MASH Report (8/17/15)

• Christian Yelich is on the DL with a knee contusion (official report). Here is the report from the team’s website.

Yelich bruised his right knee last Sunday at Atlanta. He’s been dealing with swelling in the knee. If the knee doesn’t respond in another couple of days, Yelich likely will return to Miami and get an MRI.

So we have possible swelling, bruising, and/or contusion of the knee. With the wide variance in possibilities, here are the possible return times for players with any of the three injuries to the knee.

The return times are all over the place, but an estimate of three weeks is reasonable with the chance it could last until this season’s end.

• Don’t fall into the trap that Josh Hamilton is fine after his performance on Friday when he hit a home run. He will be playing through injuries for the rest of the season.

Hoping to keep Hamilton in the lineup, the Rangers received good news on Friday. The MRI on his sore left knee showed no structural damage. Hamilton can continue to play as long as he can tolerate the pain.

“Structurally, I can’t make it any worse,” Hamilton said before the game. “It will be painful but I can play. I feel like I want to be out there for the team and the organization. I need to be out there, get at-bats and get better at the plate.”

Hamilton was acquired from the Angels on April 27 but wasn’t activated until May 25. Because of various leg injuries, he has been able to play in just 36 of the Rangers’ 69 games since May 25.

• Steven Wright was placed on the 7-day concussion DL after getting hit in the head before a game.

• David Phelps is on the DL with elbow discomfort. No news of an MRI, so the news could get worse.

• Blaine Boyer is on the DL, but it sounds like he may miss just a small amount of time.

• Juan Nicasio will likely spend the minimum time on the DL.

Velocity Readings

• Chris Hatcher’s average fastball velocity is in line with his previous values.

• Tommy Milone’s velocity is even to up.

• Drew Smyly’s velocity is fine.

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.