You might have noticed some construction going on around these parts. There\\\’s some dust and a bit of confusion, but I hope everyone is as psyched about the new design. Lots of work has been going on behind the scenes for months now, prepping to make BP a better experience. Bear with us as we work on things to give you more of what you pay your hard-earned money for.
One of those things lost in the shuffle of mail servers was UTK. It happens sometimes; no one\\\’s to blame, we just supersize and move on. So, after a night out with Christian Ruzich and TFD, I realize that I could talk baseball for hours. I got to do my Indy radio gig, talked with guys who stopped by for another hour, then beverages with two great guys after that. Life is good, and better now that the XM is installed in the Volvo. I\\\’m ready for next week\\\’s big trip. Let\\\’s get on to the injuries…
The term “breaking out of a slump” is too literal for Austin Kearns. An inside pitch broke a bone in his forearm, apparently very close to his wrist. Kearns will fly back to Cincinnati immediately for examination by Tim Kremchek. Once decisions are made about how he’ll be treated, we’ll be able to get a better handle on how long he’ll be out. Nate Silver might get to see what Wily Mo Pena can do with extended at-bats, but for the Reds’ fetish with Ryan Freel.
The Braves weren’t able to play one man short after all, and they pushed Chipper Jones to the DL. The impetus may have actually come from Julio Franco. Franco’s inner ear infection would have left the team two men down, thus the decision to disable Jones. Chipper wasn’t happy with the decision, but will deal with it. In the long term and even the short term, this will help him.
The Angels may have swept Oakland, but they have some problems facing them as they head into next week. Garret Anderson continues to fight upper back problems and current treatments haven’t reduced his symptoms. A decision will be made early this week about the DL. Given the team’s outfield depth, one would think that the Angels could afford to play it safe, but that depth has been already leveraged elsewhere. Vladimir Guerrero is still dealing with pain and swelling in his right knee (his pushoff leg for batting and throwing.) Regular rest and some DH time hasn’t reduced the symptoms, worrying many in the Angels’ front office. With all the options and possibilities, Mike Scioscia has some interesting decisions in front of him. The Braves are very concerned about the hamstring of Chipper Jones. The tear is healing up, but not as quickly as Chipper is telling people. He’ll stay off the DL for now, but Bobby Cox has been told to use him as a “desperation pinch-hitter” just in case the Braves need to retro him onto the DL.
The Indians dodged a bullet Thursday when an MRI showed C.C. Sabathia had only some bicipital tendonitis. Sabathia is someone I’ve predicted would break down for years now, but he continues to defy me, proving once again that we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to injury prediction. The soreness in his arm doesn’t appear to be serious and that it happened while throwing a changeup is likely a red herring. While the irony of having Jeff D’Amico step in when someone is injured isn’t lost on me, Sabathia should be able to make his next start.
Kerry Wood may not have been praying for rain, but he’ll be the biggest beneficiary of Thursday’s rainout. The postponement will push his start back to Saturday, giving him two additional days of rest following his 130 pitch workload last time out. While recovery is still a poorly understood area of pitching, there are no negatives to this for Wood.
Joe Kerrigan has more work to do with Brett Myers. After missing a start to work on mechanics, Myers continued to struggle Thursday night. While I admittedly did not see the game beyond the highlights (dominated by the Gonzalez/Pratt face-off), Myers was clearly still off mechanically. His elbow was way ahead of his shoulder, much like Pedro Martinez in the middle of last season. If Myers cannot quickly correct the problem, the Phillies will have to consider some of their options in the minors.
Andy Pettitte isn’t getting the attention of Mark Prior (more on him in the DMPU), but there are some inconsistencies in the story that the Astros are telling. Most of the concern has been focused on the UCL, but Pettitte’s described pain in his flexor tendon as well. Continued tenderness proves that the cortisone shot wasn’t enough to eliminate symptoms. The Astros will be watching his Friday spring training game closely.
The rehab on Joe Mauer is going well. Coming off minor knee surgery, Mauer is already hitting off a tee–or more likely his own swing trainer–and has had no setbacks. Expect him to come back toward the four-week mark due to caution and the hot streak that Henry Blanco is on. The Twins realize there’s no need to rush their prized catcher back.
The news is worse for Torii Hunter. His hamstring is not responding as expected, keeping from being able to run normally. Instead of being activated on Thursday, the Twins will wait a day and retest the leg. This delay would also allow Hunter to come back to grass rather than the new turf in the Dome. Several players I’ve spoken with, from various teams, are not fond of that new turf. Luckily, Lew Ford is giving the Twins room to be careful with Hunter.
