Under The Knife 4/17/24

RIP Whitey and Carl

I’m going to have more on Max Meyer being sent down and the plan to “manage his innings.” This isn’t one I could put together on the quick, so I’m hoping for Friday. Until then, let’s get to the injuries:

KODAI SENGA, SP NYM (strained shoulder)

Kodai Senga got to 120 feet with his flat work and will shift to the mound. We could debate a lot of things here, but I’m just not going to. It’s a mid-week, my coffee hasn’t really kicked in, and I’ve been doing this long enough that I’m not just going to rant at every little thing like I used to. Nor do I hold grudges 25 years. With Senga, let’s just call it progress and leave it at that for now. There’s plenty more work coming.

It’s how he’s managed through these next phases that will be key. Getting up on a mound increases stresses and adding intensity to that increases things more. There’s a point where Senga will test the strength of that shoulder capsule and he doesn’t want to do it all at once. Given what we know about both where he is in this transition to the mound and the expectation that he’ll be back around when eligible in late May, this is certainly on track. The 60-day IL makes “getting ahead” less valuable, but seeing Senga in rehab starts by mid-May seems reasonable right now.

Subscribers will get bad news about a couple young pitchers, good news on a couple older pitchers, and more on why talking about elbow surgery is more confusing than ever. There are 14 injuries in just the Quick Cuts section alone. Subscribe today!