MASH Report (8/1/13)

Not much injury news with the trade deadline taking all the headlines, bylines and small print. I looked at a few players (Moore, Beachy and Butler) and ran an updated SLOW ranking.

• Matt Moore was placed on the DL with elbow soreness. A 2-mph drop in his average fastball velocity from last season was a big red flag to go along with some command issues. Last off season I was able to identify his high walk rate as an injury red flag.

Moore looked to have a bright future a couple season ago, but it is getting dimmer and dimmer by the day.

• Just over a month ago, I identified Billy Butler as hitter playing through an injury, but couldn’t find any reports of an ailment. His power, contact and speed were all down (and still are). He now states he is dealing with a neck injury. He didn’t state how long it has been affecting him, but it may be behind his decline.

• Brandon Beachy returned from the DL with disastrous results (7 Runs, 8 hits, 2 HRs, 5 Ks, 1 BB). On the injury front, some good and bad news to report. First, the 26-year-old’s average fastball velocity was similar to his 2012 value.

OK. Also he was able to throw a good number of strikes with a 49% Zone%. The problem I noticed was a inconsistent release point.

Over a 1 foot difference in the horizontal direction and half a foot in the vertical direction. This issue may not cause problems in what is left of the 2013 season, but it may limit his long term health.

SLOW (Swinging Late or Whiffing) Hitters (2013 with a min 40 pitches in the heart of the strike zone)

2013 SLOWest Bats

Name	2013 SLOW
Tim Lincecum	81
B.J. Upton	80
Justin Upton	76
J.P. Arencibia	73
Henry Blanco	68
Mike Morse	67
Adeiny Hechavarria	66
John Buck	64
Jeff Francoeur	63
Dayan Viciedo	63
Jarrod Saltalamacchia	63
Yoenis Cespedes	63
Martin Maldonado	61
Jeff Mathis	61
Drew Stubbs	61
Tyler Moore	61
Ian Desmond	60
Will Middlebrooks	60
Delmon Young	60
Rick Ankiel	59
Wilin Rosario	58
Hector Gimenez	58
Tyler Colvin	58
Josh Donaldson	57
Carlos Corporan	55

Hitters who got SLOWer from 2012 to 2013

Name	Increase in SLOW from 2012 to 2013
Greg Dobbs	96
Carlos Corporan	60
Henry Blanco	55
Justin Upton	46
Chris Herrmann	45
Will Middlebrooks	41
Jordan Danks	40
Devaris Gordon	38
Wilin Rosario	35
Ramiro Pena	35
Charlie Blackmon	33
Adeiny Hechavarria	32
Clayton Kershaw	32
Marlon Byrd	31
Rick Ankiel	31
Dan Uggla	30
Freddy Galvis	29
Martin Maldonado	28
Brett Gardner	26
Nick Markakis	25
Nate McLouth	25
Nate Schierholtz	25
Garrett Jones	25
Matt Dominguez	24
Evan Longoria	24

Will Middlebrooks name sticks out on both lists. His fastball pitch values agree with his bat slowing down. I would stay away from Middlebrooks now and in the future. A hitter, who already has plate discipline issues (career .17 BB/K), needs to at least be able to hit fastballs down the middle of the plate.

Players on the DL

(*) 15 Day Disabled List
(**) 60 Day Disabled List
(***) 7 Day Concussion List
Red colored entries are updates since last report.