Baseball Chatter 04/29

Byron Buxton is out indefinitely with a hairline fracture of his toe. The word indefinitely sounds so bad, so I did a little investigating to find out exactly what a hairline fracture is and how long it might take to heal.

Most fractures are caused by a particular accident, but hairline fractures occur from repetitive stress. Think of it like a repetitive microscopic injury to the bone.

That being said, Buxton was placed on the DL for migraines on April 23rd

He participated in a rehab game down at High-A last Sunday when he fouled a ball off his left foot. He was scratched from the game Monday, when he went to a doctor who drilled into his  big toenail to relieve pressure in his toe, and was listed as day-to-day. Management said he was still on target to return to the Twins Wednesday.

The news of the hairline fracture came out Saturday with no time table given for his return. To make a long story short, we can expect Buxton to miss at least the next six weeks. If he doesn’t let it heal completely before even taking part in baseball activities, he runs the risk of it turning into a fully broken bone or even surgery.

Unverified Estimated return = June 10, 2018

The reason it happened in the first place was because his toe was bruised and injured after the foul ball smashed it but he kept playing on it.

Waiver Wire Sunday

Pitchers

Kyle Gibson (RHP-MIN) faces Marco Estrada (RHP-TOR) at home Tuesday and James Shields (RHP-CWS) in Chicago Sunday.  Gibson owns a 3.33 ERA after five starts so far, with 30 strikeouts, and 14 walks over 27 innings. He is good at keeping the ball on the ground and inside the park.  

Jarlin Garcia (LHP-MIA) won’t see a whole slew of wins this season, but his skill set is worth owning in pretty much any format. After five starts, Garcia owns a 1.00 ERA and .81 WHIP with 20 strikeouts and 12 walks through 27 innings, including a 0.00 ERA in two starts and 12 innings at home. He will face Zach Elfin (RHP-PHI) at home Tuesday.

Francisco Liriano (LHP-DET) will face the Royals for the third time this season. In his previous two starts vs. KC, Liriano allowed four runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and six walks over 12 innings.  Royals are hitting .150 against him in 2018.

He pitched at least five innings in each of his five starts so far this season. His strikeouts have tapered off over the last few seasons, but the fact that he eats innings makes him useful in points leagues.

Junior Guerra (RHP-MIL) will start at home against the Pirates Steven Brault on Friday. He is 3-1 with an ERA of .82 after four starts. He has 21 strikeouts and eight walks in 22 innings. The current Pirates lineup has 74 career at bats against Guerra and they combine for an AVG/OBP  of .216/.298 with 14 strikeouts and nine walks

Daniel Mengden (RHP-OAK) has a 4.68 ERA after six starts so far this season, but has faced some pretty tough teams including the Dodgers, Astros and the Red Sox. In April he went 2-2 with a 19/3 K/BB rate. This week he has a favorable matchup at home, where he has a 3.55 ERA,  against the Orioles who are 3-10 on the road and have lost nine of their last ten games. The A’s are 7-3 over their last ten.