MASH Report (4/7/16)

• Ben Revere is headed to the DL with a strained oblique.

Revere injured the oblique during his first at-bat in Monday’s season opener against the Braves. After he struck out, Revere decided to stay in the game, but he had a hard time breathing during his next at-bat two innings later because of pain in his rib cage. After he grounded out, Revere decided to take himself out of the game.

Revere said he felt pain even while trying to make a play on a home run by Freddie Freeman in the first inning.

At first, the Nationals didn’t think the injury was serious but, according to manager Dusty Baker, Revere was more sore on Wednesday even though he came in for treatment at Turner Field on Tuesday.

Looking at return times for hitters with a strained oblique, the average time is 29 days with a median time of 24 days.

• Andrew Heaney is on the DL to rest his arm.

Tightness in Andrew Heaney’s left forearm forced him to be placed on the disabled list Wednesday, but the Angels are hopeful he will not require season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Heaney complained of the tightness after his Tuesday start against the Cubs, which triggered a gradual drop in velocity, but an initial clinical exam determined that his ulnar-collateral ligament was sound. A follow-up MRI later confirmed that.

Asked if he could rule out Tommy John surgery, Angels general manager Billy Eppler said: “All I can say is that with the muscle strain, you’d rather hear the word ‘muscle’ than ‘ligament.'”

Well, the news could have been worse. I don’t see him returning until early to mid-May. A good rule of thumb to follow is for every day the pitcher rests, he will need that much time to throw to ramp up. A month should be the maximum time needed. So two weeks down for Heaney and then two weeks getting up to speed will mean a month, at the earliest, until he returns.

• Matt Garza helps out his fantasy owners and goes on the DL with a lat strain.

Intent on bouncing back from a miserable 2015 season, Garza instead will be sidelined four to six weeks after the Brewers placed him on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday with a strained right lat. The move is retroactive to Saturday, a day after Garza exited an exhibition start in Houston complain-ing of tightness in his right shoulder.
Initially, Garza planned to throw a bullpen session on Sunday to see how he felt. He never made it to the mound.

“It was more like positive hope,” said Garza, who underwent an MRI on Monday that confirmed the damaged muscle behind his shoulder. “For a while it was deflating, disappointing. But I just had to take time and go look and evaluate where I’m at and just put a positive mind-set to it and come back stronger.

I wish the Brewers would have brought up Zach Davies to replace him in which I like quite a bit more than Garza. Instead, it is Tyler Cravy for now.

• Tyler Skaggs isn’t on the DL, but is …. sort of. Right now he is in the minors stretching out after having a setback caused by a sickness. He could get called up once he gets stretched out.

• Felix Doubront was placed on the DL with a sprained elbow.

• I am going to start with the lead, removing bone spurs may lead to Tommy John surgery. I heard from someone on a podcast (I think I know, but not 100% sure) say that removing bones spurs can be detrimental since the spurs help prevent Tommy John surgery. I talked to Aaron Gray M.D. of the university of Missouri and he says that bone spurs are the arm’s natural mechanism to help stabilize the UCL when the arm is used to throw a bunch. These spurs can end up causing the pitcher pain, but are also needed. Once the spurs are removed, the elbow ligament is at risk.

One pitcher who had bone chips removed this offseason was Tanaka and he already had elbow issues. I would keep a close eye on Tanaka throughout the season.

• The Marlins top prospect, Tyler Kolek, will have Tommy John surgery.

• Jeff Passen’s The Arm is now out and Paul Swydan covered it at the Hardball Times. I will get a copy in the next couple days and give me take soon.

• Today at the Hardball Times, Dan Wade looks at Tim Lincecum and labral hip tears.

• Link to my spreadsheet of pitcher velocity readings.

Additionally, I have a list of players who may have some nagging injuries early in the season from the offseason.

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.