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.
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.
Thanks Yelich, was hoping to gain enough second half data on you to decide whether or not to keep you as one of my 6:(
The return-from-injury data in this column lately is terrific.
Considering the velocity data on Smyly, are you feeling pretty confident he can be a solid fantasy starter the rest of the year? His performance Sunday was pretty forgettable, but if his shoulder is indeed healthy he could potentially help some people win leagues if he can even come close to his previous performance.
Russell Martin is ice cold at the plate and seems to be getting more off days. After another productive month in July, his production has fallen off a cliff in August. Is there any report of an injury? Maybe just a two week slump in the dog days.
Jeff,
Just wanted to say that I am big fan of what you are doing. As a clinician, it’s refreshing to have a good set of eyes looking at the statistical underpinnings of everything ‘injury’. I’ve learned tons from MASH reports, and want you to know that the work you’re doing is helping a wide ranging community – including those who are returning players from injury. Keep up the great work.