Injury News and Analysis September 14th
Brandon Phillips
Broken index fingers will take at least 4-6 weeks to heal usually and that means the end of the season for most athletes at this point. Phillips broke his right index finger in a bunt attempt earlier this week and the Reds put him on the 60-day DL in order to clear up a roster spot. Most likely it shouldn’t effect him long term but he already was a bit of a disappointment this season so this only wraps it up. At this point you can drop him in non-keeper leagues. Keeper leagues would have to take a second look at him but what the price definitely lowered significantly.
Rick Ankiel
After several weeks of non-effective treatment for an abdominal strain, Ankiel was diagnosed with athletic pubalgia. Commonly known as a “sports hernia” it is a condition that usually only improves with surgery. A sports hernia happens when the muscles or tendons of the lower abdominal wall weaken. It’s the same region where an inguinal hernia occurs, the common hernia most people hear about. An inguinal hernia occurs when there is sufficient weakening of the abdominal wall to allow the hernia to be felt. In cases of a sports hernia, the problem is due to a weakening in the same abdominal wall muscles, but there is no palpable hernia. One of the most difficult things about the sports hernia is that there are no diagnostic tests that can be ordered to rule out the condition. Thus the diagnosis is made solely on a patients history and physical examination.
Surgery is the most effective treatment but it is not fool proof. Only 65-90% of the athletes return to normal and surgery takes about 8 weeks to recover.
Joel Zumaya
Stress fractures of the corocoid process are hard to come by but Zumaya seems to have one. This is usually the result of either horrible mechanics pulling on the ligaments that attach on it or overuse of the muscles that attach on it. He’s going to have to rest a significant amount of time and then start all over again. He’s definitely done for this year but he should be ready for spring training if there are no setbacks.
Chris Carpenter
Coming back from Tommy John surgery doesn’t involve just rebuilding the elbow, it involves rebuilding the whole kinetic chain. This is where Carpenter’s rehab wasn’t complete. He’s been suffering from persistent weakness in his shoulder and the Cardinals in good faith, couldn’t put him out there with such an increased risk of injury. This should give him plenty of time to fully recover and he should be back to 100% by the start of spring training.
Mark Ellis
Labrum tears are problematic for any player even positional players and Ellis suffers from one along with “chipped cartilage”. He’s due to undergo surgery on it which would end his season. While the nothing is 100% sure with fixing labrums, it’s the cartilage tear that could end up being most worrisome. Depending on how severe it is, it could easily be a 4-5 month process.
Tom Gorzelanny
Gorzelanny suffered what some are calling a torn ligament in his finger. The Pirates officially ruled him out but haven’t described the injury at all. This makes it a little difficult to tell whether or not it’s going to effect him next season.
Gabe Kapler
Kapler will be done for the rest of the season after tearing his lat muscle making a throw home. It’s not that he’ll need any surgery, it’s just that there isn’t enough time to recover from the injury. Unless it’s the most mild of strains, he’s going to need about 6 weeks or more to recover. Not that he’s a keeper in any leagues, but he should be fine in 2009 if he chooses to continue playing.
