MASH Report (6/24/13)
No pitchers going off the DL over the last few days, so I will just examine a few injury stories. Also, the PAIN and HURT leaderboards for younger players are posted.
• With about every pitcher who goes on the DL, I like to see if there were any glaring injury signs. With Jon Niese (torn rotator cuff), no signs really existed. His fastball velocity dropped 0.5 MPH from 2012 and his Zone% was down 0.9% points. While a declining velocity and Zone% are signs of a injury, these levels don’t usually raise any read flags. Of the 453 pitchers PAIN ranks, he was the 295 least injury prone.
Another factor I examine is his late game consistency (process is faster, it used to take over a minute to calculate and now it is almost instantaneous). Niese’s value has slow risen over the past three seasons.
Season: Late game consistency
2011: 30.3
2012: 35.1
2013: 50.2
The lack of a consistent release point has probably caught up with Niese, particularly his shoulder. Here is a release point graph of his last start.
While no obvious injury signs existed, years of throwing hard and inconsitently eventually caught up with Niese.
• The Washington Nationals have to be the worst team in baseball when it comes to handling everything to do with injuries. Davey Johnson’s belief’s seems to be behind the play hurt attitude of the club. Now Bryce Harper is in the middle of it. Harper want to return 100% while Johnson wants him earlier.
Harper:
“I’m full speed, every single day. It’s going to be hard playing at 70 percent if they want me to play at 70 percent. I’m not going to do that. I want to come back 100 percent and get back as quick as I can.
Johnson:
“I trust players too. They know more about their body than the medical staff. But when you come back from injury, are you ever 100 percent? No. The body has a wonderful ability to heal itself. The more you get the blood flowing, the more you have to heal.”
The Nats and their players need to get on the same page quickly when it comes to dealing with injuries.
• Reader John asked if I would take a look at Michael Pineda this week. Here is my best effort.
First, his latest fastball speed has been clocked averaging 92 mph with a max near 95 mph. This velocity is about 2 mph slower than he threw in 2012 before the shoulder injury. It will drop his value some.
Second, he has thrown decent in 8.1 IP of rehab with 1 ER (3 Runs), 7 K and 1 BB. He is able to get High-A hitters out. OK, I would hope so.
Finally, as Mike Axisa notes:
The 30-day rehab window expires on July 8th, so at that point the Yankees will have to activate Pineda off the DL and either add him to the big league roster or option him to Triple-A. If he spends roughly 2-3 weeks in the minors following rehab, the team will push his free agency back from 2016 to 2017. Seems like a no-brainer.
If the Yankees don’t really need him, he will likely see time in AAA once off the DL.
So with the information available right now, owners should expect velocity based declining returns and a possible AAA stint before a MLB call up.
• Shane Victorino’s back is hurting again. Don’t own hitters with back injuries.
• Josh Beckett is still out with a “Strained left groin; right hand fingers numbness”. W -w-w-w—wait. Strained groin, numb hand. Com’on Josh your not 15 any more, loosen your grip a little.
HURT (Hitter’s Under-performance from Recent Trauma) Rankings (hitters 27-years-old or younger today, no PA min.)
Any player with a HURT value over 100 (red) has the traits of a batter playing through and injury.
