UTK 9/11/20

Free Friday: May's foot, Kelly's conspiracy, Chapman's psoas, and more

Always odd to write that date, even as the years get further away. Welcome to Free Friday, where we look back and forward at the injuries of the week. Most of this is review - info you get during the week when you subscribe - but there’s enough new things I needed to cover, so let’s get right to it:

Dustin May SP LAD (inflamed foot)

I’ve written about comebacks for a long time and it’s usually in relation to the head. My concern there is obvious - one bad hit to the head and we have a name next to Ray Chapman. I got called on the carpet by a reader last year who saw that pitchers I was working with wore no additional protection, despite one taking a nasty comebacker off his forearm during a game. (He was fine.)

The issue is that while there’s been progress, pitcher protection hasn’t been normalized. While several pitchers wear hat inserts - which do make a significant difference - those are unusual at all levels. Few if any wear any sort of shin guards, though at lower levels we are seeing insurance companies push for chest protection for pitchers. Several deaths have occurred when the heart stopped after a comebacker, usually in younger kids.

For Dustin May, it was his foot and I won’t blame Nike or whoever for not making a shoe stiffer or padded. A player likely wouldn’t wear it, especially given how particular pitchers are about their cleats. It’s rare enough to be just another accepted risk with usually low consequences. Usually. The Dodgers are still waiting to see how May’s foot held up.

He came out of the game and x-rays were negative, but there was significant pain and more worrisome, significant swelling. It could be as simple as his body’s reaction to getting impacted, but there are a lot of small, fine structures in the foot that don’t respond well while also being very enervated. There’s a reason mob guys always hit people in the feet in those old movies.

We’ll have to wait to see how further tests go, but assuming there’s no major damage to structures inside the foot, May’s return will come down to how he can function. It’s his push foot, so he’ll need to be able to use that normally, without changing the mechanics of what leads to those nasty pitches. There’s obviously a lot of force there.

I was reminded by a source that this isn’t May’s first encounter with a comebacker and that his high-velo stuff might lend itself to hard hit balls. He got very lucky last year, in a situation that could have been worse:

Matt Chapman 3B OAK (inflamed hip)

It’s hip tendonitis for Matt Chapman, as the A’s explain what’s been going on over the last few days and it matches up with what’s been seen and said. I feel like honesty should be rewarded … 10 points for Gryffindor or something. The early reports that called this a strain were probably accurate as well — a strain is damage to the tendon, so even if the tendon is inflamed, there’s likely also some damage, even if minor or interrelated to the inflammation.

Chapman’s iliapsoas tendonitis can be a real problem beyond the simple pain. It can “click” on rotation, which is precisely the kind of motion that he’ll need at the plate and in the field. If you remember back to the spinning move he made on the play where the injury supposedly occurred (or at least was exacerbated), it’s exactly the kind of motion that would test that tendon most.

The A’s staff isn’t going to be able to cure this while he plays or even if they shut him down for a few days. The key is to keep him functional and as pain free as possible. There’s a couple weeks of regular season and who knows into the playoffs, so knowing what we know here, keeping Chapman functional might force them to try and give him days off as needed, to take him out of the field, or to go to more aggressive measures if this gets worse. Right now, it’s all about calming things as much as possible and getting as much recovery as they can.

Chris Devenski RP HOU (strained elbow)

There is nothing more devastating to a medical staff than a player that comes off the IL only to head right back on. That’s what happened with Chris Devenski, as his elbow didn’t hold up to his return after only two outings. Yes, that’s a very bad sign. As a reliever, it’s hard to say he can’t come back, unlike starters that need some measure of stamina, but the circumstances here probably end Devenski’s very short 2020 season.

There’s no clarity on whether this is a recurrence of the same issue or a new, related issue elsewhere in the elbow, but as I’ve stated here, strained forearms can become sprained elbows, but it’s not a one-to-one relationship as many will say. Devenski does fit that pattern and given the amount and type of injuries that the Astros have seen this year, it has to be worrisome when planning for ‘21.

Which is going to be a hard lesson, for the Astros and others. If we assume that ‘21 is going to be relatively normal, how do we assess what happened in ‘20, or for the hundreds of pitchers left outside the alt-sites, what didn’t happen. This offseason is, at best, going to be a huge experiment in ramp up and the value of development. One thing I will predict is that we’ll see a bunch of pitchers get better - velocity, command, and real development - and that it will be used to question the minor leagues even more. If the best prospects in baseball are coming out of a strip mall in Tampa, why are we sending them to Billings and Fresno?

Juan Soto OF WAS (elbow soreness)

Juan Soto had a “clean” MRI after experiencing intermittent soreness in the elbow. Again, the definition of ‘clean’ gets very Clintonian. Clean could mean no ligament or tendon damage. It could mean no degenerative changes. Bone spurs or reactions would have been seen in X-ray, but could be clarified in further imaging. Or it could be all of the above, or none. Beware words like this that sound like something, but are really nothing.

Soto remains out of the lineup and with no real idea of what’s happening with the elbow, it’s impossible for anyone to even guess about how long he may stay out and what the effect on him may be once he’s back. There’s no word that he had any sort of injection, that the inflammation was severe or even noticeable, but that the pain was internal. Again, not enough to make any sort of good guesses.

