MASH Report (9/9/13)
Sorry for no report at the end of last week, I had a funeral to attend. For today’s report, I have a ton of information to catch up on. First, the official and unofficial DL lists are updated. I am trying to keep the unofficial one up to date the best I can, but sorry if I miss any players. For most of the rest of the article, I will look at couple of hitters playing through injuries and about a dozen pitchers returning from the disabled list.
• Buster Posey’s has a broken ring finger, but he does think it will affect him much (source).
“From what I’m hearing from trainers and doctors, hopefully in a couple of days, once it calms down, I’ll be able to play through it,” said Posey, who called the pain “minimal.”
He has played in one game (yesterday) since the injury and got 2 hits, including a double. I would not be surprised to see his power suffer a bit as he deals with the injury.
• Bryce Harper has been dealing with a aggravated hip since April. He should out perform his projections in 2014 which would be pretty crazy. His 2013 ZIPS projections tabbed him at .274/.346/.486. He has responded by hitting .273/.377/.504. The better than expect increase is from additional walks and power. Improving on these values would be great in 2014, if he can stay healthy.
DL returners
• Scott Baker’s average sinkerball is 2 mph less than in 2011.
Being two years removed from pitching, I will not even try to guess where is his talent level. Once it is known, good or bad, the season will be over. I would just stay away from him for now.
• Matt Cain’s velocity looks fine.
He did have a bit of a problem throwing strikes, 3 NIBB and a 39% Zone%
• Frank Francisco’s velocity looks fine.
• So was Corey Kluber’s
• Jason Grilli’s velocity was down to a season low in his first relief appearance.
It was up a bit in the next one. He will need to continue the upward trend to get back to pre-injury levels.
• Roy Oswalt was at a 3-year low in velocity
There is no reason to roster him right now.
• Jake Westbrook saw a nice up tick in velocity
He just could not find the strike zone with a 35% Zone%. He has a BB/9 (3.9) higher than his K/9 (3.4) before the DL stint. I would continue to stay way until he finds a way to throw strikes.
• Tony Cingrani’s fastball was OK, but near his 2 year low.
• Alexi Ogando will be in the bullpen only over the rest of the season. His reliever velocity is better than his starting velocity, but it is below his 2012 reliever velocity.
• Jason Hammel will also only pitch out of the bullpen until the season’s end.His relief velocity is similar to his starting velocity from earlier in the season.
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.
Unofficial DL List
Official DL List
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.
Your help all year has been HUGE! I know we can’t analyze numbers for it and I know you’re not a doctor, but based on what you have heard (out of the boot etc.) and your years of experience, do you think we get Craig back before next Monday’s game.
No, from the article linked above:
“With only three weeks and change remaining in the regular season, it would seem unlikely that Craig, who was hurt in a freak spill Wednesday in Cincinnati, would be able to play before the last week of the season. Perhaps he wouldn’t be ready until the October baseball the Cardinals have reason to believe they will be playing.
General manager John Mozeliak said Friday, “Overall we were lucky, in the sense that (there is) no fracture. Based on what we saw that night, we certainly thought it was going to be worse.
“But he’s still in a boot. It’s going to be one of those things where each day we may learn a little more. But, in the short term, he’s not going to be available any time soon.””