Injuries and Oddness

Today I’m feeling a bit sick, so I thought it would be appropriate to spend my column discussing guys who are currently on the DL or on the verge of coming off it. So, let’s get to it.

Just how bad is that injury to the knee of Carlos Beltran? Well it isn’t catastrophic and doesn’t appear like he will need surgery, but at the same time the team is bracing to be without their star for more than just 15 days. “I can also tell you that I’m not gonna tell you that he’s gonna be back within the 15 days,” GM Omar Minaya said. “I said to myself … if we get him back for the second half, after the All-Star Break, I’d sign up for that right now.” Wow. The Mets are only 1.5 games back of the Phillies, but if they are without Beltran for three weeks in addition to the other injuries they have suffered (Jose Reyes is likely out until after the All-Star break with his hamstring injury and Carlos Delgado is likely out until August because of his hip surgery), do they really have much of a shot at the playoffs?

I’ve written it before, but here is it again. Oliver Perez as a reliever makes zero sense. The guys takes forever to “find” himself and locate the strike zone, so I cannot see how bringing him into a game in the 7th inning makes any sense at all since he won’t have time to see what is working etc. Maybe I’m wrong, but if I’m the Mets I start him or leave him in the minors starting until he figures out whatever that ails him with his knee and or mechanics. Nothing else makes sense. Oh maybe one thing does – the Mets could trade him to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez.

I don’t get something. OK, I don’t get a lot of things, but I really don’t get how the Indians appear to be handling the case of Grady Sizemore. First off, they let him play far too long with that injured elbow when he clearly wasn’t able to do the things we have been used to seeing from him the past four years since when he finally found his way to the DL he was hitting .223 with a .417 SLG, well below his established baselines of .275 and .486. Then they shut him down for roughly three weeks during which time he basically did nothing to allow the inflammation in his elbow to subside (that makes sense). Then, they had the bright idea of simply activating him without a single game in the minors. “I just want to get back on the field,” said Sizemore. Yeah, we all do Grady, but doesn’t it sound like a bad idea to do nothing for three weeks and then immediately return to major league action? Now we get the following trifecta right before game time on Tuesday night from manager Eric Wedge – Sizemore (a) will not be in the lineup every day, at least for the remainder of this week, (b) might spend some time at DH moving forward and (c) will return to hitting second in the order when Asdrubal Cabrera is ready to return from his shoulder injury, likely later this week. Don’t know about you, but seems like some oddness going on in Cleveland to me.

Joey Votto broke his silence and told the media that the reason that he missed time this season was that he was clinically depressed at the loss of his father last August. I wish you all the best Joey, no more jokes about your condition from this corner now that we know the details.

Does everyone know that Kyle Elfrink and I co-host the Fantasy Buffet Mon., Tues., Thurs. and Fri.? The podcast can be heard at Fanball.com each morning from 8-9 AM, PST. Oh yeah, it’s everyday during the week as Wednesday’s when I’m not there the Godfather of fantasy sports, Charlie Wiegert, steps in to take up my co-hosting chair. Each day we talk about everything sports related, obviously with a fantasy slant, as we break down the latest performances and injuries. Come give the show a listen – it’s not just Kyle and me every day, we also bring in a handful of our other correspondents to allow them to given their views on a myriad of topics. It’s good fun, and if I do say so myself, the show usually comes off without a hitch.

By Ray Flowers

Tuesday's Thoughts

Today I’m going with some short hitting, somewhat irreverent comments about a handful of players around the diamond. So, giddy-up.

Ryan Braun got yet another MRI, this one on his sore back. There is nothing structurally wrong with his body according to the test, so the hope is that he will be able to work through the aches and pains. There is no truth to the rumor that Braun’s body functions like a giant magnet after all his early season tests.

Chris Carpenter played catch on Monday. Whoopie. You know you are an injured mess when that is news. I played catch with my buddies son over the weekend. I called the San Francisco Chronicle to tell them, but they told me they didn’t have any more space on the front page to make a note. In all seriousness, Carpenter should throw off the mound this weekend, or something like that, so he is still weeks away from a possible return.

Now we know where he gets his addictions. According to an Associated Press report, Joba Chamberlain’s mother has been arrested for selling methamphetamine to an undercover cop. Man the Yankees are a mess. The only shot Joba has to avoid this becoming a nation-wide story is if the book on A-Rod takes away the press. You gotta think that Joba, for one, is glad A-Rod is his teammate right now as the A-Rod story will likely be the lead story for ESPN for probably the next, oh I don’t know, 113 days?

Tom Glavine threw off the mound on Monday and said that his left shoulder felt fine. He will likely throw another session later in the week and then will likely need a couple of minor league outings before being considered for a spot in the Braves rotation. Out of the big-3 that the Braves used to boast (including John Smoltz), how is it that Greg Maddux is the only one not trying to continue his pitching career?

