Injury News and Analysis September 10
Albert Pujols
Pujols is considering having Tommy John, but is going to wait to decide until after the post-season. While the rehab would only be about 6-8 months as a positional player that still put spring training and some of the season in jeopardy. He admits that he doesn’t want to really wait for a couple more years so there is a strong possibility that he will get it done this off-season. The procedure is no different for a positional player than a pitcher but the rehab is obviously different. The positional players don’t have to go through as long with a throwing program and that is the main difference between the two rehabs.
Travis Hafner
Hafner has finally been activated from the DL and will likely have problems the rest of year, at least somewhat. His shoulder woes will continue to sap his power so I don’t think we can ever expect 45 HR again. I think that we can reasonably expect 30 HR if he regains all of his strength, but the shoulder woes definitely won’t allow him back to the previous level.
B.J. Upton
Upton strained his quad against the Red Sox on Monday and is said to not be starting until Friday at the earliest. He said on Tuesday that his quad is feeling better and that he is available for pinch-hitting duties. The problem with quad strains or hamstring strains is that they tend to linger and not reaching 100% for a while if he tries to play through it. This could end up sapping his power even more as the labrum injury is effecting his swing.
Jack Wilson
Wilson fractured his index finger on his throwing hand while trying to field a ground ball and puts his season in jeopardy as well. The fracture has been described as a hairline fracture and typically has a 4 week rehab time roughly. This of course will put him through the end of the Pirates season but the Pirates haven’t officially ended his season yet. Long Term there shouldn’t be any lingering effects into next year.
Billy Wagner
Well what can I say. Sometimes it’s not good when I’m right. I questioned that there was other issues going on when it first came out with the diagnosis of a forearm strain and it appears that I was right. Wagner is going into surgery for Tommy John surgery. Not only is the rest of this season done, but all of next season is in trouble now as well. Older pitchers tend to take a little longer to recover and Billy has a lot of miles on that arm. The procedure doesn’t change at all unless he has some wierd anatomical variant which is a slight possibility.
Paul Konerko
Konerko was diagnosed with a sprained MCL and has been listed as day-to-day. The White Sox are not exactly very forth coming with all of the their injuries so the extent of the MCL has a little question to it. Once more information comes out I’ll update this picture.
Julio Lugo
Lugo’s quad has kept him out since July 12th and I think it will continue to keep him out. Jed Lowrie and Alex Cora have filled in better than expected and Lugo’s quad suffered a setback earlier this month to put the season in doubt. Like I said earlier, quad injuries tend to linger unless they are not 100% and I think this is what happened here. Long term, assuming he doesn’t have any complications like severe scar tissue, he shouldn’t have any problems. His speed may be slightly effected but it won’t be a severe drop off from a physical sense. Mentally, he may not trust it so we’ll have to keep an eye on that.
Carlos Guillen
Guillen has a pinched nerve in his back and for anyone who has ever suffered from these can tell you, they are not pleasant. You never know when they will flare back up and can extremely painful when it does happen. He is just beginning to take some light swings so he appears to be several days away at the least. If he has a setback at all, I fully expect him to be done for the season.
Tidbits
Expect Evan Longoria back this weekend. I think his power will be sapped some even though technically it was not a wrist injury. Jarrod Saltalamacchia doesn’t have major ligament damage according to Dr. James Andrews. Jim Johnson doesn’t have a labrum tear but does at least have impingement.
