MASH Report (3/11/13)

Here are a couple of good articles related to injuries. The first is by Doug Thorburn at Baseball Prospectus where he looks at mechanics, injuries and velocity loss. The second article examines how the White Sox have been able to keep a healthy pitching staff over the years.

Recent injury data

 • Zack Greinke is experiencing some elbow issues and is headed to L.A. for some tests. No reason to draft or pay full value for him until his status has cleared up.

 • Both Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera returned to the field after experiencing season ending injuries last year. Both should be ready by opening day.

 • CC Sabathia threw a bullpen session and is feeling good.

 • David Ortiz is having problems with both his ankles and may not be ready for opening day.

 • Stephen Drew is dealing with concussion like symptoms after being hit in the head with a pitch.

 • Nick Markakis is experiencing neck stiffness and his return timetables is unknown until he has an MRI.

 • Brett Lawrie is sitting out because of a rib injury. He should be ready to start the season with the Blue Jays, but may start the season on the DL.

 • The Yankees bullpen has taken a hit with Clay Rapada and Boone Logan sitting out right now.

 • Jordan Walden is working through some back pain, but says he will be ready by opening day.

 • Placido Polanco is experiencing back spasms. I never want to see back issues. It is usually the beginning of the end for the player or in Polanco’s case, fast forward to the end.

 • Red Sox reliever, Franklin Morales, will not be ready by opening day with back issues.

 • Josh Kinney will be out until late April or early May with a stress reaction in his left side.

 • Charlie Blackmon has not been playing because of a knee infection. Unknown return timetable.

 • Marlins Rule 5 pick, Alfredo Silverio, is dealing with a strained right shoulder. The Marlins can keep him even if he is on the D.L.

Player Return Timetables

Name	Injury	Injury/Surgery Date	Early Return Date	Later Return date	Status	Source(s)
Scott Baker	TJS	4/17/12	Mid April	May	Throwing off mound	(1)
Grant Balfour	Knee	2/14/13	Late March	Middle April	Throwing bullpen sessions	(1)
Brandon Beachy	TJS	6/21/12	Mid June	Mid June	Playing Catch	(1)
Lance Berkman	Knee	10/1/12	Late March	Mid April	Working out	(1)
Jeremy Bonderman	TJS	04/24/12	Late March	Late March	Healthy	(1)
Craig Breslow	Sore Shoulder	03/07/13	April	April	Throwing	(1)
Tim Byrdak	Shoulder Surgery	07/01/12	Early July	Early July	Bullpen Sessions	(1)
Edwar Cabrera (**)	Shoulder	08/01/12	Mid March	Unknown	Unknown	(1)
Chris Carpenter (**)	Nerve	02/05/13	September	Retire	Rest	(1)
Andrew Cashner	Thumb laceration	1/25/13	Late March	May	Rest	(1)
Carl Crawford	TJS	8/23/12	Late March	Early April	Swinging	(1)
Jesse Crain	Abductor Strain	3/4/13	Late March	Early April	Rest	(1)
Scott Diamond	Elbow Surgery	10/1/12	Early April	Early May	Bullpen Sessions	(1)
Kyle Drabek (**)	TJS	6/19/12	Mid Season	Mid Season	Unknown	(1)
Danny Duffy	TJS	6/13/12	Early June	All Star Game	Throwing	(1)
Neftali Feliz	TJS	8/1/12	July	August	Playing Catch	(1)
Frank Francisco	Elbow	2/14/13	Late March	Early April	Throwing	(1)
Rafael Furcal	TJS	3/7/13	2014	2014	Rest	(1)
Mat Gamel	Knee	2/18/13	2014	2014	Rest	(1)
Matt Garza	Strained Lat	2/21/13	April	April	Throwing	(1)
Curtis Granderson	Right forearm	2/24/13	Early May	Middle May	Rest	(1)
Corey Hart	Right knee surgery	1/26/13	Late May	Late May	Rest	(1)
Daniel Hudson (**)	TJS	7/9/12	July	July	Playing Catch	(1)
Phil Hughes	Bulging Disk	2/28/13	Late March	Middle April	Throwing	(1)
Drew Hutchison	TJS	08/08/12	August	October	Rehabilitation	(1)
Derek Jeter	Fractured Left Ankle	10/1/12	Late March	Late March	Spring Debut	(1)
Ryan Kalish (**)	Shoulder Surgery	1/25/13	Early April	Unknown	Rest	(1)
Jeff Karstens	Shoulder	2/1/13	Late March	April	Batting Practice	(1)
Matt Kemp	Shoulder	8/1/12	Late March	Late March	Light Training	(1)
Josh Kinney	Side	3/10/13	Late April	Early May	Rest	(1)
Brett Lawrie	Ribs	3/7/13	Late March	Early April	Rest	(1)
Colby Lewis	Elbow Surgery	7/1/12	Late May	June	Throwing	(1)
Francisco Liriano	Broken humerus	12/1/12	Early April	Late May	Rest	(1)
Cory Luebke	TJS	5/23/12	July	July	Unknown	(1)
Ryan Madson	TJS	04/11/12	April	May	Bullpen Sessions	(1)
Nick Masset	Shoulder Surgery	09/07/12	Unknown	Unknown	Throwing	(1)
Jeff Mathis	Broken Collarbone	02/23/13	Mid March	Mid March	Rest	(1)
Brian McCann	Torn labrum	7/4/12	April	April	Batting Practice	(1)
Logan Morrison	Knee	9/1/12	Late March	Late April	Light Training	(1)
Charlie Morton	TJS	06/21/12	June	Unknown	Throwing	(1)
David Ortiz	Achilles	03/03/13	Late March	April	Hitting	(1)
Juan Oviedo	TJS	09/06/12	September	2014	Rest	(1)
Felipe Paulino (**)	TJS	7/3/12	Early July	Early July	Throwing	(1)
Carl Pavano	Ruptured spleen	1/25/13	Late March	Mid April	Rest	(1)
Mike Pelfrey	TJS	05/01/12	Late March	Late March	Throwing	(1)
Chris Perez	Strained Shoulder	03/01/13	Late March	Early April	Rest	(1)
Luis Perez (**)	TJS	7/1/12	Early July	Early September	Rest	UNK
Martin Perez	Broken Forearm	03/03/13	Late April	Late May	Rest	(1)
Michael Pineda	Shoulder Surgery	5/1/12	June	Early July	Rest	(1)
Aramis Ramirez	Strained Knee	3/5/13	Middle March	Late March	Rest	(1)
Wilson Ramos	ACL	5/1/12	Late March	Late March	Catching	(1)
Alex Rodriguez (**)	Hip surgery	1/16/13	Early July	2014 season	Rest	(1)
Cody Ross	Strained Leg	1/6/13	Late March	Early April	Rest	(1)
CC Sabathia	Bone Spur	10/1/12	Late March	Late March	Throwing	(1)
Johan Santana	Back	2/25/13	Late March	Middle April	Throwing off mound	(1)
George Sherrill	TJS	5/1/11	Late April	May	Bullpen Sessions	(1)
Joakim Soria	TJS	4/2/12	Late May	Early June	Playing Catch	(1)
Eric Surkamp	TJS	07/24/12	Late July	September	Unknown	(1)
Mark Teixeira	Strained Wrist	03/06/13	Mid May	Late May	Rest	(1)
Tsuyoshi Wada	TJS	05/11/12	May	June	Throwing off mound	(1)
Josh Tomlin (**)	TJS	08/22/12	August	2014	Rest	(1)
Joe Wieland (**)	TJS	07/27/12	Early August	2014	Catch	(1)
Brian Wilson	TJS	4/19/12	Unknown	Unknown	Not ready to pitch	(1)
Randy Wolf	TJS	10/30/12	2014	2014	Rest	(1)
Delmon Young	Right ankle	10/1/12	Mid April	Early May	Rest	(1)