Rank | Name | Age | HURT | PA (2010 to 2012) | PA (2013) |
1 | Pete Kozma | 25 | 193.2 | 104 | 269 |
2 | Ike Davis | 26 | 159.6 | 1334 | 207 |
3 | Rob Brantly | 23 | 158.4 | 113 | 174 |
4 | Tyler Moore | 26 | 157.2 | 171 | 102 |
5 | Alex Avila | 26 | 127.2 | 1318 | 188 |
6 | Jhonatan Solano | 27 | 121.2 | 37 | 34 |
7 | Jurickson Profar | 20 | 120.0 | 17 | 107 |
8 | Jason Heyward | 23 | 106.8 | 1730 | 220 |
9 | Carlos Peguero | 26 | 93.6 | 212 | 7 |
10 | Fernando Martinez | 24 | 87.6 | 175 | 35 |
11 | Brett Wallace | 26 | 85.2 | 792 | 26 |
12 | Giancarlo Stanton | 23 | 82.8 | 1498 | 144 |
13 | Lonnie Chisenhall | 24 | 81.6 | 374 | 113 |
14 | Matt Dominguez | 23 | 81.6 | 161 | 279 |
15 | Danny Espinosa | 26 | 76.8 | 1428 | 167 |
16 | Billy Butler | 27 | 75.6 | 2030 | 293 |
17 | Logan Schafer | 26 | 75.6 | 30 | 127 |
18 | Justin Sellers | 27 | 74.4 | 189 | 77 |
19 | Tyler Flowers | 27 | 73.2 | 297 | 195 |
20 | Blake DeWitt | 27 | 70.8 | 769 | 4 |
• Billy Butler is showing up on this list. The main item bringing him down his a significant drop in his ISO (.197 in 2012 and .122 in 2013). Sadly, the Royals are my team and I have known Butler is struggling, but I have heard nothing of a possible injury. I will let you know if I find anything out.
PAIN (Pitcher Abuse INdex) Rankings (pitchers 25-years-old or younger, no IP min)
Any player with a PAIN value over 100 (red) has the traits of a pitcher likely to be hurt.
Rank | Name | Age | PAIN | IP (2013) | IP (2012) |
1 | Jeff Locke | 25 | 232.8 | 89.1 | 34.1 |
2 | Wily Peralta | 24 | 122.1 | 87.0 | 29.0 |
3 | Matt Moore | 24 | 104.5 | 80.2 | 177.1 |
4 | Paco Rodriguez | 22 | 88.9 | 26.0 | 6.2 |
5 | Cody Allen | 24 | 66.2 | 32.0 | 29.0 |
6 | Justin Grimm | 24 | 66.0 | 72.2 | 14.0 |
7 | Phillippe Aumont | 24 | 64.9 | 13.0 | 14.2 |
8 | Robert Carson | 24 | 63.5 | 18.0 | 13.1 |
9 | Carter Capps | 22 | 62.1 | 29.2 | 25.0 |
10 | Kelvin Herrera | 23 | 58.2 | 27.2 | 84.1 |
11 | Jordan Walden | 25 | 52.7 | 23.1 | 39.0 |
12 | Hector Santiago | 25 | 47.7 | 65.1 | 70.1 |
13 | Mat Latos | 25 | 47.2 | 103.1 | 209.1 |
14 | Brett Anderson | 25 | 45.7 | 29.0 | 35.0 |
15 | Rex Brothers | 25 | 42.4 | 32.1 | 67.2 |
16 | Jarrod Parker | 24 | 39.2 | 97.0 | 181.1 |
17 | Jordan Lyles | 22 | 37.3 | 63.2 | 141.1 |
18 | Craig Kimbrel | 25 | 35.4 | 28.1 | 62.2 |
19 | Rick Porcello | 24 | 30.6 | 76.0 | 176.1 |
20 | Drew Smyly | 24 | 28.4 | 46.1 | 99.1 |
• Mat Latos makes this list with an almost 1 mph drop in velocity (has been trending upward recently) and a Zone% dropping close to the magical 47%. Additionally, his release points are all over the place in his last start:
His stats are not as extreme as some other pitchers, but Latos owners should be monitoring him as the season goes on to see if his PAIN rating goes up or heads down.
Players on the DL
(*) 15 Day Disabled List
(**) 60 Day Disabled List
(***) 7 Day Concussion List
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.
WOW! Fantastic analysis of Pineda. You saved me a roster spot mistake for the next few weeks. Thanks!
Any thoughts on Hill? I know he comes off DL tomorrow and I will probably start him, but how long of a leash (in weeks) do I give him before I cut bait?
I would re-examine Hill after a couple of weeks. I would be look to see if he can actually hit a ball with distance. I want to see some power behind his hits.
I don’t like in his rehab starts he has only 2 XBHs, no HRs.
So looking at baseballheatmaps and comparing his hr/fb distance to last year might give me a hint, right?
Yes, or if he hits a legitimate home run or 2.