Curiosity Kills Something

Right, it's playoff time and I'm making a quick post about a single-A catcher, deal with it. I made my Division Series picks at the final hour over on my twitter page (yea, I "tweet") and also promised for a post that evening - best unemployed writer, ever!

Anyways, there has been a fair amount of negative things written about Nationals catching prospect Derek Norris. Here are comments by two of the industries most well-known prospect authors.

• Kevin Goldstein stated, "[Norris] became an on-base machine with little power" while giving him a mulligan due to injuries (I'll touch on these later).
• Jason Gray wrote, "Norris will look to rebound from a subpar season in the Carolina League, where he hit .235 and slugged just .419."

Truth be told, I actually thought there was more negative press about the 21 year old. However, we still have two authors who walked away unimpressed with the power that Norris displayed in 2010.

Quick explanation. Keith Law wrote in a recent chat transcript that it isn't uncommon for hitters to take a year to a year and a half to recover their power stroke after a hamate injury. I have read that similar power sapping can occur to wrist injuries. The hamate bone is, from my non-medical opinion, a part of the wrist, and as such, Derek Norris' power sapping should not have been too much of a surprise.

Norris also suffered a minor concussion when he was hit in the head by a "96mph fastball". Which Norris admitted took him a fair amount of plate appearances to bounce back from, something his month-by-month statistics show as this was the only full month where Norris posted an OPS under .830 (keep this number in mind for later). Even his playoff-shortened month of September had Norris posting an OPS of .865 (if my math is correct).

Of course we don't want to altogether eliminate Norris' month of June, but we can see that something might not have been right that month, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that it had to do with having just taken a fastball off the head.

Neither of which is the point. The point here is that Norris didn't really have that bad of a season. In fact, his power numbers as is would suffice in the big leagues.

Consider where he would stand with those numbers at the show. These numbers I am speaking of are the end of season line of an .838 OPS and an ISO of .184.

Among catchers with 390 plate appearances (Norris had 387) there are 20 qualified catchers, five of whom posted an OPS higher then Norris' .838, while six put up an ISO over Norris' .184.

In other words, if Norris' numbers translated cleanly to major league baseball, he suffered a serious hand injury, and a concussion, we're looking at a top 5 or 6 hitting catcher in baseball. Keep in mind Norris is also putting in a conscious effort to being a better defensive catcher, something we all know a guy like Jorge Posada could care less about.


Derek Norris is one of my favorite prospects and should be one of yours as well. Keep his name in mind over the next 20 months or so, because he'll be making a splash in Washington while Stephen Strasberg is making a push for his first Cy Young award.


Quick question, is the catcher position getting "deep"? There are a fair amount of highly regarded youngsters that are already in the majors, and we should see another handful or so in the next year.

Wahn, Wahn, Waaaaaahnnnnn

Yesterday the Bisons (you think I forgot about them, didn't you?!?) placed still-a-prospect Fernando "That's Fun to Say" Martinez on the disabled list. Ironically, this was also the same day the Bisons had their last big promo night of the season - a Fernando Martinez bobble head.

The bitter pill became even more bitter when the Bisons made an 8th inning comeback only to allow 5 runs in the 10th.

It's as if Buffalo knows I am back home - thanks!

Adam Miller Watch - An Update

Once Adam Miller's injury had been rediagnosed as a hole in his skin, which could have led to major infection issues, and it was thus surgery was required. This is said to be the same injury that Miller suffered during the Arizona Fall League, however it clearly went in the worst direction possible.

There hasn't been a lot of information released to date on the injury or Miller's recovery from it. But at the point of surgery, Miller was said to be out of pitching related activities for 8 weeks, which we are rapidly approaching.

A week ago, Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus, briefly mentioned Adam Wainwright's injured pulley tendon. Although this is a slightly different injury, where surgery was not required to reattach the tendon, we can use some of the information regarding Wainwright to let us know what's going on with Miller-which undeniably will go with substantially less fan fare, the result of being an oft-injury minor leaguer, and pitching for the small market, and losing, Indians team.

Understand that Miller will presumably take longer to return from this injury. Not only because he underwent surgery, but also because the Indians are in a position to be extra careful with their prized pitching prospect. Additionally, Wainwright is vital to the Redbirds making noise in down the stretch.

