Indians Team Health Report
This is pay content from BP. Among the interesting points: Laffey and Masterson are both "Red Light" injury risks, Sizemore and Westbrook are both "Green Lights."
6 months ago
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It isn’t a pay article.
Also, has anyone heard of LaPorta’s “makeup” issues before? It was news to me.
He’s been a top pick of a top scouting operation and a guy whose makeup has been questioned at almost every stop along the way. He’s talented and focused, but said to have work habits and personal quirks that get mentioned a lot more than you’d expect
fka "DaytonDogg". Now a contributor to SBN's Dawgs By Nature. www.dawgsbynature.com
We had some conversation on it in the game thread today, beginning here. I think we are generally confused by it.
i think it’s a side effect of one leg being dehydrated
by TheDanimal on Mar 10, 2010 6:21 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
It’s the first I’ve heard about it, but I’m not surprised.
LaPorta’s blunt confidence in his religious beliefs, and his willingness to extend them into discussions of serious career issues, have always been unsettling, and my guess is that this is in some way related to Will’s comments.
I guess I don’t see it, unless it either a. effects his relationship with his teammates or b. changes his approach to training and preparing
I can see this being a topic that several teammates just don’t want brought up in the clubhouse, if that’s what you mean.
Steel Nick
Responding to both Roger and you … this has been an problem in other clubhouses with other players, spouting off with proselytizing all the time and generally irritating people. One can assume that nearly all the Latino players are Catholic and the majority of American players are Protestant, with a fairly high concentration of Evangelicals and Southern Baptist among them. A “chronic witness” type of person isn’t going to bother almost any of those folks initially, but over time? You can see how it might start to fray nerves.
Although Carroll is talking about LaPorta’s makeup in the context of injury risk…I don’t think LaPorta is incorporating snake-handling into his rehab routine
Makeup: Think of it as the Max Factor.
by ken from alexandria on Mar 11, 2010 8:57 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah, that’s the obvious comparison, but honestly, everyone talks about Tebow’s makeup like its a huge huge plus. If there are concerns about LaPorta’s makeup, I don’t think we should cut right to his religious beliefs.
by dgcambridge on Mar 11, 2010 11:27 AM EST up reply actions
There’s another aspect related to lapsarianism and predestination that says if God wanted the Indians to win, well, that was just in the cards. It’s the Lord’s will.
I’ve read of other players who adopted this kind of lackadaisical attitude, and it drove teammates crazy.
Pedro Cerrano: Bats, they are sick. I cannot hit curveball. Straightball I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid. I ask Jobu to come, take fear from bats. I offer him cigar, rum. He will come.
Eddie Harris: You know you might think about taking Jesus Christ as your savior instead of fooling around with all this stuff.
Roger Dorn: Sh*t, Harris.
Pedro Cerrano: Jesus, I like him very much, but he no help with curveball.
Eddie Harris: You trying to say Jesus Christ can’t hit a curveball?
I’m not emotional about iPad...
And what is the lesson that Cerrano teaches us when he hits the bomb? Jobu is no help.
Welcome back, Sandy! ATALECG...
Here’s what Lastoria has to say:
“If makeup is in regard to him as a person and how he mixes in with his teammates, it’s bogus. But, if it is strictly mentioned in regard to his work habits, there may be some smoke there. I haven’t heard anything about it, nor has it ever been a concern with the Indians as far as I can tell….but as the article suggests I guess we will see with how he comes back from the injury which will show how hard he has worked and if he plays through a little pain.”
I agree about being confused about it – from what I had heard and read, either it was directly stated or strongly implied that LaPorta’s work ethic was always quite good, so this comment seems to be coming out of “left field,” pardon the pun.
