Notice: Trying to get property 'display_name' of non-object in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/generators/schema/article.php on line 52
keyboard_arrow_uptop

Team Injury Projections

The Team Injury Projections are here, driven by our brand new injury forecasting system, the Comprehensive Health Index [of] Pitchers [and] Players [with] Evaluative Results—or, more succinctly, CHIPPER. Thanks to work by Colin Wyers and Dan Turkenkopf and a database loaded with injuries dating back to the 2002 season—that's nearly 4,600 players and well over 400,000 days lost to injury—we now have a system that produces injury-risk assessments to three different degrees. CHIPPER projects ratings for players based on their injury history—these ratings measure the probability of a player missing one or more games, 15 or more games, or 30 or more games. CHIPPER will have additional features added to it throughout the spring and early season that will enhance the accuracy of our injury coverage.

These ratings are also available in the Player Forecast Manager (pfm.baseballprospectus.com), where they'll be sortable by league or position—you won’t have to wait for us to finish writing this series in order to see the health ratings for all of the players.

COLORADO ROCKIES
Team Audit | Depth Chart
 

Dashboard


2010 Recap
 

2010
 

2009
 

2008
 

2007
3rd in NL West
66 entries
17 DL trips
               

994
TDL

15
DMPI
 

994
TDL
19th
 

15
DMPI
4th
 

1248
TDL
24th
 

29
DMPI
25th
 

704
TDL
8th
 

22
DMPI
15th
 

1338
TDL
25th
 

32
DMPI
27th

Hitters in approximate Depth Charts order at time of publication

 

Days Lost to Injury

2011 Injury Risk

Player

Age

2008

2009

2010

1-day

15-days

30-days
Dexter Fowler

25

0

17

3

Yellow

Green

Green
Seth Smith

28

0

0

1

Yellow

Green

Green
Carlos Gonzalez

25

2

3

14

Red

Yellow

Yellow
Troy Tulowitzki

26

67

9

47

Red

Red

Yellow
Todd Helton

37

84

4

32

Red

Red

Yellow
Ian Stewart

26

0

4

37

Red

Yellow

Green
Jose Lopez

27

0

3

12

Green

Green

Green
Chris Iannetta

28

0

17

10

Red

Yellow

Yellow
Jason Giambi

40

3

25

8

Red

Red

Yellow
Ryan Spilborghs

31

54

0

0

Yellow

Yellow

Green
Eric Young

26

0

0

101

Red

Red

Yellow
Ty Wigginton

33

41

0

2

Yellow

Green

Green
Jonathan Herrera

26

0

0

0

Green

Green

Green
Jose Morales

28

0

0

49

Red

Red

Red

Pitchers in approximate Depth Charts order at time of publication

 

Days Lost to Injury

2011 Injury Risk

Player

Age

2008

2009

2010

1-day

15-days

30-days
Ubaldo Jimenez

27

0

7

10

Green

Green

Green
Jorge De La Rosa

30

0

11

79

Yellow

Yellow

Green
Aaron Cook

32

2

43

55

Red

Yellow

Yellow
Jhoulys Chacin

23

0

0

0

Green

Green

Green
Jason Hammel

28

0

0

15

Green

Green

Green
Felipe Paulino

27

193

19

86

Red

Red

Yellow
Esmil Rogers

25

0

0

0

Green

Green

Green
Huston Street

27

4

20

97

Yellow

Green

Green
Matt Belisle

31

71

0

0

Yellow

Yellow

Green
Rafael Betancourt

36

4

43

11

Red

Yellow

Yellow
Matt Lindstrom

31

7

38

27

Yellow

Yellow

Green
Matt Daley

29

0

18

83

Red

Yellow

Yellow
Matthew Reynolds

26

0

0

0

Green

Green

Green
Franklin Morales

25

0

52

27

Yellow

Green

Green

Summary: Last year's Rockies incurred plenty of database-worthy injuries, racking up the days lost, but on a per-injury basis they were one of the most successful teams in the league. That constituted a significant improvement coming off of a season in which they were one of the worst clubs from a health standpoint. Jeff Francis, Huston Street, Greg Reynolds, and Taylor Buchholz all missed 40-plus days to kick off last season, but once the campaign was actually underway, the Rockies' medical staff was able to keep the damage to a minimum.

