MASH Report (8/11/14)

• Good news on the production front from Gerrit Cole. In his last start he struck out three, walked none and allowed no runs. It seems like there are differing opinions on his velocity tough.  Here is a tweet from his last start.

Gerrit Cole has another 1-2-3 inning in 3rd. His velocity was 91-92 consistently, and reached 93 and 94 on a few pitches.
— Brian Peloza (@BrianPeloza) August 10, 2014

While the team is reporting his velocity to be higher.

As for his velocity? His last pitch of the game was clocked at 95 miles per hour.

“I’m sure there was more in the tank,” Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor said. “That was a good sign.”

Cole’s velocity was consistently in the 95-96 mph range during the first few innings of his rehab start on Tuesday, but dipped to 91-92 mph during the late innings. The dip in velocity was labeled as intentional and ordered by the organization after Cole said he felt “brutal” following his first rehab outing.

“He wasn’t tied down to anything like that (on Sunday),” Treanor said. “What was good when he felt he needed some velocity, he was able to ramp it up a little bit and he had the OK to do that.”

Cole consistently reached 93-94 mph over the final three innings of Sunday’s outing, throwing 73 pitches, 49 for strikes. He was scheduled to throw either 90 pitches or six innings, whichever came first.

At least both were an improvement over his previous start.

Gerrit Cole’s velocity at the end of his rehab outing last night was 91-92 mph. Potential red flag there. #Pirates — Jason Shetler (@Jason_Shetler) August 6, 2014

His 2014 season average before the injury was 95, not a peak of 95 mph. He could be down one to three mph once he returns.

• Carlos Gonzalez is on the DL from basically being broke.

“CarGo is dealing with a lot right now,” Rockies head athletic trainer Keith Dugger said. “It’s multiple injuries. You can see mental stress on him. You can see physical stress. Basically there comes a point in time when he’s not performing at the rate he wants to. He feels bad. Walt [Weiss, the manager] feels bad putting him in the lineup.

“We made the decision, not just me making the decision, that he needs to take time off. He’s going back home. We’re going to get that ankle right. We know he’s got patella tendinitis he’s been dealing with. We know that thing isn’t going away overnight or even in a week, and we’ll get other opinions. But, again, we don’t need other opinions. We know how to handle this situation.”

The question with the tendinitis is if the normal rest and rehab will improve it, or will Gonzalez and the Rockies treat it with other techniques, such as plasma-rich platelets or stem-cell treatment. The problem with those is they would likely end his year.

In shallow, redraft leagues, he might just be droppable (depending on DL slots).

• Jenrry Mejia is pitching with a hernia.

Mejia, who has known about the hernia for three weeks, indicated that an operation would be necessary after the season.
“Doctors say if it bothers me too much to let him fix it, but I don’t want to let him now because I want to keep pitching,” Mejia said.
“They gave me some pills and some medication. If I don’t feel normal, too much pain, they going to make an operation. But I want to keep pitching. I want to take some pills and keep pitching. I think I can keep going. I’m ready to go.”

Mejia’s velocity and Zone% are up over the last month, so the hernia isn’t bothering him too much.

• Tyler Skaggs has opted for Tommy John surgery instead of rehab on a partially torn UCL.  Some people have stated that  Skaggs’s TJS was do to his increase in velocity (+2 mph). Zero historical evidence has shown that a pitcher who sees a velocity jump with have TJS. On average, most pitchers see a drop in fastball velocity before the surgery. I would have no problem looking into this question if someone was to frame the exact question to examine.

• A small summary on three injury centered SABRE presentations.

• Matt Lindstrom will likely be activated by the White Sox tomorrow. For owners desperate for Saves, he could be a pitcher to take a chance on.

• Daniel Hudson is coming back from his second TJS and is pitching minor league games at previous velocity levels.

Good news: Hudson was clocked in at 93-94 in his first rehab start. Matches 2011 fastball average of 93.2!: #Dbacks http://t.co/lwd53INpLZ
— baseball reddit (@baseballreddit) August 7, 2014

Maybe worth a pick up in deep leagues. • Joe Mauer is expected to come off the DL today.  • Michael Pineda is close to rejoining the Yankees.

Pineda fired 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball on Friday evening for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Columbus, showcasing a fastball that sat between 92 and 94 mph as well as a swing-and-miss slider. “Everything is good,” Pineda said on Saturday. “My pitches are there, my velocity is there. I’m feeling good, and I’m happy with that.”

Those velocity values are better than his earlier season values (average of 92 mph). • Mark Teixeira is pretty much useless since he can’t grip a bat

Teixeira: “it’s still really sore…I can’t really grip a bat right now.” — Erik Boland (@eboland11) August 8, 2014

Fastball Velocity Watch for Pitchers Returning From the DL

• Ubaldo Jimenez’s average fastball velocity is at a season low.

• Even though it is his 2nd start from the DL, Justin Masterson was at three year low for velocity. His owners should monitor his next start.

Players on the DL
(*) 15 Day Disabled List
(**) 60 Day Disabled List
(***) 7 Day Concussion List
(****) Free Agent
Red colored entries are updates since last report.
Major League Report

Minor League Report