With that understood, over the weekend, reports are suggesting that Wainwright is about a week from throwing off of a mound. At which point, Wainwright would be between two and four weeks from returning to the rotation, dependent on how quickly the Cardinals need him in the rotation-although it wouldn't surprise me to see him work out of the bullpen.

Altogether, that is about nine to ten weeks that Wainwright would have been on the shelf. This, with a throwing program that could be relatively vigorous, and began in the middle of July.

All that being understood, I figure to hear that Miller has begun throwing from a short distance at the Indians Spring Training facility (whether it be the new one, or old one I couldn't even guess). At which point, it would probably be another three weeks before Miller was throwing off of a mound, and a total of five weeks before he faces live hitters. At best, Miller could be pitching in a game situation by September 1st.

With how the Indians are playing, it wouldn't surprise me to see them try him in the bullpen once the rosters expand in September. Either that, or for Miller to get a couple of starts, simply to build up his arm for the following season, where he will be expected to contribute to the rotation.


As always, I am looking for information regarding this injury. In a recent Hey Hoynsie at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Paul Hoynes guessed that the next time Indians fans will get to see Miller pitch, will be during the Arizona Instructional League.

Take a Chance on Me - 9th Edition

Take a Chance on Me has been far and few between lately although I am enjoying the most recent format of suggesting injury pick ups. This week's TACOM suggests the acquisition of Cleveland Indians, Fausto Carmona and Victor Martinez. Additionally, I supply reasons why 'closers' JJ Putz and Troy Percival should be avoided.

Check out The Fantasy Baseball Generals for more outstanding fantasy baseball coverage.

Recent BDD Action

A couple things for everyone to take note of...

The first, I have added a link to my 'Suggested Websites' sidebar called Brandon's BDD Blog. If you head to that link, you will have more up to date access to my blogs at Baseball Digest Daily. Or, you can click here.

The last week was a busy one for me as BDD, and one that I am definitely proud of. Here are the stories that I reported:

• WEEI in Boston reported that Curt Schilling will undergo season ending surgery.
• Taking credit with first reporting the story to the interweb, FAN 590 in Toronto reports that manager John Gibbons and much of his staff will be fired. The replacements were later reported as the coaching staff from the early 90s. An interesting move by the Jays.
• Blogger Awards were given out. MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year were voted on and reflected upon for the American League up to June 15th.
• King Felix hits a dinger and leaves game with an injury. This looked extremely serious and the star power of Hernandez seemed to be worthy of reporting. New reports suggest Hernandez will not miss a turn in the rotation, but at the time, the injury looked significant enough to set him down for some time.
  

As I mentioned, it was a relatively busy week reporting baseball news for Baseball Digest Daily. It makes it easy when there is a lot of news to report.

Recent BDD Action

A couple things for everyone to take note of...

The first, I have added a link to my 'Suggested Websites' sidebar called Brandon's BDD Blog. If you head to that link, you will have more up to date access to my blogs at Baseball Digest Daily. Or, you can click here.

Next up, with more time, and summer in full gear, I have been able to sit down and watch more ballgames. With that has come the ability to report more news. Over at Baseball Digest Daily I have been reporting injuries as I come across them live and give my opinion/understanding of the injury as it occurs. Here are my most recent entries:

• Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano leaves game with 'right shoulder discomfort'.
• Victor Martinez leaves game early with reported elbow injury. Obviously we have more information now, and Martinez has since gone under the knife.
• The injury woes continue for JJ Putz as he leaves the game with what was later diagnosed as a hyper-extended right elbow.

As you can see, I have been reporting these findings the second they occur. Baseball Digest Daily is rapidly growing and I am thrilled to be apart of such an outstanding website. Additions to the site seem to be happening weekly, the most recent of which is a weekly Radio show, Thursday's at 6pm EST. The first of which will be tonight, Thursday June 19, 2008, check it out.

Finally, this is post #99 of The Outsiders Look. While things here have been sporadic and several of the series' which I was incredibly excited about have faded, I am glad to see that the readership has grown. While I am not in need of my own server anytime soon, having regular readers definitely keeps my motivation high.

With that said, is there anything that you the reader wish for me to add? Anything I should return to doing?

As always, thanks for reading!

Adam Miller Watch - Whoa! Really?

In what was reported to be a simple callous on a finger of Adam Miller's throwing hand, has turned out to be a season ending injury. As I wrote earlier this week, I was skeptical about whether or not the reports of the injury being simply a callous were correct.

