Under The Knife 4/7/23

Another Giant Innovation?

The Giants are at it again. Despite pre-season worries that the team hadn’t done enough to improve in a tough division and depth concerns with their rotation, it hasn’t stopped the team from innovating. One of the signings they did make was Sean Manaea, a pitcher I’ve seen for over a decade, playing both high school and college ball in Indiana.

Manaea had a down year in San Diego in ‘22, then didn’t crack the rotation this spring, per se. There’s suggestions the team intends to go with a six-man rotation, but instead, it appears they’ve paired Manaea with Anthony DeSclafani in a tandem. Manaea’s first outing was a two inning stint that wasn’t successful, but did show the makings of good stuff.

However, in talking with sources and scouts that watched the Giants closely in the spring, I don’t think this is a tandem. I also don’t think they’re headed to a six-man, or using Manaea as a multi-inning reliever. Instead, I think this is something of a baseball variation of basketball’s positionless set or even Johan Cruyff’s Total Football, a system based on rotations and overlaps that created mismatches. I don’t have a cute name for this, but I’ve heard that some in the Giants organization call it “optimal deployment.” I don’t think that will stick.

The basic philosophy, as I understand it, is to use the available resources at any time, focused on maximizing the value of the relievers rather than matching up, as remains in vogue despite the three-batter rule. The Giants have long been very data driven, but what would be necessary to make this kind of system work ideally would be an internal readiness rating rather than the more usual matchup data. If the Giants have this, they’re a step ahead of almost everyone, including the team that’s worked the hardest at this, their rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

There’s some hints out there about what the Giants are doing and I’m pretty sure it’s focused on the analysis of the Hawkeye and Statcast data. One scout noticed Giants players going through a series of sprints, motions, and jumps just before their opening game. “They had some sort of odd cones out there with what looked like a reflector at the top,” he told me. I think these were markers so that the Giants could accurately measure sprint speed, jump height and power, and perhaps some biometric measures. If they’re doing these regularly, they could gain some readiness insights quickly.

On the pitching side, the same things would be in place, as well as biomechanical data from Kinatrex and at least one other system I’m told they have in place at Oracle Park. Being able to do real time biomechanical comparisons, especially over the course of a season, is something we simply don’t know because it largely hasn’t been done. (There is at least a year of Hawkeye data on every in-game pitch, but there’s varying degrees of buy-in on that as well as differences in how teams assess that same data.)

Only time will tell if this is a plan or just an attempt to squeeze what they can out of a $12 million player that didn’t push his way into the rotation, whether this is smart and sustainable use of depth or just quirky early-season usage. What is known now is that a willingness to experiment is the only path to success, even if this one isn’t it.

For now, on to the injuries:

JOSH DONALDSON, 3B NYY (strained hamstring)

If you watch the video of Josh Donaldson on the play where he injured his hamstring, there’s a couple things that stand out:

First, as he runs to first, he’s holding his left wrist in an odd fashion. A very smart person initially asked me if I thought Donaldson had snapped his hamate and I can see why that’s the thought. Instead, it was a hamstring, which brings me to the second thing. Donaldson wasn’t running that hard, but he clearly pulls up and has a little hop after rounding first. He immediately came out of the game.

While initial reports are that it’s a low-grade hamstring strain, I’m wondering if the two are connected. Was Donaldson’s wrist a sign that he was resisting reaching back and grabbing the hamstring, as is common and instinctual? I don’t know, but the fact that he didn’t run hard (and didn’t need to on the play, honestly) makes me wonder if the injury happened on the swing rather than the run.

With the Yankees off Thursday, we’ll have to see if Donaldson and the medical staff need more than a day to get him back. The Yankees have flexibility in the infield and depth, so even an extended absence wouldn’t be problematic for the team. Most likely he misses a day or two and nothing comes of this injury, but the odd movements make me wonder a bit.

AARON ASHBY, SP MIL (inflamed shoulder)

Things have gone from bad to worse for Aaron Ashby. Already on the IL, he’s now headed out for a scope on the damaged shoulder in hopes of correct both the impingement and the labral tear in his pitching arm. The surgery is scheduled for Friday and while getting back this season is possible, the recovery time won’t be better narrowed until we know the extent of what was done inside — and we likely won’t know that from the outside. It’s more a deduction of what was done from the timeframe we’re given.

Both the issues can be corrected and the return rate has shot up over the last decade due to new techniques. (There’s some coming that are even more exciting, but that’s a story for another day.) For Ashby, the question is how well this corrects the issue and if the impingement is cause or effect. Often, the shoulder swells from activity or dysfunction and creates the impingement, setting off a vicious cycle where the inflammation leads to more impingement and the impingement leads to more inflammation. That’s where surgery comes in and where Ashby finds himself now.

JAZZ CHISHOLM, OF MIA (stinger)

Jazz Chisholm’s shift to center remains a question mark, but Chisholm won’t miss time there due to what turned out to be a stinger. Initially, it looked like a hand or arm injury on a stolen base attempt, but the painful but transient nerve injury means he’ll miss little time, if any, after the Marlins were rained out on Thursday.

A stinger is a trauma to the brachial plexus, a bundle of nerves in either shoulder. When hit or stretched, the athlete gets a burning, shooting, or stinging sensation either at the shoulder or shooting down the arm. Stingers come in grades, depending on how long the symptoms last, but most tend to be passing. If you’ve ever had one, you’ll remember it. The only issue with stinger is repeated trauma, which can damage the nerves creating a lack of sensation or in the most extreme cases, loss of function and movement.

