Urias Wrist - Update: Had surgery 1/28 for hamate bone fracture, out 6-8 weeks

[JimH5]

Thanks for the info on Stearns talking about it during Fan Fest. It seems weird that nobody from the local media knew the surgery was happening for sure. Probably would have been more aware during the season when they're around the team every day.

[Eye Black]

From Adam McCalvy’s article, Crew's Urías (fractured hand) out up to 8 weeks:

 

“If you do the math, I’d say it’s fair to say he is questionable for Opening Day,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “I think he could get there, or it could be shortly after Opening Day.

 

“We do not see this as something that materially impacts his season. This is an injury that’s fairly common with position players, and the recovery rate is very high here. Obviously, unfortunate that Luis has to go through this, but not a long-term impactful injury.”

 

————————————————

 

“Our medical staff believes that this is something you can recover from, come back, be 100 percent, go through the rehab process and be perfectly fine,” Stearns said. “This has become a relatively routine procedure in baseball. Not something we expect to impact Luis’ game long term.”

[Ennder]

Don't have to regain your power if you start with none.

 

Urias slugged .600 last year in AAA, not sure how that is no power. I was never sold on Arcia because he never showed any ability to drive the ball and didn't ever show he could take a walk. Urias has shown both of those skills even it was more doubles driven when was in his teens.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Don't have to regain your power if you start with none.

 

Urias slugged .600 last year in AAA, not sure how that is no power. I was never sold on Arcia because he never showed any ability to drive the ball and didn't ever show he could take a walk. Urias has shown both of those skills even it was more doubles driven when was in his teens.

 

 

I was sort of kidding, but I'm not expecting big power numbers out of him this year. If he plays good defense and is an upgrade over Arcia at the plate, I'm golden.

[Ennder]

Don't have to regain your power if you start with none.

 

Urias slugged .600 last year in AAA, not sure how that is no power. I was never sold on Arcia because he never showed any ability to drive the ball and didn't ever show he could take a walk. Urias has shown both of those skills even it was more doubles driven when was in his teens.

 

 

I was sort of kidding, but I'm not expecting big power numbers out of him this year. If he plays good defense and is an upgrade over Arcia at the plate, I'm golden.

 

 

This year that makes sense. But I fully expect that at some point while on the Brewers Urias will have a 35 doubles, 5 triples, 20 homer season.

[TJseven7]

This is a bummer for sure, but it doesn't necessarily mean that Arcia is a roster lock, though. Sogard, Gyorko, Rodriguez and Mathias can all play SS.

 

Gyorko is an awful defender at short, I have no idea who Rodriguez and Mathias are so it can be safely assumed that Arcia is the starter.

 

Rod is the new Hernan Perez like guy we claimed from DET. Mathias has some solid AAA numbers and we traded a MiLB guy for him. Either way, they are depth at best and cutting Arcia to play either of them would be rather optimistic and short sighted.

[Ennder]

There is no way Arcia doesn't start the year at SS if Urias isn't ready. Sure he has had issues and I personally don't think he will fix them, but he still is only 25 and has shown above average defense at a defensive spot. If you are a believer in peripherals he was unlucky last year and showed growth in power and plate discipline. If he had played to his career BABIP he would have hit roughly .250 with a .700 OPS. Not super amazing but with good defense still a completely viable stop gap. He showed a lot of growth in underlying stats in 2019 but the results weren't there, the underlying stats usually mean more.

[MrTPlush]

I’m not too concerned if we miss him for a month or so of the season. A lot of concern here and the thought of Arcia, but let’s be honest....Urias isn’t likely to be a huge impact. He really wasn’t much better than Arica last year. I am optimistic Urias could maybe be something more impactful than Arcia, but not sure this year will be woefully different.

 

This probably isn’t even the worst injury that will happen between now and opening day.

[Jopal78]

Didn’t former Brewer prospect break his hamate bone and his career fizzled out afterward because he never regained his power. Of course that has to be about 15 years ago which could mean better medicine now in treating such fractures

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Didn’t former Brewer prospect break his hamate bone and his career fizzled out afterward because he never regained his power. Of course that has to be about 15 years ago which could mean better medicine now in treating such fractures

 

Yeah, Brad Nelson. But his fizzled career may just have been because he simply wasn't very good, though.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Baseball is cruel. I remember Brad Nelson well and his fizzle-out. However I did not realize he was still playing AAA as recently as 2014, Mexican Winter League in 2015. Maybe he was just having fun, but it's crazy to think he was battling back for another shot after like 20 at bats 6 years earlier.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Now I'm down the rabbit hole and found this Nelson interview from last year which I'm now listening to

 

https://player.fm/series/the-moonlight-graham-show/ep-121-brad-nelson-of-the-milwaukee-brewers-garrigan-golden-bears

 

Guy hit 27 homers as a sophomore in high school and was apparently an incredible basketball player too.

[JohnBriggs12]

This could be a blessing in disguise. Have to believe Arcia will be more motivated than ever coming out of the gate. I still don't doubt he has the ability to hit as he's shown it in stretches but he gets himself into bad habits and then struggles to get out. He certainly can drive the ball to the opposite field. If he gets off to a hot start, he will solidify his trade value and might force his way into the lineup even after Urias returns. It's not like 3B is settled.