CHIPPER doesn’t think Colorado will go through 2011 unscathed. Dexter Fowler, Jose Lopez, and Seth Smith appear to be safe bets to miss minimal time, but that’s about it for positives. Carlos Gonzalez is a moderate risk—the 25-year-old has 14 database entries in the last two years (10 in 2010 alone). They are all for minor injuries, but as anyone who watched the collision between him and Ian Stewart knows, the difference between a leg contusion and cracked ribs can be less than a foot at times—just ask Jacoby Ellsbury. Troy Tulowitzki had his wrist fractured by a pitch in June, though he showed no ill effects on the field once he returned. He missed just two more games the rest of the way, though he always seems to have one small thing or another bothering him. Todd Helton’s back has limited him for some time now—it  is somewhat surprising that a 37-year-old first baseman with chronic back issues and a back surgery to his credit isn’t rated worse.

Ian Stewart held up well until his oblique strain cost him almost a month toward the end of last season, and he suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee this spring. It’s certainly true that Jason Giambi has become a greater risk at this point in his career, but he is only a pinch-hitter, so his playing time will be limited. Chris Iannetta will likely see the bulk of the time behind the plate—his greatest vulnerability seems to be to lower body strains, based on his injuries in the past several years.

You can breathe, Colorado: CHIPPER likes Ubaldo Jimenez’s chances to stay healthy. Jorge De La Rosa’s major injury last year was a strain to the flexor tendon in his middle finger. He missed over 70 days because of it, though he will likely be fine throughout the 2011 season since his moderate risk is toward the lower end. Aaron Cook has had a rough year and a half with injuries. In 2009 he suffered a shoulder strain that put him on the shelf for over a month, and in 2010 he missed a total of 55 days between a right big toe sprain and a fractured right fibula. He has already missed time in camp for shoulder inflammation, followed by a fracture of his right ring finger.

Jhoulys Chacin and Jason Hammel have avoided similar fates, and both project to be healthy in 2011. It’s surprising that Huston Street’s risk is so low. He has suffered from multiple bouts of inflammation in his shoulder and upper arm over the last two years (on top of small trunk strains), so his low-risk rating should be taken with a grain of salt.

The Big Risk: Any major injury to Troy Tulowitzki could have disastrous consequences for the Rockies in 2011. He has already shown that he can be somewhat injury-prone, and that makes us all concerned. The Rockies seem less concerned, given the extension they signed him to over the winter. It would be difficult to replace any cleanup hitter's production, but when you consider his position and the high quality of his defense, it’s even more apparent that there is no comparable substitute for Tulo.

Comeback: Carlos Gonzalez could go one of two ways from an injury standpoint. One direction would take him down a dark scary road with signs labeled Chipper Jones on the left, Eric Chavez on the right, and Milton Bradley straight ahead. The other path, which is more likely and a lot more pleasant, would lead him to a future in which he cuts down on the number of injuries as he learns to take better care of himself at the major-league level. Gonzalez plays all out, which is what you want from a player, but you don’t necessarily want him to be reckless with his body, especially when that body boasts Gonzalez's talent. If he doesn't cut down on his 10 database entries from 2010, there could be trouble.

Best Health: If you had just escaped Safeco and landed in its polar opposite, Coors Field, you would feel as healthy as Jose Lopez, too.

Worst Health: Major ankle surgery, major wrist surgery, three years in the majors… yup, Jose Morales qualifies for this spot. 

Thank you for reading

This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.

Subscribe now
You need to be logged in to comment. Login or Subscribe