Under The Knife 10/1/21
Free Friday: The Many Saints of MLB
MLB calls it, in their rules, “the championship season.” Everyone else calls it the regular season and as we head into a new CBA and likely playoff expansion, the 162-game season itself is in jeopardy, let alone the chance it is shortened to 154. As we get to the end of it, I’ll do what I’ve done in so many years and tip the virtual cap to all of the medical staffs around the leagues, up and down organizations and including those outside staffs that get worked and overworked in season as well. This is the doctors, the Athletic Trainers, the physical therapists, the massage therapists, but goes beyond what you think of. There’s the traveling secretary who makes flight arrangements. The intern that gets someone to an MRI appointment. The hot dog guy that brings food to the training room after the game and cleanup, knowing the medical staff is always there, hours after a game and probably missed the spread. There’s a lot more, but they deserve more recognition and more pay, plus some time off. There’s no offseason with injuries, so let’s get to the final regular season (probably) UTK:
Devin Williams RP MIL (fractured hand)
Devin Williams made a mistake. Who amongst us has not gotten drunk and done something dumb. Just none of us had a consequence of taking down our team’s chances of winning the World Series when we did it. Williams owned it, facing the press alongside David Stearns (who isn’t leaving Milwaukee), and he’ll take the consequences on his shoulders. Good teams have depth and adjust, so we’ll see just how good this Brewers team is. They’d be better with Williams, but I don’t think they’re done.
As for Williams’ injury, it’s a simple broken hand. It’s a single bone (though I don’t know which - likely a metacarpal) and will heal, but not in time for any of the playoffs. There should be no long term consequences, but one Brewers source I spoke with jokingly mentioned Mordecai Brown. Even subtle variations to grip can change someone’s fortune, and Williams has some of the most distinctive pitching shapes you’ll find. The hope is he won’t alter anything, but we’ll have to see next spring.
Garrett Whitlock RP BOS (strained pectoral (shoulder))
Did the Red Sox play it right with Garrett Whitlock? His pectoral strain pushed him to the IL in the hopes that he’d be ready despite the relatively short rest and the tenuous location of his muscle strain. We’ll all see soon, with Whitlock scheduled for a bullpen on Friday and a quick decision on what’s next coming quickly. It wouldn’t stun me to have the Red Sox braintrust make a decision before Whitlock even makes it back to the clubhouse.
The best scenario is that Whitlock looks great, that there’s no residual soreness, and that he could be activated at will. If the Red Sox need him for the last weekend, that’s theoretically possible, or certainly for the Wild Card game. The worst scenario is that he’s just not ready and he stays on the IL, but unavailable. I guess worse than that would be not needing Whitlock at all, but that’s what this last weekend is for.
The sources I spoke with Thursday are positive about Whitlock, but none would discuss whether they thought Whitlock would be ready to go. It wasn’t some secret, but all simply didn’t know enough and are in the same wait and see as the rest of us. Even those with knowledge of the rehab process are similarly reluctant to guess, though again, they remain positive. By Monday, we’ll know for sure, one way or another.
Note - Whitlock’s pectoral strain is not his chest. It’s his shoulder. This video gives a look at the anatomy, but Whitlock’s injury is at the ‘shoulder area’ of the muscle, where it is thinnest (and weakest):
Chris Paddack SP SDP (sprained elbow)
Chris Paddack has a sprained UCL and is getting treatment for it, which includes biologics. That indicates that Paddack has a small tear in the ligament, around 12-15 percent per a source, and that the doctors that have examined him feel there’s a good chance he can avoid surgery. There is some question about treatment and it could involve some further procedures, plus there’s the chance this doesn’t heal well and Paddack faces Tommy John in either the near or longer term. That’s not good, but there is the chance he comes back well.
The Padres face basically trading out Paddack for Mike Clevinger in their rotation. Instead of strengthening their rotation, they’re just churning from injury to injury, rehab to rehab. Yes, there’s more and there’s potential depth, but given this team’s last year and last decade, is there any reason to think that they won’t just have new injuries on top of recurrences?
The question is whether the system, the process will change. That starts with personnel, but it’s more about the system in place and followed. That’s more an investment than a turnaround, so we might not see the results change for a few years as that system takes hold and makes a difference. Until then, or perhaps not at all, I’ll keep writing about a bunch of Padres, watching those injury days stack up like war dead.
