Under The Knife 5/21/21
Free Friday:
Tom House is usually right, but he’s more right here than usual:
Hitter, and baseball in general, and sports in general to some degree, resist safety equipment. I don’t understand it and regularly say that if was playing a sport at a high level, I’d be out there looking like Tony Stark. Instead, we can’t get hitters to wear a padded glove, risking months lost and physical pain — more on that in a bit.
With the increased velocity, decreased command, and more movement on the ball, it’s almost inevitable that we’re going to see balls up and in, intentional or not. That means pitches like what hit Kevin Pillar this week are going to happen more and that means seeing more faces like Kevin Pillar later this week.
The adoption of the C Flap after Giancarlo Stanton was hit in the eye was rapid, likely due to some fear, but not universal. I’m not sure why that’s not happening here, or why it hasn’t happened with hand guards, pitcher head protection, and other available protective devices that would require little effort and would remove some risk. For those that think more protection would give hitters an advantage, well, if we’re considering moving the mound back a foot, ‘fairness’ isn’t a guiding principle right now.
Teams can’t require a player to wear protective equipment. Helmets weren’t made a rule until 1970, though they’d been around in some form since 1905. Can you believe that a player, Bob Montgomery, became the last player to bat without a helmet, due to a grandfather clause, in 1979?! Ray Chapman died. Rocky Colavito nearly did, but it didn’t create universal use until Jimmy Carter was president.
What teams can do is incentivize the use and innovate. MLB owns Rawlings, one of the top sporting goods companies, so it would be easy for them to push research and protect their product. A team owner could give bonuses for those that wore protective gloves or a face guard.
Corey Seager makes almost $85,000 a game and for the next month or more, he’ll be paid that while being out with a preventable injury. That’s at least $2.5 million lost to something that could be prevented by something I could order off Amazon for as little as 33 bucks. Baseball - or just a player - could fix this problem with Prime shipping.
Now, let’s get to it. As with most Free Fridays, this is a recap with updates when possible.
Mike Trout OF LAA (strained calf)
Mike Trout is human, film at eleven. Actually, Mike Trout has had some injuries over the years but few have been major - maybe the thumb sprain that needed surgery, but because of InternalBrace only cost him a bit more than a month. His recent calf strain is going to cost him more. The Angels told the media Trout will miss six to eight weeks with the injury.
That matches exactly with what my best Angels source told me, that Trout’s strain is a Grade II. The injury is higher on the calf, up near the knee where you can see him grab after the injury. For all the twitter-concern that worried about his Achilles and whether the Angels were hiding something, the answer was no, though it’s amazing how much the Kevin Durant injury affects every other sport every time there’s something even remotely similar.
Even Trout said he was worried, ““I’ve never felt anything like this before. I felt a pop.” But he grabbed significantly higher up as he walked back to third base, though I couldn’t find a good video of it aside from going through the whole game. Trout did have a similar injury in 2019, but he didn’t miss much beyond the minimum, 15 days at that point.
The injury would put Trout back in early July if he’s on the low side of the estimate, but the Angels have been conservative with him in the past. I think he’s out past the All Star break, so he won’t be part of the Coors HR derby, I don’t think. I doubt this will have any effect on Trout once he returns, though that kind of absence probably takes him out of MVP consideration.
UPDATE: Trout’s injury was confirmed as a Grade II strain. Trout’s treatment will be conservative for the first few weeks and will follow his response after that. I don’t expect the Angels to push him at all, and in fact, I still believe the All Star break is their goal. A source tells me that the team is considering moving Trout to a corner spot when he returns, but that doesn’t take much risk off the leg, which is most taxed in bursts.
Huascar Ynoa SP ATL (fractured hand)
Huascar Ynoa apparently hasn’t seen Bull Durham. Ynoa was frustrated coming out of a bad outing and punched the bench with his pitching hand. While the Braves haven’t detailed which bone(s) broke, the “months” timeline indicates that it’s likely one of the bones behind the index or middle finger. They’re most involved in grip and are exposed most in a punch, so the logic works.
There’s really not much else here. Bones heal, but on their own time. This doesn’t appear to be complicated in any way, so it’s wait, though there may be a bit of positive leeway. As long as the bone heals normally, pitchers don’t put a ton of force on that area. The fingers, yes, but not the bones of the hand, so there’s a chance that he could be functional before he’s fully healed. Batting would be another story entirely.
Tucker Davidson takes Ynoa’s slot in the rotation, but with Max Fried coming out early and Soroka’s return a bit further out, the Braves have to be one of the teams looking at how the early trade market is starting to look. Minnesota’s likely a bit early to be a seller, but teams like Colorado, Pittsburgh, and Washington might want to make moves.
