So I would expect Michael back in the lineup after his mandatory 15 days are up, and for his power to be back a couple weeks after he's back in the lineup, assuming his swing hasn't gotten rust-ified.
I'm more concerned with where you play him, since it was his throwing arm and I'd hate for him to hurt himself again trying to gun someone down at 3rd. I think swing-wise he should be okay if it's a minor sprain. I'd tell him to make Ibanez-level throws in from the OF, though, 80% that thing until he's feeling really good.
As for Wells... he really does have power when he catches one on the bat. He just doesn't catch enough (and hits from the wrong side) to be a full-timer right now. But as a backup, or a platoon with Raul who can cover CF or RF too? He's still a good fit for us with this Saunders and Guti thing. Especially Guti - the dude just can't stay healthy, like you said.
But Casper's hit .265/.350/.490 vs LHP in his major league career! He DOES have that skill. If you're trying to patch together your lineup, and you have a guy who can hit righties but can't defend (Raul) wouldn't you want a guy who can crush lefties and CAN defend to play late innings for him and get the LH starts?
Casper isn't gonna be Nelson Cruz, who busted out in his late-20s when finally given the opportunity. Cruz hit .300-ish in the minors, while Wells hit .250. They had the same ISO in the minors, though (~.240) and their OBP and ISO is basically the same in the bigs against LHP. Wells walks more and has had the same prodigious power.
We aren't gonna get a full-fledged Cruz, or else (one would hope) we never would have let him go. I'm sure when we traded for him we hoped he would be, but that's not Casper's game unfortunately.
But a good defender with a great arm and pretty huge power who can be a weapon against lefties? Yes, I would like that in our swiss-army-knife arsenal, especially as we try to mix and match around these injuries.
Wells is welcome back on my team, absolutely. We'd just have to figure out how to keep him around and put him to proper use. I wanted to platoon he and Thames this offseason, so platooning his bat with Raul's is totally okay with me should such an occasion arise again.
~G
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