The Sports Idiot » Jair Jurrjens

Jurrjens Is All Good

thesportsidiot — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:59:56 +0000

Well, maybe not all good, but for the most part. An MRI on dude’s throwing shoulder revealed no structural damage, and the 24 year old right hander just needs to rest his sore shoulder. The official diagnosis is anterior shoulder inflammation. Jurrjens should be on pace to make his first start of the season without any issues.

This is great news for the Bravos as well as their fans. It is also good news for you fantasy players, because a lot of people will see this as a red flag and drop him on their boards. Good. Drop him all you want. Jurrjens will prove to be a solid fantasy option again this year, if not a top 10 starter. Yes, I know that a lot of publications, including Baseball Prospectus, are a little bit down on him in relation to last year. My advice is to ignore them and listen to the Mike Bohn gut algorithm. Of course, I’m also a Bravos fan so I may be a little clouded here, but I expect Jurrjens to win 15+ games this year with an ERA around 3.00.

Starting Pitcher Injury Risks – “Verducci Effect”

thesportsidiot — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:10:33 +0000

One thing that has been focused on more and more in baseball in the risk to pitchers based on their workload. Tom Verducci of SI has been tracking this for years and does an annual column listing ten starting pitchers that are likely to get injured this season because of last season. It is interesting stuff, and I am a full believer. Over the past three years Verducci has listed 24 players, and 16 of them were hurt the years they were listed. Only one of the 24 players both stayed on the mound and were able to lower their ERA from the previous season. That pitcher? Ubaldo Jimenez.

For a counter argument check out Michael Salfino of Yahoo Sports. Apparently this dude doesn’t think that Verducci, or even Baseball Prospectus, has done their homework properly. The bad news? Even this dude thinks Cole Hamels will get hurt this year. Heidi is watching this for us, so don’t worry.

H/T to Tim Dierkes at RotoAuthority.com.