Injury Analysis - June 17th

I'm going to try something new with reporting and describing injuries. Instead of posting injury updates regarding only the biggest news, I'm going to list the top 5 injury news each day that effects your fantasy team. If you would rather have a different format or like to see more of a different topic please let me know.

1. Brad Penny - Shoulder Bursitis and Mild Tendinitis in Throwing Shoulder

He's been diagnosed with bursitis and tendinitis in his shoulder and has been placed on the 15-day DL. Penny said that it has been bothering him for a while and the results show it:

BABIP	K/BB	PTO%	QERA	ERA Dif	P/IP
0.333	1.310	23.2%	5.28	0.603	17.68
0.306	1.85	27.70%	4.63	-1.604	15.51
0.327	2.74	26.69%	4.12	0.210	17.11

Clearly his control problem and thus his P/IP was effected by the shoulder for some time. Rehab wise it's a fairly straight forward and relatively simple rehab, I expect him to come back in the 15-20 day range. Once he's back, look closely at his control over his first 2 starts. If his control doesn't return, assume that there is still something wrong with his mechanics (whether it's from an injury or something else)

2. Paul Konerko - Grade I Left Oblique Strain

Figures just as I suggest to pick him up he pulls his left oblique. Thankfully this is a very mild strain so he should be back in the minimum. What's important though is that this muscle turns the trunk to the left producing force and power to the right handed batters. I would keep an eye on his power at first, but most likely he'll be completely fine in 2 weeks.

3. Rafael Furcal - "Stiff Lower Back" (yeah right)

Low backs don't stay stiff on their own for 10 weeks. Don't be surprised if there is a degenerative condition or some sort of disc injury. Either way, they're calling it AS-break at best. I don't think he'll be much use for you for a couple of weeks after that.

4. Troy Tulowitski - Left Hip Strain

Troy is due to return near the end of the week if all goes well and I expect an explosion of offense from him the second half. I expect that he will get back to his numbers from last year. Also to consider is that he was extremely unlucky in the first part of the season:

BABIP	P/PA	BB/SO	GB/FB	HR/FB
0.160	3.69	1.20	1.310	3.45%
0.280	3.82	2.66	1.444	16.90%
0.237	3.67	8.50	2.313	6.25%

An extremely low BABIP despite being extremely aggressive and hitting a lot of FB. His HR rate is also extremely low. Get him while you can if someone was dumb enough to drop him.

5. Francisco Liriano (sorta an injury recovery) TJ recovery

He's gained a lot of confidence and has found his mechanics and lost the fear of hurting his elbow again. This is often the hardest thing for a pitcher recovering from TJ, just letting it go and trusting the arm again. Once the pitcher does this, something clicks and they return to the level they were at previously. After stinking his first start in AAA, all that he's done is thrown 6+ innings 8 out of 9 starts and walked less than 2 batters 7 times out of 9.

Again, if anyone was dumb enough to drop him then pick him up immediately. He should return to the Twins soon.


Please let me know if you prefer this format or another format. Of course when major injuries happen (such as Wang) I'll do a special post.

UPDATE: I just saw on ESPN that he has been dealing with a bulging disc. As anyone knows who ever had a bulging disc, it's a hard thing to live with once it becomes symptomatic. It can flare up at anytime and it really never fully heals, it simply becomes less painful/problematic. Again, this is another case where you really have to watch his rehab starts. The one good thing is that he was never really a power guy so his power won't be sapped as much.