For Chisholm and the Marlins, this is a positive diagnosis. Word is that Chisholm could have played Thursday if the Marlins decided they needed him, so he’s expected to play as soon as Friday. There shouldn’t be any short or long term consequences from this so you can play him as you wish.

ELOY JIMENEZ, OF CWS (strained hamstring)

Eloy Jimenez is running and playing catch, which is a good sign, with Jimenez telling the media he felt he could pinch hit on Thursday. The problem is that the White Sox already put Jimenez on the IL, so it will be next weekend before he can pinch hit or do anything in a game. The disconnect has some fans grumbling, but given Jimenez’s health history and the horrible run of hamstring injuries the team had last year, caution seems reasonable.

I hate the term “injury prone” and when you look through Jimenez’s history, he manages to at least have different injuries and usually quirky ones. He injured his shoulder on a spring training defensive play, catching himself on the top of the fence. That’s not going recur, but the hamstring injury from last year - at almost the same time - is problematic. He’s never played more than 122 games and just 84 last year. The slow start to this season and the hamstring strain have to worry the Sox in terms of Jimenez's skills diminishing.

BRETT BATY, IF NYM (inflamed thumb)

The Mets had Brett Baty’s recently repaired thumb checked after he had some pain and mild inflammation. The imaging came back with no structural issues and he was sent back to Syracuse, but he didn’t play on Wednesday CHECK CHECK. With the known inflammation, they’re likely waiting on that to go down before he plays, as he was not placed on the 7-day MiLB IL, which is almost a matter of course given how short it is.

One surgeon I spoke with who has not examined Baty suggested that the issue might be vibration. “Where the [repair] is tacked in can sometimes get vibrated by the bat,” he explained. “There’s a resonance that we all have learned about when we got those ‘bees in the bat’ back when we played Little League. Add in the higher forces and the recent surgery and that’s one possibility I’m sure they looked at.” The cure would be to isolate the thumb with foam or something similar, though that can cause a hitter to lose some feel.

I asked Keenan Long from Longball Labs, the groundbreaking bat lab and noted expert on bats, about this and he told me “The magnitude of bat vibrations are a direct result of the bat-ball impact location. The farther contact is made from the bats center of percussion (colloquially the sweet spot), the higher the vibrational response.” In other words, make perfect contact with the right bat and this doesn’t happen. Maybe Baty (or Steve Cohen) should give Long a call.

BRYCE HARPER, DH PHI (sprained elbow/rehab)

With Rhys Hoskins and now Darick Hall out, the Phillies have to be glancing over at Bryce Harper taking batting practice and thinking “there’s the answer to that problem.” Harper could easily slot back in as DH, if not right now, then very soon, and perhaps with no rehab assignment. However, could he play first or outfield this quickly?

A source tells me that the answer is “yes but.” There’s no question Harper can physically hit and no one thinks he’ll take long to adjust or tune up or whatever you want to call it. In the field, Harper could simply not throw much, or make the Pujols adjustment with a deep cut man in the outfield. There’s a bit more concern as Harper tends to be an instinctual and passionate guy on the field. The real worry is that he could injure the elbow on a dive, either in the field or into a base. The kind of brace that would protect him wouldn’t be usable at the plate, but he could wear it in the field or slide it on when he gets to first. Again, it would be hard to tell him “no sliding” or “no doubles” but his bat is valuable enough, especially with a positional crisis.

Harper’s toyed with playing first as far back as 2018, playing a game there that year when Matt Adams was out, and another one in 2021 where I don’t know the context. Harper’s return has always been a bit complicated in terms of how the Phillies have discussed it, but behind the scenes, Harper’s done well. I understand precaution and that a bad week shouldn’t create panic, but when a player is healthy, he should play. Bryce Harper is closer to that point than most are letting on and behind the scenes, the Phillies are figuring out exactly when and how that will happen. We’ll see in the next ten days if that’s going to involve a new glove.

Quick Cuts:

Justin Verlander is throwing harder and having no issues with his shoulder. The Mets might send him on a rehab assignment as soon as next week … Omar Narvaez has a significant strain of his left calf. He could miss two months. The Francisco Alvarez era is nigh … Michael Harris had a sore back after banging off the outfield wall on a catch and came out of the game. It’s not a big issue, per two sources … O’Neill Cruz took one on the chin when he collided with Rafael Devers. Both are fine despite being a little shaken. When first described to me, the slide part was left out and I was trying to figure out how 6’7 Cruz’s face could have been hit by Devers, who is generously listed at 6’0 … Griffin Canning went 92 pitches in a rehab start Thursday. Taking a Single-A loss is one thing but this was about building up, so I can’t imagine he needs another … Ian Anderson looked bad in his first minor league start of the year. Hitting the IL with elbow soreness could explain why, but there’s no details on the injury yet … Darick Hall is headed to the IL with a thumb sprain, with Kody Clemens the likely fill-in with Alec Bohm potentially shifting to first. The Phillies 1B situation is getting dire … Good news for the Phillies. Andrew Painter will begin throwing next week after scans showed his UCL sprain responded well to rest and treatment … Genetics … The Freeze lost! … Damn, Twitter is melting down faster than I expected. I can’t embed tweets here any more and honestly, like I’ve said for the last ten years, I don’t know why anyone is there. Substack has a new feature I’ll be testing out, but you can always email me or comment here.