The Injury Update Thread 2012

[Eldee5]

https://twitter.com/#!/bryanhoch

Bryan Hoch ‏ @BryanHoch
Target date for Pineda to be on a big league mound will be May 1, 2013
4m Bryan Hoch ‏ @BryanHoch
Cashman says Yankees physicals/MRI at time of trade were clean. Not damaged goods. Tear happened in extended spring game
7m Bryan Hoch ‏ @BryanHoch
Pineda expected to be out for a full year
13m Bryan Hoch ‏ @BryanHoch
Pineda set for surgery Tuesday http://wp.me/p1rXvG-8WY5
20m Bryan Hoch ‏ @BryanHoch
Michael Pineda diagnosed with anterior labral tear, surgery set for May 1

[Eldee5]

Additional info per Mark Feinsand:
https://twitter.com/#!/BloggingBombe...60622160674817

Dr. Ahmad said the rotator cuff is not damaged at all, which leaves them optimistic about Pineda's recovery.
Dr. Ahmad called it "a discreet tear," which is why they're doing arthroscopic surgery.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

Additional info per Mark Feinsand:
https://twitter.com/#!/BloggingBombe...60622160674817

That's good to see. The less intrusive the better

[-tz]

He'll be out a full year. Dandy, just dandy.

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/...s_nyy&c_id=nyy

04/25/12 6:10 PM ET
Pineda has shoulder tear, will miss season

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
ARLINGTON -- Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda has been diagnosed with an anterior labral tear of his right shoulder and is scheduled to undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday.

Pineda will have a labral repair procedure performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Dr. David Altchek will perform the procedure, assisted by Yankees team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Pineda is expected to miss a full calendar year. He could be back on a big league mound in May 2013.

"There's no way of spinning this as anything other than a very unfortunate circumstance that will certainly affect us here in 2012," Cashman said. "And (it) may affect us going forward, but hopefully for the player's sake as well as our franchise's sake -- certainly, I was counting on this player -- hopefully everything will go as well as you could possibly hope."

Pineda never showed his full velocity in Spring Training with the Yankees, but Cashman said that in no way does he believe the Yankees received damaged goods from the Mariners, calling Pineda a "fully healthy" player when the club acquired the pitcher.

"In no way do I believe, or do the New York Yankees believe, that the Seattle Mariners had any knowledge of any issues here with Michael Pineda prior to the trade or anything of that nature," Cashman said. "He was a fully healthy player we acquired. We had full access to his medicals, which were clean.

"We had the opportunity to do a full physical exam, which we did, which came out clean. Michael has never had a shoulder issue nor has he complained of one with the Mariners, nor has he ever had any tests on the shoulder with the Mariners. This is just an unfortunate circumstance that can happen. It happened."

Ahmad said that the Yankees believe that Pineda can make a full recovery without sacrificing the velocity that made him appealing to the club. Ahmad was encouraged that Pineda's rotator cuff is intact and not affected by the injury.

"Based on what we know from Michael's MRI scan, there is a discrete tear," Ahmad said. "We do feel that tear can be repaired arthroscopically. Based on that, we're optimistic that we can get him recovered."

[-tz]

A few more details, from LoHud:

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/04/2...ood-situation/

When the Yankees traded for Michael Pineda, they did a full physical that included an MRI. When he struggled with velocity and felt shoulder soreness at the end of spring training, the Yankees did another MRI. Neither test showed any problems. When Pineda did regular resistance tests — in spring training and even immediately before Saturday’s extended spring training start — “he tested out strong as a bull,” according to general manager Brian Cashman.

All of that changed after the 15th pitch on Saturday. That’s when the Yankees believe Pineda actually tore the front of his labrum.

“The belief is that without a doubt, the injury occurred during that rehab outing,” Cashman said. “But I think it’s real fair to speculate that there was something there, laying dormant, that wasn’t detectable during regular MRIs.”

The injury that showed up during Tuesday’s dye contrast MRI is significant enough that Dr. Christopher Ahmad told the Yankees “there’s no question” it would have shown up on a regular MRI as well. The Yankees fully believe that there was no problem the Mariners were aware of. The Yankees had full access to Pineda’s medical records and there was no history of any sort of shoulder problem.