According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer,

Lonnie Soloff, Indians head athletic trainer, said Miller will be out for eight weeks. He can then resume a throwing program, which essentially will take him to the end of the minor league season at Class AAA Buffalo.

Miller, who missed all of spring training with the big-league club because of a callous on the same finger, originally injured the tendon last year. He injured it once during the season and once again in the Arizona Fall League.

This year Miller was pitching well for Buffalo, but the unattached tendon in the finger caused a fistula to develop on the second crease of the underside of the finger between two callouses. Soloff said Dr. Graham determined that the fistula, a hole in the skin, which could lead to infection, would not close if the tendon wasn't re-attached to the bone.

While there is still hope that Miller will be able to pitch at some point this season, the Indians management are going to have to look long and hard at the long term value of Miller. While many asserted that he was destined to the bullpen because of his continual injury issues, there was hope that he would be able to get past the issues which have plagued his professional career.

Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com had the following report,

"It's a challenging injury," Soloff said. "It was a very challenging procedure to perform."

Miller actually suffered the injury a year ago and missed six weeks of action with the Bisons while resting the strain. The Indians felt Miller could get by without surgery.

But as a result of the strain, Miller's tendon would bowstring, and his skin sagged when his finger bent. That caused the skin to rub up against the baseball, creating two hardened calluses. Between those calluses, a hole developed in the skin.

Graham found that Miller's tendons were starting to fray and his finger's pulley system -- in layman's terms, the system that allows his finger to bend -- was not working properly.

"Closing [the hole in] the skin would not be enough [for Miller] to pitch at a high level," Soloff said.

While the Indians medical staff annually ranks among the elite in the business, there is little doubt that they have misdiagnosed Miller to this point. That is not to say that they have at all harmed Miller, rather, it is to say that the direction the club took with Miller was misguided. There is little doubt in my mind at this point, that Miller will not be given any more shots at proving he is capable of being a major league starter, his role will now be to work out of the bullpen.

This news is especially damaging to the Indians organization at it appeared they were prepared to go in one of two directions. The first, was to bring Miller up and give him a shot at long relief, expanding his bullpen role as he proved to be capable of doing so. The second, was to look into bringing in a quality major league bat. Jason Bay's name had been linked with the Indians in the off season, but the Pirates decided to hold out building Bay's value. With the way Bay is currently playing and the amount remaining on his contract, a Bay for Miller swap did not seem out of the question. That speculation however, can all but be disregarded.


I will continue to follow Adam Miller in hopes of uncovering any reason behind the continual problems he is having despite no obvious mechanical issues. I hope to also dig up some information on how Miller himself feels about the circumstances of this major injury.

Adam Miller Watch - He's On the DL!

The Cleveland Indians top prospect, Adam Miller, and the focus of many posts here at The Outsiders Look, is heading to the disabled list, according to Bisons.com. The website is not reporting a retroactive date, which leads me to believe he may be out for some time (although I have emailed some sources and hope to have an update on the extent of Miller's injury specifically).

The Buffalo News is reporting that Miller has been placed on the DL due to "a broken callous on his pitching hand." Further information was released a day later suggesting that the injury is specifically related to a finger. Indians.com is reporting that the callous is on the same finger as the blister which caused Miller to delay the start of his season. With how Miller came back so strong, it is startling that the blister went away and then essential reappeared.

I have also received word that the callous is, in most cases, is similar to a blister, which again, makes me wonder how Miller went from a blister in Spring to having a clean hand, to again developing an issue with this finger. The injury is especially worrisome in it's severity as according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto, Miller was on the verge of a call-up to help strengthen the bullpen.

I will be adding more information as it arrives.



Update - 05/27/2008 - 12:22 PM EST
Josh Weir of the Canton Rep. is reporting that the callous is on the same finger that Miller strained a ligament on last year and consequently landed him on the disabled list. This injury issue is interesting as by most accounts, Miller has an easy and smooth delivery. Few, if anyone report any major mechanical flaws. This reminds me of Josh Beckett's battle with blisters. I will do some digging and see what was Beckett did to get past those issues.

Feel Good Story

No, this isn't about a player fighting an addiction on his way to becoming a minor star and technically this is more bad news then good. But every once in a while something bad happens in order for something good to occur.

At Baseball Digest Daily I reported the story about Scott Rolen fracturing a finger. I was not the first, but over at Brew Crew Ball they sourced my report.

Sometimes, it's the little things in life that make a difference.