Not only watch to see when Soto comes back, but whether he has any limitations. We might learn more from warm ups than games. Will Soto be long tossing? Will his throws look natural or guarded? Does he wear additional protection at bat or does his swing shorten or slow? There’s a lot of questions, but no answers on Soto just yet.

UPDATE: Still no answers, at least publicly. Soto was back in the lineup on Thursday, wore no additional protection at the plate, and seemed relatively normal. We can assume that the issue is affecting his throwing more, given the DH slot, but even that’s not really known. The Nats are keeping this very close to the vest for some reason; sources I normally go to are either clamming up or being deliberately kept out of the loop for an injury that doesn’t seem to be that serious.

Harold Ramirez OF MIA (strained hamstring)

Harold Ramirez came off the COVID IL, then immediately strained his hamstring. This isn’t uncommon, though happening this fast is. These kind of “burst injuries”, as I’ve termed them, happen when a muscle is overloaded. No matter how hard teams and players try, it’s very hard to simulate game conditions. In those conditions, across sports, we’ve seen injuries to lower backs, obliques, and as with Ramirez, a lot of hamstring strains. Ramirez is done for the season with what’s being called a “significant strain”, though they don’t think surgery will be necessary. My guess is this is a four to six week injury with only three left in the Marlins season.

This is a known issue, so I’ll knock the Marlins medical and field staff a little bit. It’s not like you can tell a player fresh off the IL to “go easy”, knowing he won’t do it and instincts will fight it anyway. The issue is that knowing this, the staffs have to do as much as they can to protect a player. That clearly didn’t happen here, for whatever reason, and the more I talk to sources down there, the less it seems like the Marlins are putting any emphasis on prevention.

This is a team in absolute crisis. They’re bad, they’ve dealt with serious adverse conditions this year, and yet the season is random and short enough that they’re at 500 and in a playoff slot ahead of the Mets and Nats. What happens the rest of the way is on Derek Jeter and the owners. We’ll see if they’ve been building for something or if this is who and what they are.

Joe Kelly RP LAD (strained shoulder)

In a world where QAnon is a thing, conspiracy theories seem to be everywhere, even baseball. Going around now is talk that Joe Kelly’s loss of control during his rehab from a shoulder strain is simply a defense for throwing at the Astros. I’m not even sure which side this theory supports, plus think back to the viral video of Kelly during the COVID pause, going up and in to his bedroom window.

The odd thing to me is that shoulder injuries don’t tend to manifest themselves as control issues. The rule is usually “shoulder is velocity, elbow is control”, so what’s going on that Kelly is losing control? It’d be easier if we knew just how - is he not able to command the zone? Is he missing his spots? Does he have the yips? My guess is that he’s had to subtly alter his motion to avoid pain and that’s costing him his release point.

Take this another step further and one of the smartest and richest franchises in baseball don’t seem to know either. It’s hard to believe that they wouldn’t send Kelly to get his mechanics looked at, or even get PitchAI on him for a quick look. Again, my guess is that they know what’s wrong, know that there’s a bigger fix down the line, and that they’re trying to get a valuable bullpen arm to function. They have all the time they need given their record and playoff position, so they can take their time and get Kelly back with enough time to get some game action.

UPDATE: Kelly was activated and immediately went on suspension. I’m told by Dodgers sources that the team did this “early”, in that Kelly isn’t quite ready to pitch, but that they think he’ll be ready about the time his suspension is done, maximizing the time he has when back. It’s smart, if a bit against the spirit of a suspension.

Quick (New) Cuts:

Giancarlo Stanton is getting closer. The Yanks think that Stanton could be back late next week, but they’re concerned about recurrences. They’re also worried about not making the playoffs, so the decision on the return will be a bit of a balancing act … The same timeline is true for Aaron Judge. He could also be back by late next week and I’m told there’s a 50-50 shot that they both return the same day … Chris Paddack sprained his ankle during his start. It was as simple as it comes, he just rolled it over. They’ll monitor it closely and hope that he’ll make his next start, but that all comes down to how his ankle responds to the sprain … Sean Doolittle has had a tough year. An oblique strain isn’t going to make it better and it could end his season, given the short time left. He’d gotten past the mechanical issue a knee injury had caused and looked solid over the last week … As the Rays look to the playoffs, they’re hoping they can collect as much health as possible. Mike Zunino would be a help and he’s making good, if slow, progress from his oblique strain. He could be back as soon as mid-week … Tyler Thornburg left Thursday’s game with elbow soreness. This bares watching and comes at a rough time for the Reds pen … Nail care is important to pitchers. It might sound funny - I can remember when people would say “soft!” - but for someone like Zach Wheeler, his grips require them. He’ll miss his scheduled start as he continues to try to fix his middle finger’s nail … Geovanny Gallegos left his last outing with the loss and a groin strain. The Cards are worried this could end his regular season … Thanks again for a great week. If you want this information in your inbox all week so you don’t have to wait for Free Friday, it’s five bucks a month. I love doing this, so if you love reading it, please help by subscribing or passing it on to a friend that might enjoy and subscribe also!

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