Cashman said he’s “devastated” and called the diagnosis “tragic.” If there’s a silver lining it comes in two parts: 1. The Yankees believe the problem can be repaired arthroscopically, which is a less invasive procedure; and 2. There is no damage to the rotator cuff.

“We’re being cautiously optimistic,” Dr. Ahmad said. “One of the nice features of his injury is that his rotator cuff is not injured as part of this. His rotator cuff looked very, very good. When the rotator cuff is damaged as part of the injury problem, that has a much worse prognosis and influences velocity and ability to pitch. His rotator cuff looks great and this is isolated to his labrum, and that’s why we feel more optimistic about him having a good result.”

All of that said, the silver lining is too thin to be considered truly good news. This is close to the worst-case scenario, and the Yankees expect Pineda to miss a full 12 months (meaning he could be pitching in the big leagues within 12 months, not that he’ll be off a mound in 12 months).

“There is a high percentage that players come back and recover from this,” Cashman said. “As I think Chris said, he was cautiously optimistic. We’re not going to downplay the significance of this injury, but there is a high success rate coming back from this particular surgery. It certainly could be better, I guess. If we weren’t dealing with this, it would be a certainly better situation. It could be worse if it involved a rotator cuff. But it’s certainly not a good situation.”

World's thinnest silver lining.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

A few more details, from LoHud:

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/04/2...ood-situation/

World's thinnest silver lining.

Well, it's good for his odds of performing well for us in the future, but does nothing for 2012

[-tz]

Meanwhile, guess who is leading the Seattle Mariners in RBI (or tied for the lead, with Ichiro)? Yup, Jesus Montero.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

Meanwhile, guess who is leading the Seattle Mariners in RBI (or tied for the lead, with Ichiro)? Yup, Jesus Montero.

I'm a big believer in Montero's bat, but his 70 wRC+ (or .270 OBP) tells me more about his first few weeks than his RBI total

[-tz]

Yeah, I know. But whatever he's given the Mariners so far is already more than Pineda will give the Yankees all season. So call me bitter.

[rajah]

Yeah, I know. But whatever he's given the Mariners so far is already more than Pineda will give the Yankees all season. So call me bitter.

What are you bitter about? That you can't control life's vagaries, even with respect to something as relatively unimportant as baseball?

The universe is pretty unpredictable. We can't change that.

[dave8274]

Well, it's good for his odds of performing well for us in the future, but does nothing for 2012

For the 3+ years of team control well have left at that point anyway.

[-tz]

Dr. Schilling has weighed in:

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/stor...ck-better-ever

Nearly two decades after suffering a similar injury to his throwing shoulder, Curt Schilling said he thinks Yankees starter Michael Pineda could return from surgery in less than a year -- and that Pineda might be even better.

"He can be back better than he has ever been in 10 months," said Schilling, now an ESPN baseball analyst. "Maybe less, because he is younger. It is going to be 100 percent on him."

[effdamets]

Dr. Schilling has weighed in:

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/stor...ck-better-ever

Even though he said something positive about a Yankee player, I still hate him!

[sweet_lou_14]

Even though he said something positive about a Yankee player, I still hate him!

Well, read it carefully and it's more nuanced than that. He's really saying that it's possible for Pineda to be even better than he was, but "it is going to be 100 percent on him." In other words, Pineda will only have a poor work ethic to blame if he isn't better off after the recovery.

[effdamets]

Well, read it carefully and it's more nuanced than that. He's really saying that it's possible for Pineda to be even better than he was, but "it is going to be 100 percent on him." In other words, Pineda will only have a poor work ethic to blame if he isn't better off after the recovery.

I can't read the full article - it's blocked here. But it doesn't really matter, I just can't stand the fact that that muttonhead has to chime in on everything.
Hate.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

Well, read it carefully and it's more nuanced than that. He's really saying that it's possible for Pineda to be even better than he was, but "it is going to be 100 percent on him." In other words, Pineda will only have a poor work ethic to blame if he isn't better off after the recovery.

I think that's oversimplifying it -- yes, a lot is on Pineda and how hard he works, but shoulder surgery isn't a slam dunk by any stretch. Just because's Schilling's worked out well doesn't mean his experience applies to everyone else.