(*) 15 Day Disabled List
(**) 60 Day Disabled List

Pitchers with Velocity Drops

Name	2013	2012	2011	2010
Jeremy Bonderman	87.0			89.8
John Danks	87.0	90.1	91.6	91.7
Kelvin Herrera	95.9	98.5	96.2
Greg Holland	93.0	96.1	94.9	95.8
Roy Halladay	87.0	90.6	92.0	92.6
Joe Nathan	91.9	94.0	92.3
Mike Pelfrey	88.0	93.5	92.2	92.0
Oliver Perez	90.7	93.7	88.0	90.0
Stephen Pryor	93.9	96.6
Addison Reed	92.5	94.6	94.9
Clayton Richardson	88.5	90.7	90.4	91.3
Joe Saunders	84.0	88.9	89.6	90.5
Dan Straily	92.3	95.1	94.7
Houston Street	86.6	90.0	89.0

For reference, fastball speeds stabilize quickly and spring training values are on average 0.6 mph slower than the regular season.

Players Returning From Injury

No information yet.

Players Playing Through Injuries

Name	Injury	Source
Hanley Ramirez	Shoulder	(1)
Will Middlebrooks	Wrist	(1)
Nolan Riemold	Shoulder	(1)
Russell Martin	Shoulder	(1)

Here is the list of players who should exceed their power projections for 2013:

Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Howard, Cameron Maybin, Trevor Plouffe, Justin Upton, Paul Konerko, Dustin Pedroia, Luke Scott, Matt Kemp, Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas, Pablo Sandoval, Carl Crawford, Giancarlo Stanton, Jacoby Ellsbury, Evan Longoria, and Troy Tulowitzki. New additions: Dustin Ackley, Matt LaPorta and Howie Kendrick