MASH Report (4/13/15)
• The Yan Gomes injury is devastating for him, the Indians and his owners. The time he is supposed to miss is around 6-8 weeks.
Cleveland placed Gomes on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday with a right knee injury and is expecting him to be sidelined for six to eight weeks.
Reading a little too much into that comment, I could see him not even be moving in six weeks, yet alone ready to catch in the majors. I would not be surprised if he returned at the All-Star break.
• It doesn’t look good for Henderson Alvarez who will have an MRI on his shoulder and elbow today. His velocity is down almost 3 mph compared to last season which isn’t good for a pitcher who has a career K/9 under five.
• Mike Minor’s shoulder isn’t feeling any better and the next step may be surgery.
Minor also had shoulder soreness last spring that delayed the start of his season. He finished 6-12 with a 4.77 ERA, a significant decline from his 2013 performance, when he was 13-9 with a 3.21 ERA.
Tests have shown no structural damage. Hart said exploratory surgery could be an option if the dis-comfort remains, but ”we are not there yet.”
I think he may be droppable if a person doesn’t have a bunch of DL slots.
• Jayson Werth is off the DL
• Two players who worry me about missing time and discreased production because of injuries is Alex Gordon and Shin-Soo Choo. Gordon has already gotten a rest day and Choo has been pulled from a game and missed the next game because of bad back.
• Stephania Bell completed a broad look at Tommy John surgeries. No new information, but a nice run down of the overall problem.
Velocity Readings
• Chris Sale’s velocity looked great in his first start after coming off the DL
• Joe Kelly’s velocity looks good also.
Players with Injuries Going into 2015
Red colored entries are updates since last report.
Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.
Is Derek Holland someone to stay away from at all times?
It seems that way now.
When does Baseball Heat Maps typically get updated with the new seasons data?
MLB changed their format just a bit and messed up our download code. We took a stab at it today and it may update tomorrow.
Is Yan Gomes worth stashing on a DL spot or is the injury length and leg injuries to power hitters in general enough to scare you away? I own Gomes in one league and am being forced to roll with Stephen Vogt for the time being, but I hate to burn up one of my DL spots for a guy who may not be back until mid to late July.
Unless it’s a keeper/dynasty, I’d drop.
It really depends on your other options for the DL stash. One option I may look at is a trade to someone with an open spot. If you are going to drop him, you can look for a position upgrade. I find it is easiest to make this upgrade with closers.
Are you worried about Drew Hutchison and his drop in velocity?
Yes, but he shouldn’t be this bad even with the decline. I would sit him for a bit until he figures out how to get the HRs under control
I’m nervous about Choo too. Should I drop him for Belt, Pollock or Souza?
I would drop him for Belt or Pollock if they are available. Souza is probably the line where I would stick with Choo, but it’s close. Not a fan of Choo and the injuries, but also not sure I like Souza hitting in the ballpark half the time either.
I would go with all of them. Choo is a mess right now and the back injury will just keep popping up
Should I drop Utley or Beltran for Moustakas, Alex Guerrero, or Coco Crisp? Both just look lost. 12 team mixed roto. Thanks!
My opinion hasn’t changed on any of these hitters a week into the season. Before the season I would have ranked them:
Crisp
Utley
Moustakas
Beltran
Guerrero
I would for sure dump Beltran, but keep Utley. The Crisp injury worries me a bit. I may take a chance on Moose until Crisp is off the DL. Moose may keep up his numbers and if not, go with Crisp.
Any guesses on when Rendon will be back off of the progression of his rehab over the last few days? Also, I know Jeff performed a study on the impact of major knee injuries, but does anyone know if more minor sprains are likely to recur and have a negative impact on future performance (I’m a little scared Rendon is already turning into Utley)
Numbers have been run, but buried in here:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/2014-disabled-list-information-and-so-much-more/
Bookmark for the injury info.
Going to the link to injury info for year on DL, he should see a 39 point drop in his 2014 OPS for a minor injury (less than 30 DL days).
Kennedy is on waivers in my 14 tm H2H lg. I’m deep at SP with Scherz Kluber Kuma Shoemaker Paxton starting and Fiers Kelly and Fernandez on my bench. Worth dumping Kelly for Kennedy and using a mid-level waiver priority on Ian? Or should I try to get him as a free agent since he is a couple weeks away? If I don’t drop Kelly my only other droppables are bench bat Napoli or perhaps S Romo who is starting for me right now due to Jansen injury.
Get Kennedy for Kelly now and don’t worry one bit about waiver claim priority.
Anyody seen anything about how long Joe Nathan is supposed to be out?
In the spreadsheet is Joe Nathan with the lastest article I could find on him linked in the date:
http://m.tigers.mlb.com/news/article/117422988/nathan-to-refrain-from-throwing-for-at-least-a-week
He is doing nothing right now for at least a week. Info is a little vague and when I see that, I kind of expect bad news coming.
I’m concerned about Masterson and his velocity loss. Doesn’t look like he recovered from his injury mid last season. Barely hit 90 in his start. Both his sinker and his 4seamer…. betting you’ll be adding him to your injury report before too long this season.
I don’t see him pitching much long longer do to sucking or injury
Any concern about Melancon’s velo drop?
Yes, but I am holding out really diving in until later, especially with relievers. I find the velocity loss disturbing, but want to see how he responds.