MASH Report (7/23/15) With Specific Injury Return Times

• Here is a starting point for a dataset I have wanted to put together for a while, the return times for various injuries. I started with just a few requests today, but if you want more, please feel free request more in the comments.

Injury	Average Day	Max days	Min Day	Standard Dev	Samples
Fractured Wrist	63	185	13	40	55
Broken Wrist	77	182	25	46	10
Fractured Finger	39	103	6	23	46
Plantar Faciitis	43	133	15	33	11
Strained Hamstring	30	178	4	20	177
Strained Oblique (pitchers)	32	86	6	16	43
Strained Oblique (hitters)	29	100	7	17	104
Sprain/Torn/Dislocated Finger	43	101	10	22	29

• An interesting article by BelievePerform summarizes from several sources the effects of birth date on athletic success.

In summary, the relative age effect is present in a wide range of elite sports and sheds light on the flaws of many talent identification systems. Due to the short-term approach to success in elite sports, coaches select players that will win them games in the immediate future. This means selecting players who are physically and emotionally more mature. The implications of this process will lead to a big pool of talent being overlook and misrepresented.

Here are the number for players who have played in the majors this season who were born in a specific month:

Month: Number of MLB Players
January: 97
February: 92
March: 96
April: 95
May: 85
June: 90
July: 95
August: 119
September: 113
October: 107
November: 98
December: 99

The number of MLB players born in August to October is 339 while the number from May to July is 270 (25% more).

• Steve Pearce in on the DL with a strained oblique which has bothered him for a while.

• While not officially on the DL yet, it looks like David Freese will go on the DL later today with a fractured finger.

• Jason Vargas came off the DL, threw a few innings and torn his UCL in his elbow. Now he is looking at Tommy John surgery and probably not seeing MLB action until 2017.

• Jordy Mercer will be out at least 6 weeks with a sprained knee and leg contusion.

Upon examination Monday in Pittsburgh by the club’s medical staff, Mercer was diagnosed with a sprain of the medial collateral ligament in the left knee, and a lower leg contusion.

“That’s the way we look at it,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “One injury turned out to be a contusion that is already feeling better. And for the Grade 2 sprain to be nonsurgical — yeah, I think we caught a break.”

• Manny Parra is on the DL with a strained elbow. It seems like he would not go on the DL expect the Reds don’t want just an 8-man bullpen with a double header on the horizon.

• The All-Star break didn’t help Adrian Beltre recover from his injured thumb.

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre was quite succinct and candid when discussing his left thumb before Monday’s game with the Rockies.

He was asked if the four-day All-Star break helped at all.

“Not one bit,” Beltre said.

He was asked if he is doing the right thing by playing through the injury.

“Good question,” Beltre said. “I don’t have an answer. It’s a good question with many answers, but I don’t have one.”

Great, expect the low production to continue.

Velocity Readings

• Tony Cingrani’s velocity is down compared to before he went on the DL.

• Matt Garza’s velocity is fine.

• Kris Medlen’s average fastball velocity is within the range before he had TJS. At the time he was a starter and now is throwing out of the bullpen, so the velocity could actually be down.

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.