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April 15, 2009

Under The Knife

Takeaways

by Will Carroll

Many of today's injuries made me think of the "rules" that come up. If I ever put together a list of these "Medhead Rules," it would probably be a lot longer than I'd expect. There are a lot of injuries to cover, reminding me that the first rule might just be "Taking a day off only means more work next time."

Alex Rodriguez (25 DXL)
The rich are not like other people. Neither are athletes. After Rodriguez had his first workout, he made his first statement, and he said more than the Yankees have—and more than they wanted said, according to some sources. Rodriguez said that he's well into the second phase of his rehab, confirming reports that he's been swinging a bat for a while. He not only had no problems with that or with fielding, but he also jogged, and while it's not a run quite yet, it is a big step. He's about a week away from being ready to go full out. The important behind the scenes news is that Rodriguez is having no trouble with pain or swelling after workouts. In fact, he's doing so well that his doctors are questioning whether he'll need off-season surgery as had been expected. Rodriguez also said that he'd need "about 40 minor league at-bats" before being ready. With all of the new info, it looks like the May 1 date is on target, though some of this is a result of the conservative course the Yankees continue to enforce. One observer thought that Rodriguez looked game-ready now.

Mike Pelfrey (0 DXL)
Pitching injuries are often insidious. You only see the cause afterwards. The Mets haven't liked what they've seen from Pelfrey thus far. It goes beyond the normal first-week worries. Remember that Pelfrey was extended far into the Verducci Effect zone—Pelfrey even confronted Verducci about it this spring—as the Mets tried to win the division. The team knew they were doing it, and they did everything they could to keep him relatively safe. If that's not enough, what is? Pelfrey is a big, strong guy who didn't show any noticeable mechanical changes when I saw him live last week. Still, through his first two starts he's been so off that the question has to be raised as to whether we're already seeing the effects of that workload. The Mets have some options, but we don't have a good answer for how to "solve" the Verducci Effect in the short term. Argue all you want about the quirks of it, fatigue is the villain, and it manifests itself in a number of ways that are not always apparent. The Mets knew this might happen, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

Jed Lowrie (50 DXL)
Wrist injuries linger. It can be confusing, since a thumb or arm injury can also be described as a wrist injury, but have far different consequences. Lowrie has a wrist injury, one that's lingering despite a full offseason of rest. At this stage, any of the options being considered are going to cost him significant time. The most likely course, according to one surgeon I spoke with, is surgery to remove a bone or bone fragment in his wrist. That would cost him between six and eight weeks, though the results of players coming back from that have been positive. In the best case, Lowrie will be out for a month, and he'll have the typical wrist problems with bat control and power once he returns, so some of his value is gone no matter what route he takes, and Julio Lugo—who'll start it up in extended spring training on Wednesday and is still at least ten days away—becomes much more valuable.

Aramis Ramirez (1 DXL)
Minor injuries are only minor for a while; then they're lingering, chronic, or worse. The news that Ramirez is still having back problems, something that's been happening intermittently since spring training opened, reminds us that things that don't clear up in a reasonable amount of time usually end up as a recurrent or chronic problem. He had some imaging done on Monday that came back negative, though that ends up raising as many questions as it answers. If the problem is simply muscular, why is it that treatment, rest, and time haven't cleared it up? Ramirez shouldn't miss significant time now, but we'll have to watch to see how it affects him at the plate, or if this is going to be a problem that pops up from time to time, like that Creepy Backrub Guy.