MASH Report (5/27/16)

• I am going to recomend a couple must-read articles for the week which look at the differences and “results” of stem cell and platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections. The first one starts with the Angels Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney choice to use them, but ends up being a great overview of the entire subject.

On May 2, Steve H. Yoon, a physician at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Southern California, extracted stem cells from Andrew Heaney’s bone marrow and injected them into the damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. Fourteen days later, Yoon did the same with Garrett Richards.
Now the Angels’ two best, most promising starting pitchers are left to wait, and hope.

If the stem-cell therapy works, Heaney and Richards will be lined up to pitch for a full season in 2017 and may even be able to contribute toward the end of this very summer. If it doesn’t, they will undergo Tommy John surgery that, at this point, is certain to knock them out until the start of 2018.

The second article is a study by the American Journal of Sports Medicine which found “no significant” positive effect for using PRP injections.

• Mike Moustakas has torn his ACL and will not be back until the 2017 season.

The Royals may have likely lost Mike Moustakas for the remainder of the season after the third baseman was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday with a torn ACL in his right knee.

Moustakas hasn’t played since injuring his knee in a collision with left fielder Alex Gordonlast Sunday. The Royals initially labeled the injury a contusion, but they were awaiting a diagnosis from team physicians in Kansas City.

• The Rangers placed both Shin-Soo Choo and Drew Stubbs on the DL.

Choo is expected to miss 3-4 weeks. He was sidelined for 40 days with a right calf strain be-fore being activated on Friday against the Astros.
….
Choo was hoping to be back in the lineup but an MRI showed the strain to be worse than expected. Choo was told there was a chance he could injure the hamstring even more play-ing on it and be out 6-8 weeks.
“I’m mad at myself,” Choo said. “Come back from the disabled list and this happens. Nobody wants to get hurt. It’s frustrating.”

• Alex Gordon is out with a fractured wrist

After a violent collision with third baseman Mike Moustakas while chasing a foul ball in Chicago on Sunday, Gordon will miss a sizeable chunk of the season — likely four weeks.

I would take the four-week return estimate to be on the low side.

• Ryan Vogelsong will be out be out for a while as he deals with facial fractures from taking a liner to the head.

Ryan Vogelsong showed improvement Tuesday, one day after a 92 mph fastball shattered multiple bones in his face near the left eye.

It will be several more days, however, before doctors can fully assess the damage and plot the course of treatment for the Pirates pitcher.

“There is a significant amount of swelling with and around his eye,” Pirates head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk said. “Once that calms down, then the multiple facial fractures will be addressed.”

• Lucas Duda is out for at least six weeks with a stress fracture in his back.

Duda had a follow-up examination with team doctor David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan on Monday and subsequently was placed on the DL. Collins estimated that Duda could be sidelined six weeks or more.

With starting first baseman Lucas Duda out at least six weeks with a stress fracture in his lower back, here are 10 possible fill-ins for the Mets.

“There’s no real timetable,” Collins said. “It’ll be a while. I guess there are some exercises he can do, but nothing baseball related for a while. We’re looking at a fairly long period before he’s going to be able to get back and do some baseball stuff.”

• Chris Capuano, who has already had two Tommy John surgeries, is out with a sore elbow.

• Angel Pagan is out with a strained hamstring.

Pagan, who underwent an MRI Tuesday that confirmed the injury, initially hurt himself on May 1. Pagan avoided the DL, but aggravated the injury as he sprinted to first base in the eighth inning of Monday night’s 1-0 win over San Diego.

• Carson Smith will have Tommy John surgery performed on him next week after being on the DL once already this season with an elbow injury.

It was a tough pill to swallow for Smith, who opened the season on the disabled list with a flexor mass strain in his right elbow that was discovered on March 21.

When Smith had an MRI exam at that point, there was no structural damage found in the ulnar collateral ligament. But the MRI the club conducted at the end of last week showed a significant difference.

“I admit that even in that MRI I could see the difference between the one taken in March and the one taken on Friday,” said Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. “I couldn’t tell you what it meant, but I could tell you that there was a significant difference, so it’s unfortunate. Our doctors felt there was a tear at that point.”

The Red Sox sent the images to Dr. David Altchek in New York, and he confirmed the tear and performed the surgery.

It is a little weird that he had no issues just a month earlier.

• Arquimedes Caminero will miss some time with a left quadricep strain.

• Boone Logan was placed on the DL with an inflamed shoulder.

• Joba Chamberlain is still in the league and now on the DL for a pain in his side.

• Bryan Morris will take his turn on the DL with herniated lumbar disc.

Fastball velocity reading for pitchers returning from the DL

• Manny Banuelos’s average fastball velocity looks fine.

• Andrew Cashner’s velocity is just a bit down compared to previous season.

• Jorge de la Rosa’s velocity is up compared to before his DL stint, but down compared to previous seasons

• Jason Motte’s velocity is fine

Hyun-Jin Ryu’s fastball was 87-88 mph in his last start. He averaged 91 mph in his last MLB season, so his talent level upon returning is completely unknown, but expectations should be low.

https://twitter.com/EEstaris/status/735553072848474112/

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.