Injury News and Analysis August 3rd
Man there have been a lot of injuries lately, some severe some not. I’m going to have to look over some numbers to see if there is any pattern year to year. Until then, let’s go over the new injuries and injury news.
Khalil Greene
Storage Chest 1, Khalil Greene 0. Along with Troy Tulowitzski this has to be one of the dumb injuries that will end up costing the team. He suffered a fracture of the 5th metacarpal which is on the pinkie finger side of the hand. This is known as a boxers fracture because it is almost always suffered by people throwing punches. He’s said to be out for about 6-8 weeks and this sounds about right to me. Unfortunately this puts him outs for the season basically. It won’t effect his numbers next season but then again, it couldn’t get much worse than this year could it?
Scott Rolen
Rolen’s having roblems with the shoulder that he’s already had 3 surgeries on. Supposedly, the shoulder is just fatigued and he won’t have to have surgery on. Shoulders in position players rarely become “just fatigued” though so I would have some concern about his rotator cuff or his labrum. Often the shoulder feels “dead” or “fatigued” with rotator cuff damage. If he tries his rehab and it doesn’t sound like it’s working, then I would lean towards Rolen having actual damage. Regardless, because of his history, I wouldn’t put too much stock on him returning effectively this year.
Todd Jones
Jones went on the DL with a sore shoulder. We’ve learned that he has had pain in his shoulder for the last 6 weeks roughly, which is just insane in my eyes. From Jones perspective, I can see it. But I cannot imagine the Tigers would let him pitch through pain for that long. He had a very good April, but has since deteriorated which lines up with his description of the timeline. He has put a lot of miles on the shoulder but the MRI revealed no structural damage. With the help of the MRI he was was diagnosed with inflammation and tendinitis of the rotator cuff. Since he’s been dealing with it for so long, it’s going to take longer for him to recover. I think he will likely be at least 3-4 weeks but there’s a chance it will be longer.
Chris Duncan
Duncan has been diagnosed with a herniation of a cervical disk which is sending radiating pain and weakness into his shoulder and arm. He’s received a cortisone injection already and that hasn’t seemed to help at all (which occurs often with herniated disks). Often these cases only get better with surgery and it appears more and more likely that this will be that case here too. It looks like his case will involve inserting a prothestic disc in place of the damaged one and sometimes it can be career ending. They say that he’s expected to 3-6 weeks though so I guess it could be anything from 3 week to the end of his career. Either way, I don’t think you can trust that he will come back quickly.
Chien Ming Wang
According to the NY Daily News, Wang is finished for the season following his injury in earlier post on my site. Giradi said that there is no chance of him returning by Sept 1st and there is a chance he can come back for October 1st. Doesn’t exactly sound convincing. The Yankees had to be conservative with this because the area is so important in stabilizing the area. He should be all set for the start of next season, but without having surgery there is always a chance of reinjury. I think it’s safe to drop him in any league, even for keeper leagues.
Tidbits
Dustin McGowan has surgery to repair a frayed labrum. He should be set to return for the start of next season if the fraying wasn’t too severe. Pedro Feliz has a herniated disc in his lower back which they feel can be treated with rest and strengthening after about 3 weeks. This sounds like a realistic timeline to calm the area down and strengthen up the area. Mike Lowell still feels pain in hip (he’s been feeling the pain since the AS break) but it only effects his speed so the Red Sox are going to keep him in the lineup for now. Chipper Jones is scheduled back from the DL on Friday. He’s been taking grounders and BP with no problem. Nomar Garciaparra went on the DL with a sprained MCL. He hasn’t been that useful anyways but he should be back in a few weeks. Elijah Dukes came off the DL and promptly got two hits. It appears to be safe to get him back in your lineups. Victor Martinez is about 2 weeks away. He’s been playing catch and taking practice swings lately. Joe Crede began playing on his rehab stint and could come off the DL on Wednesday. Tim Hudson will have Tommy John surgery after still having soreness after playing catch, just like I suggested originally here. Jerry Hairston Jr. still can’t run at full speed because of his hamstring injury so it will be several days away from returning at the earliest. Joel Zumaya has soreness in the upper triceps and bottom back shoulder area so he will need several days off. Hopefully it’s only soreness but we’ll see in a few days. Marlon Anderson has been placed on the DL with a hamstring strain for the 2nd time this season. Todd Helton suffered another setback this week so now there is really no timetable at all. This will allow Ian Stewart and Garrett Atkins alongside each other for a while longer. Julio Lugo ran for the first time yesterday. He’s still several days to a week before starting a rehab assignment at the earliest.