[sweet_lou_14]

I think that's oversimplifying it -- yes, a lot is on Pineda and how hard he works, but shoulder surgery isn't a slam dunk by any stretch. Just because's Schilling's worked out well doesn't mean his experience applies to everyone else.

Just to be clear, I wasn't stating my opinion, I was paraphrasing what I believe Schilling is saying.

I don't know what to think about Pineda's work ethic. I have a very, very dim view of an athlete showing up that fat and making lame excuses about how his workout routine was disrupted. That's BS. But I've heard good things about his makeup ... so, given that we Yankee fans still don't have a proper introduction to him, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

Just to be clear, I wasn't stating my opinion, I was paraphrasing what I believe Schilling is saying.

I don't know what to think about Pineda's work ethic. I have a very, very dim view of an athlete showing up that fat and making lame excuses about how his workout routine was disrupted. That's BS. But I've heard good things about his makeup ... so, given that we Yankee fans still don't have a proper introduction to him, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best.

I agree. It's not unusual for a young guy to have a misstep in conditioning, especially if he didn't have good models for it. I'm hopeful he can come back strong.

[Gator's Shadow]

Was Schilling's surgery arthroscopic 20 years ago? I doubt that.

Anyone know of any comps for pitchers who have had a "discreet" labrum tear that does not involve the rotator cuff, that was repaired arthroscopically?

[Eldee5]

Hey everyone, I hate to be a thread policewoman but we've already got two threads for discussion of this important topic. I'll link them here for easy reference:

2012 Michael Pineda Performance Thread
Michael Pineda Out for 2012 With Labrum Tear

Can we please let this thread return to being exclusively about injury updates for the team in general. It's more a quick news thread than a discussion thread. Thanks.

[-tz]

And here's some non-Pineda news to get us back on track ... Joba seems to be making a good recovery.

An enthusiastic and noticeably thinner Joba Chamberlain joined the Yankees for their homestand and said he had “butterflies” just getting back to the ballpark. He shared his optimism throughout the chat with reporters, saying, “My arm feels better than it ever has.”

Of course, of greater concern is the open dislocation in Chamberlain’s right ankle. His elbow had been well on the road to recovery before the gruesome ankle injury, but progress has continued on both fronts. The right-hander made 50 throws this afternoon and said he has continued to throw throughout recovery from his most recent injury. He only stopped throwing bullpens.

“It feels great,” he said. “It feels like nothing happened, which is good. You just want to continue to keep that strong, keep that healthy, and take some worry off my mind as far as getting my ankle ready.”

Chamberlain had been on crutches but has recently switched to a boot for his right ankle. He is able to remove the boot at home and said one of the most challenging steps has been learning to walk like normal again. But the recovery has obviously been steady. Chamberlain saw the doctor yesterday and joked that it was the first time he received positive news. He hopes to have the boot removed for good after another week.

“It’s just one of those things where I’m very fortunate compared to what it looked like five weeks ago,” he said.

Despite his optimism, Chamberlain has not set a timetable for his return. He has remained true, and said he will work with the intention of pitching again this year.

Joe Girardi said, “I think it’s possible,” but added that he would consider Chamberlain’s return “a bonus.”

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/04/2...n-it-ever-has/

Audio at the above link, as well.

[sweet_lou_14]

And here's some non-Pineda news to get us back on track ... Joba seems to be making a good recovery.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/04/2...n-it-ever-has/

Audio at the above link, as well.

I'm surprised how many different writers blogged or tweeted about Joba looking thin yesterday, and nobody seemed to want to post a picture. Come on guys.

[Eldee5]

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/04/2...e-from-garcia/

• Brett Gardner has been cleared to hit in the cage. He came through bunting drills just fine yesterday, saw the doctor again this morning and will attempt to hit after batting practice. He expects to be ready after his 15 days are up. “Today’s just step one, but hopefully it feels good,” he said.

Can't wait to get Brett back in the lineup and on the field.

[-tz]

Nick Swisher was removed from today's game with what is being reported as "tightness in his left hamstring." LoHud reports that he will have a "precautionary" MRI.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/04/2...ees-vs-tigers/

[AuroraBomberalis]

"Low grade strain" on Swish according to Girardi. He says he'll probably miss at least a few days but unsure about possible DL.