MASH Report (3/24/16)

• Tomorrow, March 25th, is the date when most players who start the season on the Disabled List get their DL stints backdated to. Being able to backdate the DL days means players can have shorter DL stints when the season starts.

• Andre Ethier will be out two to four months with a fractured leg.

Dodger’s outfielder Andre Ethier has a broken leg and will be sidelined 10-14 weeks. Ethier suffered the injury fouling a pitch off his leg on Friday.

Initial x-rays were negative, but continued pain led to a bone scan on Monday that revealed the right tibia fracture that the club announced Tuesday afternoon. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the injury is not expected to require surgery.

“Obviously it’s a freakish injury,” Friedman said. “We’ll re-X-ray it in four to five weeks and to the extent it’s healing properly, it might be sooner. If not, it might be longer. The range is not incredibly precise.”

This move solidifies Joc Pederson in the outfield and may bring Carl Crawford and/or Scott Van Slyke off the bench.

• Jonathan Gray has a strained abdomen and will need some time off. The team has offered no timetable, but historically pitchers average 32 days (median value) on the DL for the injury.

• Evan Gattis has admitted that he will likely start the season on the DL. If the player thinks he will be on the DL, the team definitely thinks he should be on it.

• Jimmy Paredes joins everyone else starting the season on the DL.

Jimmy Paredes felt some soreness in his left wrist on Tuesday while taking dry swings and he will be re-examined by hand specialist Dr. Brian Schofield.

Paredes will be placed on the disabled list to start the season, a stint beginning on March 25.

• There is a good chance Daniel Norris will not be ready for the season’s start.

For the second time in four days, a lower-back issue has scratched or halted Norris from a scheduled outing. This time, he had to leave Tuesday’s 16-1 loss to the Blue Jays after 25 pitches and six batters.

The Tigers classified Norris’ injury as lower-back tightness.

“It seems to be [a recurrence], pending test results,” manager Brad Ausmus said.

Even if tests show Norris is fine, he faces the challenge of building up his pitch count to regular-season readiness with just two starts left.

• Kevin Gausman will miss some time.

Orioles starter Kevin Gausman, who has been dealing with tendinitis in his right shoulder, is targeting a return to the rotation the first or second week of the season.

• Carson Smith will start the season the DL after an injury this past Monday to his arm.

• Sean Nolin will be on the DL Opening Day because of elbow soreness. The one issue I have with how this injury has been handled is this:

Nolin, claimed off waivers from the A’s on Feb. 22, last pitched on March 14 against the Dodgers. He has yet to undergo an MRI scan, Counsell said.

Why in the hell haven’t they given him an MRI yet? That makes zero sense. Additionally, I am keeping track of how many elbow injuries turn into Tommy John surgeries in this spreadsheet.

• It is going to be close if A.J. Pollock will start the season the DL.

It appears that D-backs outfielder A.J. Pollock is getting close to returning to action, which makes it less likely that he will need to start the season on the disabled list.

Pollock has been bothered this spring by a sore right elbow, which has prevented him from playing in a big league game since March 8.

In my opinion, I could see him not go on the DL, but miss a couple of games to make sure he is 100%.

• David Wright will play with back pain for the rest of his career.

The 33-year-old missed four months of play last season after being diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal that compresses and inflames the nerves running through the spine, causing sharp, immobilizing pain in the lower back that in some cases extends to the legs. He hasn’t had a pain-free day since—and won’t, for however long his career lasts. To play at all, during the season he must put himself through intensive two-to three-hour workouts every day.

The fact is, Wright, who in person is open-faced, generous, and disarmingly down-to-earth, will deal with back pain for the rest of his life.

• And in last minute bad news.

#Royals say LHP Tim Collins will need another Tommy John surgery

— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) March 24, 2016

Players on the 2016 DL

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 possibly on the DL in 2016