ERA estimators hovered around 4.00.

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Injury news was slow side over the weekend and no pitchers were taken off the DL. I have a few updates, a 2013 SLOW leader board. With less expected later in the week, I will breakdown in detail the PAIN and HURT leader boards in my next article.

• Last week I examined Matt Cain‘s and Yu Darvish’s possible injuries. More news has become available on them.

Yu Darvish is said to just have shoulder fatigue.

Yu Darvish was examined by Dr. Keith Meister in Texas on Thursday, and the results showed nothing out of the ordinary in the right trapezius muscle. The Rangers feel Darvish is dealing simply with fatigue in the muscle and nothing more. Darvish did not even undergo an MRI. (Source)

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No HURT, PAIN or SLOW rankings today. Instead, I concentrated my time on looking at Cain’s possible injury and Darvish’s actual injury. Besides the those two, I examined Verlander, Jeter, the Uptons and a few pitchers coming off the DL.

• Rumors are flying around about Matt Cain being injured. Here are quotes from Cain, Bochy and Alex Pavlovic on Cain’s possible injury.

-Q: How did you feel coming out of your warm-ups?
-CAIN: I felt fine. Normal.
-Q: The conclusion someone might have after you only last two outs is that something is physically wrong. Is there anything wrong?
-CAIN: Nothing.
-Q: You’re fine?
-CAIN: Yep.
(source)

Manager Bruce Bochy said there is no health issue that has led to Cain’s struggles or the quick hook — Mike Kickham was warming up by the fourth batter and came in after Cain could not record the third out.

“I didn’t want it to become a health issue,” said Bochy, who added that he was worried about Cain’s first-inning pitch count that reached 36. “He’s fine. I had some concern there because he was a little off.
“I’ll be honest. You want to win every game, but you don’t want to risk someone to win a game. That’s why I got him.” (source)

No surprise after that first inning, but I’m told there have been in-house discussions about Cain’s health in recent days. (source)

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