Joey Gallo OF NYY (bruised forearm)
Joey Gallo didn’t break his arm. That’s the good news, but in the short term, the Yankees are down another player in a season where they’ve succeeded in spite of the injuries, but just barely. This is a 100 win team on talent, but they could finish just barely in or out of the playoffs, largely due to the injuries.
Gallo’s injury isn’t one that could be prevented. Yes, he could wear a guard on his arm, but a 95 mph pitch to the arm hurts regardless. The issue is that when non-preventable injuries like this stack onto a bunch of preventable injuries, the depth is already tested and the medical staff already overworked. What should be one more minor injury becomes one more thing that the staff has to deal with, so something else doesn’t get done, which maybe leads to another injury, or a rehab going a day longer. Everything has consequences.
Gallo’s bruised arm was sore Thursday so he didn’t play, but he’s truly day to day. He’ll test the arm in the cage and could be back as soon as Friday as the Yankees try to squeeze their way into the playoffs in the last weekend. Pinstripes are slimming, I’m told.
Luke Voit 1B NYY (inflamed knee)
Speaking of Yankees injuries, there’s not a lot of details about Luke Voit’s injury, but given his history - meniscal surgery and later bone bruise - the guess has to be that he has a recurrence in the same area. A bone bruise would cost him weeks and the Yankees may or may not have that. Pushing him to the IL really doesn’t mean much; it’s the new rules and the need to not be a man down at this stage, or another man down as it would be with Gallo out.
As good as Voit’s 2020 was, his 2021 has been bad and worrisome for his future. The knee has been problematic since the start of the season and at best, it will be a maintenance situation. I hate to think that Luke Voit was a pandemic Kevin Maas, but that’s not outside the range of possibilities. Knees like this don’t get better, but the decline can be slowed.
That said, let’s note here that there are a lot of advances in this area that haven’t been tried in a high level athlete like Voit. There were a couple meniscal transplants and at least one meniscal implant tried with minor league athletes, with mixed results. Voit could go that route or try any number of things up to and including surgery. This will be one of those questions that the Yankees will wish they didn’t have to answer this off-season.
Quick Cuts:
Another one, Yanks? DJ LaMahieu left Thursday’s game with what was said to be a hip issue. I’ll follow this, but any missed time is bad for the Yankees … Oh some good news? Early reports are positive on Jameson Taillon and his ankle issue. He threw off flat ground as the medical staff tries to figure out how to brace his ankle without losing mobility. Paging Carson Wentz? … The Angels and Nationals will help decide the AL Wild Card, just like Abner Doubleday intended. With the Angels taking Shohei Ohtani off the mound (he’s not injured) for #162, shouldn’t MLB have some sort of “meaningful game” roster rule? … Zack Greinke went 34 pitches over two innings in Triple-A. I see no reason he shouldn’t be at least an opener for the Astros … Martin Maldonado was back in the lineup on Thursday after coming out Wednesday with a sore shoulder. The Astros have their playoff position locked up, but not home field … Johnny Cueto came off the IL and went straight into relief, something he’s never done in his career. It’s unclear if Kervin Castro was a de facto opener and that Cueto’s entrance was planned, but that would imply the three run first was planned too … Sal Perez is banged up, a mild ankle sprain this time, but he’ll play through to push for 50 homers … Elvis Andrus had his ankle fixed with a “tightrope” - a kevlar bracing in place of his sprained ligament. This is a relatively common but new procedure and I don’t think it’s been done in MLB before. Best known case? Tua Tagovailoa, who has it in both ankles … Add Yu Darvish to the Padres IL tab. He hits the IL with a hip strain and further screws up year over year comparisons from previous years due to the change in roster rules. I’m on Craig Elsten’s podcast if you want to hear more about the Padres injury situation and what they could do to fix it.
Reader @digmyearth asked about Sturgill Simpson. While I don’t normally do musical injuries, this is actually one I’ve had myself. I’m no singer, but had a sneeze-induced hemorrhage of my vocal cords before I started UTK. It is a no-joke injury, very scary because you can cough up very red blood. The injury for me required a full week of no talking, so for someone with pipes like Simpson, I have to think it’s longer. Get well, Sturgill. Losing an artist like that to injury doesn’t have a good baseball comparable.