Yuli's Wrist

Heard nothing. Then again I don't know anybody close to the team.

 

My sources are saying it is his hand and not his wrist.

 

"God Willing I Hope Everything Goes Well" ... me too

 

If Yuli were out for a few months, I don't see it having a severe negative impact on the regular season. The Astros are fortunate to have Marwin and White who can come in and play 1B at a moment's notice. Reed and potentially Davis might also be options.

I know a lot of people probably roll their eyes at the thought of Tyler White returning to play 1B. However, it probably wouldn't be the disaster that many suspect it would. Last year, Yuli made 8 errors in 130 games at 1B, whereas White made 3 errors in 34 games at 1B split between AAA and ML levels. Had White played the same number of games at 1B as Yuli, he probably would have made around 11 errors on the season. White had a .987 fielding pct at 1B and Yuli, .993. So while the 1B defense would suffer a little bit, it wouldn't suffer a whole lot, especially when we consider that with Yuli's age he would probably play slightly worse defense this year than he did last, irrespective of any injuries he might suffer. White, on the other hand, is still 27 and not likely to be suffering age-related defensive decline yet.

The real story about White that has gone unreported is how he finally figured out right-handed pitching last year. White's career numbers have always favored LHP to RHP. Even in his rather disappointing 2016 season, White still hit for a 112 wRC+ (OPS .798) against lefties. It was his hitting against righties that really did him in that year (63 wRC+, OPS .591) and got him sent back to AAA. However, once there, he made changes to his pitch selection and batting stance, and in 2017 that allowed him to improve his hitting against righties to .780 OPS at ML level and .879 OPS at AAA level. He started hitting more fly balls and making more hard contact, which gave him 31 HRs on the season.

Last year, Yuli put up a season OPS of .817. With the changes White has made, he stands to hit for an OPS of around .790 against righties and even higher against lefties, safely one could estimate .820. If there is really any offensive fall-off at all by having White come in as an injury replacement for Yuli, it probably wouldn't be very large. There probably would be some defensive fall-off but at most, it would probably only mean a difference of one win over the course of an entire season, and more than likely White would only replace Yuli for a few months at most.

 

Yuli being injured might be a blessing in disguise as it would allow White or Reed an opportunity to get established in the big leagues. Both players and especially Reed have much higher ceilings at 1B than Gurriel.

Alternatively maybe they sign Lucas Duda.

 

I'm not sure how long it took players with similar surgeries to recover. I seem to remember Max Stassi had a similar surgery a few years ago.

Sounds like we are talking 8 weeks minimum here, perhaps more like 4 months?

 

yuli went full arian foster with the hospital bed in lieu of the xray.

 

Yuli Gurriel is undergoing surgery Wednesday in Houston to remove the hook of the hamate bone in his left hand.

Gurriel left Astros camp and flew back to Houston on Monday after experiencing discomfort around his left hand and wrist, and it was quickly recommended that he go under the knife. There's no timetable yet, but hamate bone surgeries can sideline baseball players for 6-8 weeks and will often have lasting effects even when the player returns. Marwin Gonzalez figures to open the 2018 season as the Astros' starting first baseman. Tyler White now has a better shot of making the Opening Day roster and could also see a good amount of starts in the early going. A.J. Reed could also put himself in the mix.

http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/...-hamate-bone-surgery?ls=roto:MLB:topheadlines

 

Please be the lone hiccup in our quest for a repeat. Starting spring training with Gurriel having a major injury blows bull balls.

 

Not nearly that long. More like 5-6 weeks. So we’re looking at maybe mid-late April. Not worried at all by that timetable.

 

Alright AJ Reed, you seem to be whining about not getting a chance, well here's your chance.

Between recovery time, and having to get his timing back in the minors and suspension, Yuli is probably gonna miss at least 2-4 weeks of the regular season. I doubt we want Marwin anchored to 1B full time, so White,Davis and Reed will have a chance to establish themselves.

Could be a long term blessing in the skies.

 

Sure, but will Yuli's power be sapped due to this wrist injury? That's my big concern. Yuli has surprisingly a ton of raw power, but he might be relegated to hitting HRs that just barely clear the fence, kind of like Correa.

 

Also, Royals just signed Duda, so we can officially strike that option off the list. I wasn't overly thrilled with the Duda option anyway.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/02/royals-agree-to-terms-with-lucas-duda.html

 

I though Yuli improved defensively as the year progressed. I bet he will be stellar defensively when he returns.

 

Oh well gives us the ability to see what at least one of Fisher, Reed, White, or Davis can do.