MASH Report (2/9/15)

• Victor Martinez will miss 4-8 weeks with a torn medial meniscus in his left knee. This puts him getting healthy in the middle of spring training or a couple of weeks into the season.

The Tigers announced Thursday that Martinez has torn the medial meniscus in his left knee. Martinez tore the cartilage last week during workouts in Florida and underwent an MRI and exam on Wednesday in Lakeland, Fla., where the tear became clear.

Looking at V-Mart, he may see a loss of average and power because of the knee injury. Using the spreadsheet linked in this article on how injuries affect production, here is the average loss in production from players with knee injuries.

Rate Stat: < = 30 DL Days, > 30 DL Days
AVG: -.007, -.014
OBP: -.013, -.014
SLG: -.024, -.045
ISO: -.017, -.031

If the injury brings down his projections, he will be closer to his 2013 version (.301/.355/.430) than the 2014 version (.335/.409/.565).

• Josh Hamilton is now less fantasy relevant with surgery on his shoulder which will cost him at least 6-8 weeks.

On Wednesday, 21 days before the first full-squad workout from Arizona, Hamilton underwent surgery to repair the AC joint in his right shoulder, a procedure that is expected to keep him out six to eight weeks and makes him doubtful to be ready by Opening Day.
….
Dipoto called a return by the April 6 opener in Seattle “a little aggressive,” but didn’t rule it out entirely. The likely scenario is that Hamilton starts the season on the disabled list, then returns at some point in April

While I don’t expect much from Hamilton this season, he may be an OK option for a beginning of season DL stash. Just don’t waste anything but a late round pick on him. His production is already down and here is how hitters perform in the season they went on the DL for shoulder issues.

Rate Stat: < = 30 DL Days, > 30 DL Days
AVG: -.014, -.025
OBP: -.011, -.025
SLG: -.029, -.048
ISO: -.015, -.023

• The A’s are looking to have Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin back in June.

On Sunday, manager Bob Melvin and assistant general manager David Forst reiterated that June remains a potential timetable for their returns, barring any setbacks.
….
Both Griffin and Parker missed all of 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery during Spring Training. Parker was not in attendance at FanFest on Sunday, but Melvin noted they’ll be particularly careful in bringing him back, since this is Parker’s second time through this process.

• For more news on injured A’s pitchers, it seems Sean Doolittle with “not miss a ton of time”.

There is still no timetable for Doolittle’s return but the general consensus seems to be he might not miss a ton of time to start season.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) February 8, 2015

• OK, read this on Jon Niese.

So count Niese among the many Met folks with high hopes for 2015, although he knows there is much to prove, too. Part of the reason for his personal optimism is another winter highlight for Niese — he no longer feels “like there are knives in my (left) shoulder,” he said. “This year it feels normal.” Niese’s shoulder problems were so bothersome last year that, he says now, “I probably should’ve missed the first month of the season.”

I don’t buy for a minute he will be 100% since he had no surgery to fix the problem. Those knives just don’t go away.

• Jose Molina’s career may be close to being over.

• An interesting take from by Frederick Dawes at TheSportInMind on stress leading to more injuries.

Essentially the model proposes that certain psychological factors predispose an athlete to become more stressed when under pressure. This stress response leads to physiological and attentional changes that can increase one’s propensity to injury. The psychological factors included in the model are: personality, history of stressors, and coping resources.

I sort of follow the article’s rational, but I’m not sure how much it could be useful at the fantasy level. It is probably most helpful for a people dealing with the players one-on-one.

Players with Injuries Going into 2015

(*) 15 Day Disabled List
(**) 60 Day Disabled List
(***) 7 Day Concussion List
(****) Free Agent
Red colored entries are updates since last report.