There’s a lot of good stories I could tell you about SABR Analytics conference, but let me give you a short one today. As I was walking out of my hotel - I had to head out early so missed some, including what I heard was a great keynote from Dr. Glenn Fleisig - I overheard a woman saying how nervous she was for her presentation. I gave her some encouragement and introduced myself. She was Deborah Marshall, the daughter of Dr. Mike Marshall!
As I waited for my robot cab, we spoke a bit and she’s doing some cool things to honor the memory of her father. One of those is saving his website, which was years of his work, examples, videos, and tons of Q&A. The site went down after his death, but Deborah was able to recover it and it’s now available free at www.drmikemarshall.org!
I didn't always agree with Dr. Marshall and he could be irascible at his best, but there’s a lot of really great things in his work, especially the anatomy and the understanding of biomechanics that was always tied back to the players. His unique background gave him that so it’s good to know it’s not lost. I often wonder what Dr. Marshall would think of Trackman or HawkEye and what he might have done with those tools to augment his methods. If you have some time, check it out.
With that, let’s get to the injuries:
CLARKE SCHMIDT, SP NYY (shoulder weakness)
The last thing the Yankees need is more injuries, but Clarke Schmidt is going to start the season outside the rotation due to continued shoulder soreness. Aaron Boone told the media he’s having difficulty with his recovery between starts, which means the underlying problem is still there with the symptoms becoming less manageable. This isn’t an unusual pattern but it’s certainly negative.
The issue is said to be muscular, with weakness the issue rather than pain or inflammation. Schmidt’s back issues had him behind anyway, but he’s seeing decay from outing to outing, not able to get the full recovery any pitcher needs. The medical staff and the pitching staff will be adjusting his programming and adding some things, so this also adds to the staff load for an already taxed medical staff handling all of this, plus rehabs, plus preventive work.
Still, this isn’t all negative. There’s no imaging scheduled and Schmidt is due to throw on Monday. Assuming that the medical staff can control the symptoms and work to get his recovery more on track, Schmidt might not miss much time. The off-days at the start of the season already were helping him, with the plan being to keep him in Florida until April 4 though he would be rostered. Now, it’s more likely he starts on the IL and comes back when eligible. Until then, Carlos Carrasco is the likely replacement and given his strong spring, Schmidt might replace Marcus Stroman instead.
CODY BRADFORD, SP TEX (inflamed elbow)
JON GRAY, SP TEX (fractured wrist)
With a healthy (for now, at least) Jacob deGrom, the Rangers rotation could be a strength if the rest also stay healthy. There’s certainly talent and some depth. However, injuries to two expected starters tests all of that. Losing Jon Gray to a fluke comebacker is bad luck, but losing Cory Bradford to a bad elbow is something teams can’t often take.
Bradford’s injury isn’t structural, but the pain and inflammation have him shut down. A source tells me they expect him to be on complete shutdown for at least ten days and then his response will determine how long his buildup will be. The best case scenario would have him miss most of April and the worst case is much worse as any elbow injury can be. He’d been strong this spring, appearing to have made some mechanical changes and openly discussing his data. That should stay unless they figure out if those same changes are what taxed his elbow.
Gray’s situation is simple fracture wait. A comebacker hit him on the wrist and while the Rangers haven’t said which bone was damaged, it really doesn’t matter. He’ll have to wait for his pitching hand to heal, which puts his arm about six weeks back. I’m curious at what point he’ll be allowed to throw, but there’s a good deal of force on the wrist with any high level pitching, not just spinners. The standard six weeks plus the buildup puts him well into May for a return.
This puts Kumar Rocker, already likely to start the season in the rotation, as a lock. There’s a couple choices, including Jack Leiter, to fill the second open slot. Emiliano Teodo isn’t far off and if he stays hot this spring, he could get the first call. One source mentioned a pitcher named Izack Tiger that I didn’t know much about. He’s had injury issues and is age-24, but the solid source said he could move very fast with performance, something the Rangers have been willing to do through their system.