MASH Report (6/8/15)

• It seems like Justin Verlander will finally return to pitching in the majors this week.

• Don’t be surprised if Jake Odorizzi goes on the DL in the next day or two with a strained oblique.

The Rays won’t know the full extent of starter Jake Odorizzi’s oblique injury until he sees their doctors Monday back in St. Petersburg.

But seeing him walk off the mound during Friday’s game, and knowing how cautious they tend to be with pitchers, is enough to say that Odorizzi is likely headed to the disabled list, the latest blow to an already depleted staff.

• Devin Mesoraco may transition to the outfield from catcher during his rehab assignment.

• Daniel Murphy will miss some time with a quad strain which is being described as “not very serious”.

• Cubs prospect/minor leaguer, Javier Baez, will be out 4-8 weeks with a broken finger.

• Raisel Iglesias is on the DL with a strained oblique.

• Melvin Upton is to be activated from the DL today.

• David Hernandez is the first in a string of pitchers who had Tommy John surgery at the start of last season and will start coming off the DL soon.

• Ross Ohlendorf is on the DL with a strained groin.

• Here is a brief interview of Dr. Andrew Hecht by Adam Rubin on David Wright’s back stenosis.

[Wright] has excellent doctors both at Special Surgery taking care of him as well as Dr. [Robert] Watkins, who is a world-class spine surgeon. You have a great medical team taking care of him. So the expectation is with most players that there’s going to be a good track record of improving with conservative care.

• Some researchers at Northwestern are making progress in possibly helping to prevent pitcher elbow injuries.

A new approach to analyzing baseball-pitching biomechanics may one day give players more personalized feedback and help prevent elbow injuries.

In a computer simulation study of baseball pitching, Northwestern University biomedical engineers found that the strength of the elbow muscles of a baseball pitcher likely play a bigger role in injury risk and prevention than previously thought.

Velocity Readings

• Drew Pomeranz’s average fastball velocity has jumped after moving to the bullpen.

• Eric O’Flaherty’s sinker is inline with his previous values.

• David Hernandez’s velocity is near the bottom of his previous range.

• Bud Norris’s velocity is fine.

• A.J. Griffin’s average fastball velocity was just under 90 mph when he was in the majors which is inline with this report from the minors.

RHP A.J. Griffin in his three innings with the Ports had 33 pitches with 24 of those pitches being for strikes. He did hit up to 90 MPH.

— Paul (@ThatsAnError) June 3, 2015

Players on the DL in 2015

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.