David Ortiz hit a couple of line drives last night off of Phil Hughes. He still hasn’t gone deep this year (99 at-bats), but he looked pretty locked last night. He may have just turned the corner. Speaking of Hughes, how is it that a guy that throws that hard, with some decent movement as well, just can’t seem to lock it in. Maybe it’s because he wears number 65. I know the Yankees have a lot of retired numbers that are unavailable, but Hughes, you aren’t on the ice wearing skates, so pick a baseball number.

Oliver Perez will remain with the Mets and work on his control issues in the bullpen. Why? When you walk 21 batters in 21.2 innings you don’t deserve to be paid for your work, let alone rewarded with first class meals, flights and hotels in “The Show”. Man, I wish I was left-handed.

Carlos Zambrano has indeed been placed on the DL with his hamstring injury. I’m only surprised he didn’t end up on the DL earlier in the year with some sort of oblique strain considering how hard he swings the lumber. Speaking of that, who is the best hitter amongst pitchers? The list may not be limited to Zambrano and Micah Owings, but they are certainly both near the top. Here are the career numbers for each.

Zambrano: .240-17-49-55 in 512 ABs. He also has 182 K and six walks.
M. Owings: .315-5-23-17 in 130 ABs. He also has 43 K and seven walks.

Man that Owings can hit can’t he? In fact, if we get a little crazy and extrapolate his level of production over 500-AB, we end up with a batting line that any fantasy leaguer in the world would take in their outfield: .315-19-88-65 with a .894 OPS. Could we see a Rick Ankiel conversion here from the hill to the field if Owings can’t find his grove on the mound? After all, he does owns one rather average pitching line in his 279.2 inning career with a 4.96 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 6.56 K/9 and a 2.00 K/BB mark. Speaking of Ankiel, that sure was scary last night when he face planted into that wall. Thank goodness he’s OK, though he might still end up on the DL just to make sure everything is alright.

By Ray Flowers

Is Something Amiss?

By Ray Flowers

Another day, another series of injuries to report in the world of baseball. Also, I want to spend a moment detailing the failures of one of the hottest waiver-wire pick ups in the game. Am I surprised that he has struggled mightily? Hardly. Oh, and I have to give a shout out to the Sharks before I close this entry down as well.

How bad is Emilio Bonifacio? He is just 3-for-35 (.086) to drop his season long average to .270, and he hasn’t plated a run since April 11th (12 games). Seems like I warned people about this didn’t I? Oh yeah I did back on April 8th when everyone was going ga-ga over his hot start in an Impact Report. Here are a few direct quotes from that piece.

(1) “…Bonifacio simply must do a better job of making contact if he ever hopes to reach his ceiling as a hitter.” Emilio has 19 K in 74 at-bats, that’s a strikeout in more than 25% of his at bats, and also has resulted in a contact rate of 74%, well below the major league average of 80%.

(2) “Bonifacio needs to continue to work on his plate discipline and control of the strike zone. At this point he is clearly operating at below major league average levels in this respect.” With 19 K and four walks, Emilio’s BB/K mark is a pitiful 0.21 (ML average is 0.50).

(3) “…it might even be advisable to move him because, as we have long preached… take advantage of the weak if you can, it’s survival of the fittest in fantasy baseball.” As you saw above, the time to move Emilio has clearly vanished as his production has dwindled to the point of irrelevance. Hopefully you listened.

Carlos Delgado is out of the Mets’ lineup on Monday after he aggravated his hip sliding into third base on a triple. You think that he somehow innately knew he would be injured if he was asked to slide into third base so that is why he has hit only 18 triples in his career of over 2,000 games? Nah, me neither.

Carlos Gomez will leave the team on Tuesday to witness the birth of his first child. Perhaps while he is away he can ask the doctor for a hitting transplant as he is batting just .195 this season.

Josh Hamilton has a rib injury that has been bothering him for a few days. He had a cortisone shot on Sunday, and it usually takes a few days down time to return after one of those. People just assumed that Hamilton would hit another 30+ home runs with 120+ RBI, but the fact is that it just isn’t that easy no matter how immensely talented one is. So far this year, Hamilton is hitting just .242 with a .660 OPS in 19 games.

Just how much rope will Oliver Perez be given? The club said he will make his next start against the Phillies, but that may be it if he lays another egg. Through four starts he owns a 9.31 ERA, a 1.97 WHIP and a ghastly, maybe atrocious, possibly abysmal, let’s just say pathetic total of 6.98 walks per nine innings. For a pitcher with as much raw stuff as this guy, the fact that he simply cannot throw the ball over the plate to see what would happen is just shocking. His BABIP (.354) is way too high (.296 career) and his LOB-rate is amazingly low (54.6% vs. his career 73.3% mark), but it’s still all about base runners. If you have seen Perez pitch this year there is no way you would believe that once upon a time he posted a 2.98 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP and 239 K (good for a 10.97 K/9 mark). Look it up though, he actually did that all of that in 2004.

I can’t sign off without mentioning the Sharks. They are mere hours away from their biggest game of the year. They trail the Ducks three games to two, and will need to win the next two games to avoid an ignominious end to a season that started with such promise. They simply must win tonight. If they do, anything can happen in a Game 7.