[clancyphile]

This could be a blessing in disguise. Have to believe Arcia will be more motivated than ever coming out of the gate. I still don't doubt he has the ability to hit as he's shown it in stretches but he gets himself into bad habits and then struggles to get out. He certainly can drive the ball to the opposite field. If he gets off to a hot start, he will solidify his trade value and might force his way into the lineup even after Urias returns. It's not like 3B is settled.

 

[sarcasm]Well, there is Ryan Braun as an option...[/sarcasm]

[MrTPlush]

It is the year 2020 and we are still trying to come up with new reasons Arcia will be as motivated as ever.

[RollieTime]

It’s unfortunate that Urias might miss a couple weeks early on in the season, but it could have been a lot worse.

 

A left side of the infield on Opening Day of Sogard and Arcia makes me want to vomit. *shudder*

[Bulldogboy]

It’s unfortunate that Urias might miss a couple weeks early on in the season, but it could have been a lot worse.

 

A left side of the infield on Opening Day of Sogard and Arcia makes me want to vomit. *shudder*

Worst in mlb unless the Orioles count.

[DHonks]

It is the year 2020 and we are still trying to come up with new reasons Arcia will be as motivated as ever.

 

He’s young, showed halfway decent plate discipline in the minors at young ages, and he’s had stretches of success before. Given that he has outperformed Carlos Gomez at this point in his career, it’s not worth giving up on a tools kid at a difficult position.

[TJseven7]

It is the year 2020 and we are still trying to come up with new reasons Arcia will be as motivated as ever.

 

He’s young, showed halfway decent plate discipline in the minors at young ages, and he’s had stretches of success before. Given that he has outperformed Carlos Gomez at this point in his career, it’s not worth giving up on a tools kid at a difficult position.

 

Basically been a 340 obp and 750 ops everywhere but here. He's had 1500 AB with us and he's still 1.5 years from entering his athletic prime.

 

Sometimes I hate how MKE starts clocks on guys early.

[sveumrules]

Through his age 24 season, Alcides Escobar had 1,288 PAs with a 72 OPS+. He then put up a career high 96 OPS+ in his age 25 season.

 

Through his age 24 season, Orlando Arcia has 1,676 PAs with a 70 OPS+.

[TJseven7]

Through his age 24 season, Alcides Escobar had 1,288 PAs with a 72 OPS+. He then put up a career high 96 OPS+ in his age 25 season.

 

Through his age 24 season, Orlando Arcia has 1,676 PAs with a 70 OPS+.

 

Which is better than his 277/324/731 year as a 22 year old. I'd be delighted if he was just his 22 year old self. That guys is at very least a trade piece. Arby 2/3 is worth 10-12 mil in trade value for those 2 years.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Now I'm down the rabbit hole and found this Nelson interview from last year which I'm now listening to

 

https://player.fm/series/the-moonlight-graham-show/ep-121-brad-nelson-of-the-milwaukee-brewers-garrigan-golden-bears

 

Guy hit 27 homers as a sophomore in high school and was apparently an incredible basketball player too.

 

Went to college with a guy who went to high school with Nelson. It's a small, Catholic school in rural northern Iowa. He's a legend in that area, and rightfully so. 28 MLB ABs, with 2 hits (!), are an impossible achievement.

[MrTPlush]

Through his age 24 season, Alcides Escobar had 1,288 PAs with a 72 OPS+. He then put up a career high 96 OPS+ in his age 25 season.

 

Through his age 24 season, Orlando Arcia has 1,676 PAs with a 70 OPS+.

 

So we are hoping Orlando Arcia has a fluke season at the same age as Alcides Escobar? He followed up that season with a 53 OPS+. Alcides Escobar now 5,700 PAs and is the same cruddy player he always was. His career OPS+ raised to 73 after all these years.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Through his age 24 season, Alcides Escobar had 1,288 PAs with a 72 OPS+. He then put up a career high 96 OPS+ in his age 25 season.

 

Through his age 24 season, Orlando Arcia has 1,676 PAs with a 70 OPS+.

 

So we are hoping Orlando Arcia has a fluke season at the same age as Alcides Escobar? He followed up that season with a 53 OPS+. Alcides Escobar now 5,700 PAs and is the same cruddy player he always was. His career OPS+ raised to 73 after all these years.

 

I mean, yeah. I'm not the biggest fan of Arcia seeing a lot of playing time, or even really being on the 2020 team (and I've always been an Arcia supporter). But if he is, I'd love for him to have a fluke good season. Because it makes the team better.

 

The comparison to Escobar wasn't to say that hopefully Arcia can rise to that level. It was to say "Hey, Alcides had that one year when he was 25 where he didn't look like a pitcher at the plate. Hopefully Orlando can do that this year." Then they can trade him for something more than a bag of balls.

[Ennder]

To be fair if you look at the underlying stats Arcia's 2019 was much closer to his 2017 than his 2018. The results weren't there but everything else mirrored 2017. Last year was a growth season for Arcia even if the results weren't there. More walks, fewer strikes out, barreled the ball more, elevated better.