I got a lot of e-mail on Wednesday about Rob Neyer’s excellent article on the history of the slider. Rob did a fine job describing the history and even the mechanics, but at the end, he discusses the “general thinking” that the slider is significantly harder on the arm than other pitches. According to Dr. Glenn Fleisig and the research team at ASMI, this isn’t so. Their research on the kinetics of various pitches shows that the slider does not significantly alter the kinetic forces on the arm as compared to a fastball. It is “harder” on the arm than a curveball, but the real danger comes when, as Rob says, the slider (or the close variants cut fastball and slurve) is thrown with a wrist snap. Science shows that it’s not the pitches that are hurting our pitchers, it’s how they throw them.
This story on Mark Prior just shows me how much more work I have to do. In jumbling quotes around to make the most alarmist case possible, the unnamed author of the article shows a complete disregard for medical facts. Prior may have a minor elbow ailment (noted by Jayson Stark and well-known around these parts), but the author also neglects to note that the Cubs are dealing with two similar injuries that would shed light on what Prior is going through. Mike Remlinger is coming back from shoulder surgery, taking more time than the Cubs expected to return, even causing some to say that Remlinger may miss the season (expect him back in June.) Mark Grudzielanek is out for now with an Achilles injury, as is Nomar Garciaparra. The injury is slow-healing, doesn’t respond well to much beyond rest, and is notoriously unpredictable. Add this up and it’s easy to see why the Cubs are being extremely cautious with their most valuable player. What’s not easy to see is why no one else seems to understand this.
The Expos were expected to be an offensive force. It remains to be seen if the first two weeks are a fluke, whether the Marlins pitching is really that good, or if things will balance out. What is known is that the Expos will have to improve without Carl Everett. Everett was expected to take up some of the slack left by the loss of Vladimir Guerrero. Instead, he’ll spend the next month rehabbing a torn labrum. He hurt his shoulder on a violent slide into second. Reports say that the MRI shows only a small tear of the posterior aspect of Everett’s labrum. Things are looking very good for Trot Nixon. His extended stay in Miami hasn’t set back his timetable. After a pair of successful batting practice sessions, Nixon is moving to the Red Sox’s Ft. Myers rehab facility. He’ll continue his extensive rehab program with Sox trainers, not just for the next weeks, but if he hopes to stay healthy, he’ll have to make this part of his daily routine. Nixon could be back in Boston’s lineup as early as May 1, but it’s more likely that it will be a week to 10 days after that.
The owner of the most famous Achilles’ tendon since…well, Achilles…took to the mound for ten pitches on Wednesday. Will has a report on how it went, along
with updates on two hamstrings, one oblique strain, and a resolution to The
Saga of Preston Wilson.
The daily Mark Prior report is simple: unchanged. The Cubs laughed off Lawrence Rocca’s suggestion that Prior’s injury was really to his elbow and that he was headed for Tommy John surgery. Dusty Baker did everything but call Rocca a liar in comments after the game, so let’s try and put this to rest: Prior’s arm is simply not game-ready, as it would be for a typical pitcher starting spring training. It will take him between four and six weeks to get ready once the Achilles tendon is asymptomatic. If Prior had a bum elbow, he wouldn’t have played long toss in front of Christian Ruzich this winter and he wouldn’t be doing towel drills. The Cubs will be without Mark Grudzielanek for at least three weeks after an MRI showed fraying of his Achilles tendon. As with Prior, an Achilles is very difficult to get under control once tendinitis has set in. The acquisition of Todd Walker is looking very smart. The Cubs are also on the lookout for a shortstop with Alex Gonzalez struggling and Dusty Baker reportedly lacking confidence in Ramon Martinez in a starting role. While Orlando Cabrera’s name comes up in rumors, Craig Counsell is a likelier target.
Stan Conte sounds like a politician when he discusses timeframes and prognosis for Robb Nen. Could be this week, could be this month, who knows? Could be fine, could be terrible, who knows? Actually, Stan’s simply being cautious and doing the job of getting Nen back right. While uncertainty is never fun, no one really knows until the task–in this case, pitching in the big leagues–is actually performed. My guess? We’ll know in the next two weeks, but seeing him throwing off the mound before Sunday’s game has to be a good sign. The Giants should get Jason Schmidt back late this week, but a final determination will be made after he throws a bullpen session Monday. A rehab start at Visalia went extremely well, as Schmidt lasted five innings and struck out seven high-A hitters.