Mike Soroka SP ATL (post-Achilles surgery)
Mike Soroka had exploratory surgery on his repaired Achilles tendon Monday and things went well. Dr. Robert Anderson did what the team called a cleanup and said that Soroka could get back to his rehab work in a couple weeks. It’s safe to assume he’ll need a couple more to make sure the leg is healthy and to get his arm tuned up and make sure the shoulder issues don’t rear their head.
That means that Soroka won’t be back until at least the All Star break, unless he’s rushed and the Braves haven’t done that at any stage with him. But the fact that he’s likely to come back this season is a big plus. That he could come back relatively quickly and get in 10 or 12 starts is even better, especially for a suddenly shorthanded staff.
A source tells me that Soroka had some scar tissue at or near the repair site and was feeling that inside his leg. The repair appears to be holding well and that the site had no major issues. These kinds of scarring issues are common and seldom are more than uncomfortable, so the news coming out of surgery is good for all concerned. Now, Soroka just has a minor hurdle to overcome and then has to put everything - upper body and lower body - back together ahead of a return.
UPDATE: Soroka’s next recheck will be in a month, but he’ll be closely monitored until then. With tools like the Alter-G available, Soroka’s not totally down, but he is losing some general and specific conditioning. At this point, the ASB is the best case, not the most likely.
Corey Seager SS LAD (fractured hand)
In twenty-something years, it doesn’t get easier when I see an injury that is one-hundred percent preventable. Corey Seager’s - and any hand injury - is absolutely preventable by the simple use of existing hand protection. Yes, it’s a change, and yes, players for whatever reason don’t like them, but there’s not a great number of hand fractures in high-level cricket for the simple reason that they wear heavily protected gloves. I’m not sure of the history of when those came into fashion, but today, they’re lighter, cooler, and grippier, so there’s simply no reason to think they wouldn’t work or would make it harder for batters to hit in MLB.
Seager took a HBP off his hand and x-rays at the park showed the fracture. The Dodgers have yet to say exactly which bone is fractured, but assuming it is a simple fracture, the specifics don’t really matter. All of them will be about the same time, six to eight weeks, which gives Seager a chance to be back and hitting in late July or early August. Most come back from this well, and Seager will have the benefit of a rehab assignment if needed. Keeping his batting eye going is easier these days, with more tools like VR being used.
The Dodgers have a pretty extensive injury list right now and with two deals, things that didn’t seem to fit just a couple days ago make a bit more sense now. I still don’t see where Albert Pujols fits in on this team, unless Cody Bellinger’s leg is going to take more time than originally thought. Results don’t always match with quality, and injuries like this one to Seager and Bellinger’s similarly unpreventable fracture shouldn’t count the same against the Dodgers’ medical staff. There is a better way of weighting this, so if MLB would like to put together a study, they know where to find me.
UPDATE: Seager’s fracture is to the fifth metacarpal, which is the medial side of the hand, behind the pinky finger. In the foot, this would be a Jones fracture, but because of the traumatic nature and the different function, these aren’t the same. Seager will not require surgery so this will come down to how his body heals up more than anything else. That means six to eight weeks is likely, with Seager taking lots of reps on the Win Reality machine in the meantime.
Quick (New) Cuts:
Is Shohei Ohtani being down five mph on his fastball worrisome? Absolutely. He did show some mid-90s stuff, but the question here is why. Recovery? Some sort of weakness? Cue the scary music as Angels fans wait and wonder ahead of his next start Jacob deGrom let the Single-A kids know how much they had to work on, throwing 8 strikeouts in three innings. He also reportedly hit 102, so while the plan was for one more rehab start, don’t be surprised if the Mets let him make his next short (five max) start for the big club … Cody Bellinger starts a rehab assignment Friday at Triple-A. The Dodgers have a ton of injuries, but almost all of them have return times. This season, getting players back at or ahead of schedule is going to be huge … Wade Miley left his start in the fourth after he injured his foot. No specifics, but Miley had both x-rays and an MRI with no significant results, so he’ll see how the foot responds in side work ahead of his next start … Another one. Nelson Cruz took an HBP on the wrist and was out of the second game. Watch to see if he misses more time, though I’m told it’s “sore, not busted” in very technical terms … Kyle Freeland almost hit 80 pitches in his rehab start. The expectation is he’ll make his next start Tuesday for the Rockies …
Thank you for the thoughts. This guy’s going through a rough patch. He’s day to day.
Great read.. and mate- heartbroken.. I hope the pooch is comfortable. If anything deserved to live forever.. its a dog.