MASH Report (7/13/15)

• Well, I am back from my vacation and ready to dive into some injury news. I may be brief on some players as some news on them is almost two weeks old. Make sure to check the spreadsheet for the latest information. Today, I will be heavy on belated news and on Thursday, I will run some my PAIN and HURT reports since not as many players expect to get hurt over the All-Star break.

• Steven Matz will be out for over a month with a torn lat muscle. He will not throw at all for three weeks and then will need to build up his strength.

Matz will miss his scheduled start Sunday against the D-backs and refrain from throwing for three weeks.

It may take him another 3 weeks to get back up to speed. Don’t be surprised if it is late August or early September when he finally rejoins the Mets.

• Alex Gordon could miss from eight weeks to the entire season. Eight weeks puts him at mid-September and any setback may have him missing the rest of the regular season.

• Jason Grilli will miss all of this season, but plans on being ready for the beginning of next season.

Grilli will return to Atlanta with the Braves on Sunday night and meet with doctors on Monday morning. The 38-year-old pitcher will undergo surgery later this week and then begin the latest of his comebacks with the utmost confidence he will be with the Braves at the start of next year’s Spring Training.

I would not keep him around for Saves. A rehabbing 39-year-old pitcher is going to be a set-up … at best.

• Clay Buchholz is on the DL with a strained elbow.

“Typically when you’ve got a ligament damage, there’s been some deterioration or decreased strength that ends up putting more stress on the ligament, and that’s when the ligament ends up getting damaged,” said Farrell. “To me, it sounds like this has been caught early on where the changes have only been shown in that flexor muscle not the ligament, so Clay’s health was first and foremost in this. Talking with him [Friday] night after the MRI, he was certainly relieved, but still we’ve got to take the necessary steps to let this calm down and rebuild this.”

This is probably the best outcome considering the symptoms.

• Denard Span will take two weeks off in the hopes his back will get better

“It’s good news,” Williams said before Friday’s series opener in Baltimore. “The specialist he saw [found] nothing alarming, which is good.”

The Nationals believe the two abdominal surgeries Span underwent in early spring and the lack of Spring Training as a result may be a cause for the back problems.

“[We] gave him another set of exercises to further his strength,” Williams said. “So he’ll start that pro-cess and be back quickly.”

A few signs point to his back bothering him before the time off. His Speed Score is down to a career low of 5.3. Also, he no bunt hits (31% career value).

• Asdrubal Cabrera is out with a strained hamstring. No timeline has been given for a return, but I would count on him missing at least three weeks.

• Jesse Hahn will be out with a strained elbow, but there seems to be no structural damage to it.

Hahn, 25, left the team Thursday to return to the Bay Area for an MRI, which revealed no structural damage to his sore right elbow — welcoming news to a pitcher who already underwent Tommy John surgery in 2010.

• Adrian Beltre has been struggling since coming off the DL with a strained thumb. My normal indicators for detecting an injury would be lower power and contact numbers. Here are the values before and after the injury.

Time Frame: ISO, Contact%

Before the DL: .150, 85%
After the DL: .103, 86%

He has a drop in power, but be wasn’t doing great before the injury. I am not sure how to value the 36-year-old as I could see him bounce back or stay down.

• Mark Teixeira talks about talking to the media about his wrist injury.

But the worst thing to be, in terms of perception, is a player who is struggling, hurt and candid. If you are struggling and hurt but look peo-ple in the eye and say you feel fine, you trade credibility for perceived toughness. If you are struggling and hurt and admit that the pain affects you, you are labeled an excuse-maker.

At 35, Teixeira understands this. He is thriving again, a strong All-Star candidate for the first-place Yankees, and nobody criticizes him anymore. A year ago, after wrist surgery the previous summer, he was a shell of himself and an easy target.

“Any time I tried to be a little bit honest and say that I wasn’t feeling well, I got hammered, because I guess you’re not supposed to tell the truth when people want you to lie,” Teixeira said on Saturday after help-ing the Yankees beat Tampa Bay, 3-2.

A friendly reminder why players will lie about their injuries.

• A decent article on Matt Harvey’s and John Smoltz’s Tommy John surgery recoveries.

• An article looking at Cano’s struggles and why a stomach ailment may be sapping his strength.

Other players placed on the DL since last MASH Report.
Carlos Beltran
Miguel Cabrera
Charlie Furbush
Matt Garza
Alex Gordon
Nick Hagadone
Mitchell Harris
Josh Harrison
Jon Jay
Ryan Pressly
David Ross
Stephen Strasburg
Blake Swihart

Velocity Readings

• Aaron Barrett’s average fastball velocity is fine.

• Brandon Beachy’s velocity is down .7 mph from 2013 when he last pitched and 1.5 mph from 2012. I wouldn’t expect much from him this year.

• Andrew Bellatti’s velocity is fine.

• Chad Billingsley’s velocity is near his values from the past couple of seasons.

• Matt Cain’s velocity is fine. One note with Cain is his fastball is not getting the “rise” (or less sink) than it previously did. Don’t expect him to have his high early career pop-up rate.

• Patrick Corbin’s velocity is even to up. I think I would buy in now if he is available.

• Jose Fernandez’s velocity is fine

• Matt Harrison’s velocity is down 3 mph. Stay away until we figure out where is talent level is at.

Hisashi Iwakuma’s velocity is fine.

• Dan Jennings was at a three-year high.

• Jenrry Mejia’s velocity is down for now about 1 mph.

• Andrew Miller’s velocity is fine.

• Matt Moore’s velocity is in line with pre-TJS levels, but down ~4 from the velocity which made him a top prospect.

• Mike Morin’s velocity has been ticking up since coming off the DL.

• Jake Odorizzi’s velocity is fine.

• Jake Peavy’s velocity is in line with the past few seasons.

• Dale Thayer’s velocity is on the low side.

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.