MASH Report (6/9/16)

• Jorge Soler is on the DL with a strained hamstring.

Soler sustained the injury running to first base on a third-inning single in Monday’s win over the Phillies. The Cubs don’t know the exact severity of the strain and will find more out as he begins to rehab the injury.

I am amazed at the number of hamstring injuries this month which currently stands at 10. Since 2009, the only months with double-digit totals for hamstring injuries were the colder Aprils and Mays. We still have 21 days to add to the total.

• Yu Darvish had shoulder and neck stiffness yesterday and was pulled in the 5th inning. His velocity was down 5 mph compared to just the previous innings.

• Vincent Velasquez made it only two pitchers before getting removed from his start yesterday with a bicep strain.

Velasquez’s fastball registered only 86 and 87 mph on the radar gun, which were bigger red flags than the red World Series championship banners that fly in center field, considering his fastball averaged 95 mph this season.
“‘Something’s wrong,'” Velasquez said he thought to himself after he peeked at the scoreboard.

The Phillies said Velasquez has a strained right biceps. He will be reevaluated Thursday, when he could have a MRI exam.

“I’m not concerned at all,” Velasquez said.

Sounds like more information today.

• Williams Perez will miss a couple weeks with a strained rotator cuff.

The Braves placed Perez on the 15-day disabled list with a right rotator cuff strain and recalled John Gant from Triple-A Gwinnett before Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Padres at Petco Park.

“It just hasn’t calmed down,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Perez’s upper arm discomfort. “He’s just going to need time to let things relax.”

Perez exited Monday night’s start against the Padres in the fifth inning, after feeling some soreness in his right triceps muscle. The 25-year-old pitcher said he is now feeling most of the soreness around his shoulder. He’ll be further evaluated in Atlanta.

He saw a decent steady drop in his velocity as the game went on.

• Joe Smith is going on the DL because of a hamstring issue which caused his arm to act up.

For about a two-week stretch, Angels setup man Joe Smith was able to pitch through discomfort in his left hamstring. But then it began to alter the mechanics of his sidearm delivery, and his arm started to bark. He was short-arming his pitches, instead of extending out front. And as the days went by, it continually became more difficult for Smith to pitch through the pain he felt in his landing leg.

On Tuesday, the Angels finally made the decision to put Smith on the 15-day disabled list. He was diagnosed with a strained left hamstring, an ailment that Smith hopes to return from as soon as he is eligible (June 20).

• Several Tommy John surgery returners, like Adam Ottavino and Brandon McCarthy, are throwing minor league games and will be back within the month as long as they don’t experience any setbacks.

Fastball velocity reading for pitchers returning from the DL

• Joba Chamberlain’s average fastball velocity is fine.

• Jim Johnson’s average fastball velocity is up some compared to earlier this season, but down compared to last season.

• Boone Logan’s velocity is fine.

Hitter Exit Velocity

I have been wanting to implement this feature for a while and have finally gotten around to it. I am not 100% sure where it will head, but I am hoping to find the point when a hurt hitter begins to hit the ball like they did previously before an injury. I am looking at hitter exit velocity which begins to stabilize after 20 balls in play, unlike pitchers who see their fastball velocity stabilize almost immediately. The hitter will need some return time before I can focus on them. Today I will start with Devon Travis.

In the first two months of 2015, Devon hit .271/.336/.504 with seven home runs. Then he went on the DL with an inflamed shoulder, briefly came off the DL, and eventually needed should surgery until he returned this season on May 25th. Since returning he has hit .174/.224/.261. Here is his 20-batted ball rolling average over the past two seasons.

Before the injury, his average velocity was 89.3 mph (which includes a drop which may point to the day of the injury), it dropped to 87.7 in his brief 2015 return and is at 88.1 mph this season. The velocities change as expected, but are the velocity changes enough to significantly change other values? Right now, finding out the changes for common fantasy stats when exit velocity changes will be my next goal with this information.

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.