MASH Report (7/30/15)
• Not much injury-related news to write about since most information coming out over the past week or so has been associated with trades.
• Mookie Betts is on the 7-day concussion DL after falling over a wall to make a catch. There will be fairly constant updates on him since the Red Sox aren’t in the playoff picture and the Boston media needs to cover something.
• Manuel Banuelos is on the DL from pain caused by a bone spur.
The Braves gained some concern as Banuelos’ velocity steadily dropped as he made the first five appearances of his Major League career this month. His fastball averaged 90.3 mph during his July 2 Major League debut. But that number dropped with each subsequent appearance and stood at 87.8 mph during last Friday’s start against the Cardinals.
It seems like the Braves and Banuelos are waiting for his elbow to calm down before giving a full evaluation.
• Neil Ramirez has a sore abdomen for one of the lamest reasons, a cough.
Neil Ramirez sneezed on Sunday and felt a sharp pain on his left side. The right-hander now is on the disabled list because of what’s being described as abdominal soreness, which he felt warming up Tuesday night.
“Abdominal soreness via the sneeze — I don’t know where it’s all at,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday.
• Emilio Bonifacio is on the DL with a strained oblique.
• Travis d’Arnaud will likely come off the DL today.
• Randall Delgado will miss some time with a sprained ankle.
Velocity Readings
• Jaime Garcia’s average velocity is fine.
• Wily Peralta fastball velocity at his pre-injury level, but not up to his 2014 values.
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.
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.
Anyone think Freddie Freeman should be shopped aggressively? The Braves are clearly just playing out the string, and if his wrist is giving him problems they’ll shut him down pretty quickly. I haven’t heard anything about it still bothering him, but he’s done next to nothing since returning, which makes me wonder about the wrist still being an issue.
Why would you shop a player who may get shut down?
I may try to move him, but people won’t until they see some signs of improvement. His one hard hit ball is the home run. Maybe move him after a good 3-4 game stretch.