Injury News and Analysis July 30th
Yup lots of injuries, 2 of which likely directly effected the World Series.
Chipper Jones
Chipper was placed on the DL for his strained Hamstring, but in actuality it was probably a combination of the hamstring and all of the other leg ailments he has had this season. He’s likely going to be on the DL for at least a few weeks, but that’s what you expected when you drafted him.
Tim Hudson
Another piece that ended up causing Atlanta to become Sellers was the news that Hudson has ligament damage in his elbow. He’s due to see Dr. Andrews in Birmingham but I expect that he will need Tommy John surgery. Even if he doesn’t go straight for the operation, he’s going to be out minimum 4-6 weeks and that would put him back in mid-September at the earliest. However, it makes very little sense if your the Braves or Hudson for him to wait. If he has surgery now, he has a decent chance to come back late next year. If he waits until after the season, 2009 will be a lost year.
Aaron Hill
Aaron was placed on the 60-day DL with post-concussive syndrome. After years of shrugging of symptoms MLB is finally starting to emphasize recognition and complete healing before returning to play following head injuries. If not treated correctly and cautiously, post-concussive syndrome have devastating effects on your lifestyle, including severe headaches, vertigo, nausea, memory loss, difficulty remembering, and there have even been causes of motor control problems.
The treatment for concussions is a misnomor because it really just involves rest and monitoring the symptoms. The amount of rest depends on the length of symptoms. If the symptoms (which range from headaches to loss of balance and more) last for more than 24-48 hours, they are to be restricted from activity for a week. Now unfortunately, many athletes will lie to the Athletic Trainers and Doctors about their symptoms, but there are more tests available now that measures their brain function level.
So with that I can’t really predict how long Hill will be on the DL as it really is individualized.
Ryan Church
He’s in the same boat as Aaron Hill, which means it’s another individualized plan. He’s due to take BP soon, but the re-emergence of Tatis means that Church can be brought along cautiously. If everything goes perfectly, he could potentially be back sometime next week.
Brian McCann
He suffered a mild concussion the other day and now that the Braves have raised the white flag on the season, there is no rush to get him back. He’s going to monitored over the next few days and then put through some tests before he’s cleared to return to play. Initially the test involves riding on a stationary bike, progress to crunches, running, and squats. After he passes all of those without having his symptoms return, he’ll be cleared to resume baseball activities which progress from hitting off a tee and move towards regular batting practice. Only after he passes all those steps will he be cleared to play again.
Jorge Posada
As I expected, Jorge finally admitted that he no longer can try and play through the pain and ineffective shoulder. He’s expected to have labrum and rotator cuff surgery soon but the exact extent won’t be fully known until the MD gets an actual look inside. These surgeries usually end up costing the player 6-12 months for position players and longer for pitchers with the labral tear being the deciding factor in terms of timeline.
One issue that complicates this is the fact that he is a catcher (or at least was paid to do so). Catchers have a different throwing motion than all the other position players as the arm never really comes overhead. They are taught to never really bring the ball above the ear when trying to throw out base-runners and this is one of the main mechanisms of injury for labral tears. When he comes back from surgery most likely, he’s going to have to DH a lot more than he has been, but the same can be said for Matsui and Damon.
All in all, right now, not knowing the extent of the labral tear, I put the odds at 50/50 that he’ll be ready for the start of next season.
Hideki Matsui
Hideki’s knees aren’t going to be healed without surgery, they will merely not be symptomatic and swelling up on the good days. He hit off the tee and came away saying he felt great but it could swell up at any point in time with or without a known aggrevating mechanism, Playing the field will increase the chances of aggrevating the knee, but he will most likely not be playing the field that much with Nady, Cabrera, and Abreu entrenched in the field and with Damon/Giambi getting basically all of the DH duties. Matsui and the Yankees expect him back in 2 weeks, I just don’t know how much he’ll play afterwards.
Michael Young
Young suffered a fracture in his right ring finger on Monday which thankfully to everyone involved shouldn’t keep him on the DL. He’s going to need the swelling and pain to go down before heading back out there but by all accounts this isn’t a severe fracture at all. Finger injuries obviously effect the batters swing so for a couple of weeks after he returns you could probably expect a little decreased production from what he was doing previously.
John Maine
Whenever I hear about stiffness or soreness in the shoulder causing the pitcher to come out of the game, I immediately think about the rotator cuff, which is what Maine strained in his latest start. Minor rotator cuff injuries generally produce a deep soreness depending on where the injury is and many times it feels like the soreness you feel after working out. It also can cause the shoulder to drop during throwing which places both the rotator cuff and other structures at risk for further injury. His minor strain will likely cause him to miss at least 1 start and could get up to 3-4 starts depending on how the next few days plays out.
Joe Crede
Crede is taking batting practice for two days in a row without further aggravation which is much earlier than most expected. Low backs are notorious for feeling good one day and horrible the next or vice versa so until he’s back in the lineup I would keep my fingers crossed. This is a good sign however, albeit a jaded one, that he could return sometime late next week.
Hank Blalock
Blalock and Chipper Jones may now be the hitters version of Mark Prior, someone who has a good amount of talent but is always injured now. Blalock is back on the DL with right shoulder inflammation. He had Thoracic Outlet surgery last year in the same shoulder but there is no confirmation or denial as to whether or not it is related. Most likely I think it’s a combination of the shoulder surgery and the carpal tunnel surgery in the right wrist as he likely had to alter his throwing motion between the two.
Tidbits
Injuries effect the game more than most people realize. Look at NYY with Posada, NYM with Pedro, BOS with Ortiz, LAD with Furcal and Jones, COL with Tulowitzki, Helton, Francis, and now the biggest one in recent memory to me, ATL with Jones and Hudson. The timing of these injuries coupled with some lackluster production from everyone else caused the Braves management to realize that they have basically no chance to compete this year. Trading Teixeira to LAA improving that teamand makes an already good team that much better. This is the chip that could solidify a World Series title. Injuries are always part of the game and many of them can’t be avoided but that doesn’t mean that they don’t effect the game greatly at times. That’s why teams with the top medical staffs and management who understand risk/reward in terms of a players health tend to perform better than those who don’t.
I love this year’s trade season.