Like most teams, they can ill afford injuries to their key personnel, most notably Carlos Delgado and Roy Halladay. While Delgado has had some minor knee problems in the past, he is not taxed often with much running and keeps himself at a very low yellow. Given more to write about, I might try to make more of a case for keeping him as a green. Playing first helps, though the inflexibility at DH works against him slightly. In a pinch, the Jays could DH Delgado, playing Phelps or Myers at first, but this is certainly not a problem they hope to face. The injury to Eric Hinske last year showed that the drop to replacement level is, at almost every position, probably enough to push the Jays from contention. With Halladay, we deal with a pitcher that is arguably the best in the game. (Way to go out on a limb for the reigning Cy Young winner, Will!) Among Halladay’s plusses is his ability to work a high number of innings. This in turn is the result of his focus on pitch efficiency. He had only six outings of 110 pitches or more, his highest (122) coming in a complete game in his last outing. Having attended that game, I think it would have taken a team of mules to get him off the mound; seldom have I seen a pitcher willing himself a win to that extent, even going so far as to block the plate on the potential tying run.
I closed my comments on Joe Mauer yesterday with a line about how this relatively minor injury might impact his later career. That one deserves further explanation. What I mean is that small injuries such as Mauer’s torn meniscus have a tendency to cause further problems. Combined with the normal wear and tear a catcher’s knees take, Mauer might get into a situation where his bat becomes too valuable to risk further damage to his legs. The easy comp is Craig Biggio, moved for different reasons, but with good results. Mauer’s bat is special enough that he would retain a lot of his current value even if moved to third base. As I said, we don’t know enough about the stresses to make blanket statements; I made my comment as possibility, not fact. In the “when it rains, it pours” category, the Twins will now have to deal with an injury to Matthew LeCroy. LeCroy left Wednesday’s game with what was termed a “ribcage injury.” This sounds like an oblique strain to me…and almost as I type this, the phone rings to let me know that LeCroy is on the DL with an oblique strain. LeCroy strained the muscle batting, then injured it further on a throw to second. Oblique strains have a tendency to linger and LeCroy seems to be on David Wells’ diet–the old one. The Twins probably won’t do something as wild as remember that Justin Morneau once was a catcher (and said on Baseball Prospectus Radio last season that he would love to get back behind the plate!)
Most of the focus on this team will be on the staff. Led by the two former Yankees, Clemens and Pettitte will team with two potential aces and a quality starter in Tim Redding. This rotation is as deep as any in the league, including the Cubs and Red Sox–Dayn Perry’s made a very good case that I should be including the Yankees in that discussion. Among these four, all are subject to depth questions…except the Astros. More than any other team, the Astros can handle even a season-ending injury to a starting pitcher. With names like Carlos Hernandez, Brandon Duckworth, and Jared Fernandez available, the Astros had so much depth that they dealt away Jeriome Robertson and could perhaps make a deadline deal if needed. Of the current pitchers, I am most worried about Wade Miller, who spent most of last season hiding an elbow injury. Once it was discovered, the Astros did their best to deflect reports of a frayed UCL, but given the information we have, that’s the most likely diagnosis. Calling it “dead arm” just doesn’t fit, since his velocity never tailed off significantly.
As I sat at last night’s Indianapolis book event, I wondered if I’d be able to just enjoy a margarita after a great night of talking baseball. I didn’t even make it to the end of the signing, though, without the Nokia blowing up with news of injuries. So here I am, your faithful servant, to break down the breakdowns and hit you with the hurt. Maybe Thursday will be quieter… it’s a longer drive back from Cincinnati and the cell coverage isn’t so good on the way back.
So, powered by that imaginary salt and tequila elixir (Hey, Chris, is there anywhere I can get one in Chicago?), on to the injuries…
Reports from Arizona have Luis Gonzalez making adjustments to compensate for his damaged elbow. The half-torn ligament is so problematic while throwing that Gonzalez is breaking out a sidearm throwing style for getting the ball back to the infield. Research from ASMI shows that throwing sidearm doesn’t significantly alter the forces placed on the arm. Gonzalez, we’ll note, says he’s having no problems at bat, just throwing. In addition to the sidearming, watch to see how Alex Cintron adjusts to help Gonzalez. Great quote today in the SF Chronicle: “Jason Schmidt threw in the bullpen for 14 minutes before Friday night’s game. His right shoulder remained attached to the rest of his body and he apparently did not shout in pain.” Jason Schmidt looked good in a workout, throwing all his pitches and coming away with only normal soreness. Schmidt is expected to slot back into the Giants rotation on the 14th. That slot is the first one where they’ll need a fifth starter. Schmidt wasn’t throwing at full tilt, but it’s exactly what the Giants were hoping for from this session.