If these “work habits and personal quirks” were mentioned a lot more or are mentioned a lot more in the coming weeks and months, I might strongly consider these “habits and quirks” to be something worth monitoring, but as for right now, I just think that someone is trying to make a bigger issue out of something that, to this point, has not been an issue amongst people who follow LaPorta regularly (such as the local media and bloggers – Castrovince, Lastoria, Cousineau, etc., and even us here at LGT, who follow information on LaPorta regularly, if not daily).
The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.
SP Justin Masterson: The Indians are smart enough not to push Masterson’s workload in 2010, but I also don’t see who’ll take the 10-15 starts they’ll probably need to pair with Masterson. There’s a chance that we see Reyes in the second half, which could work out well for everyone.
So is he saying that Masterson isn’t going to make more than 15 starts?
i think he’s saying masterson will get 20-25, so you need another 10-15 to get to 35.
by TheDanimal on Mar 10, 2010 6:22 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
And the Indians have tons of able bodies to fill in those 10-15 starts it seems to me, just not a lot of certainty in how good they will be. But that seems a separate issue altogether.
Agreed – the problem is NOT that the Indians won’t have any bodies to fill those 10-15 starts; it’s more a question of quality of those starts. But, if it comes down to protecting the health of a pitcher who you expect to be a major piece to your next contender and whether you’ll get quality starts from whoever takes his place for a temporary period, I think most, if not all, would worry about protecting the health of the valued pitcher and taking what you can from whoever replaces him.
In short, the comment about not seeing who will take those 10-15 starts of Masterson’s in the event of protecting his long-term health seems offbase and not much of a concern (as compared to Masterson’s health), or as you put it, “a separate issue altogether.”
The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.
Why is Masterson a red flag? Looking at his minor league track record, there doesn’t seem to be many injury problems unless I’m missing something. Or this is one of those “I don’t like his delivery and he will blow out his elbow” type of analysis?
I think the concern is that he has pitched 88 and 129 innings at the big league level the past two seasons. If you project him to make 30 starts, you are talking about 180 innings which would be a big jump. That said, the Indians aren’t stupid about these kinds of things. And the total innings pitched by Masterson in his career, minors plus majors, is 31 (in his debut season), 153, 132, and 129. I’m not worried about Masterson.
I recall there being a “magic number” as a warning sign for injury increase, and I found an article with Verducci talking about it. It’s a 30 IP increase of big league pitching only for pitchers 25 and under. So that’s where Masterson applies. I have to be convinced that his minor league inning totals should be ignored.
Steel Nick
but does that 20% include all levels, or do they have a “major’s only” rule.
I can see where you may weigh ML innings a little bit, but to ignore minor league innings completely, like nick says, is suspect.
fka "DaytonDogg". Now a contributor to SBN's Dawgs By Nature. www.dawgsbynature.com
by Ryan Kelsey on Mar 10, 2010 11:05 PM EST up reply actions
I may have overstated that. Verducci’s exact words:
I defined an at-risk pitcher as any 25-and-under pitcher who increased his innings log by more than 30 in a year in which he pitched in the big leagues.
And yet he goes on to count not only minor-league IPs as part of a player’s total (Homer Bailey only threw 113 innings for the Reds but Verducci counts 200+), but the Olympics as well.
Steel Nick
I don’t understand the workload concerns.
2007: 153.2 IP
2008: 88.1 IP
2009: 129.1 IP
You’re telling me he can’t push 180-190 IP this year, assuming he’s good enough to do it?
Steel Nick
He probably could, but why should we risk it? If innings 150-180 aren’t helping this team contend, I don’t think there’s any reason he should throw them unless we’re sure he can handle it.
In the hypothetical situation where somehow he isn’t in the Cy Young hunt, that is.
Is this the whale section?
by sarcasmdave on Mar 10, 2010 10:45 PM EST up reply actions
Listen, obviously there’s no reason to Baker him and especially none if we’re out of contention. Big picture, we should be careful about Masterson’s workload while remembering that he’s 25 (the very end of the scary zone) and there might not be cause for panic if he goes for 170 IP or so. Caution, but not kid gloves.
Steel Nick
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