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July 21, 2005

Under The Knife

Brokedown Pitchers

by Will Carroll

Powered by a great bootleg of the 1984 Grateful Dead show I saw on my birthday, on to the injuries:

• Stiffness. That doesn’t sound that bad. Cubs fans everywhere are holding their breath at the sound of the word, now associated with Kerry Wood and his problematic right shoulder. Wood gave up three homers in three innings, nothing unusual in Cincinnati, but was pulled by the training staff after they noticed his velocity was down. Wood apparently denied problems on the mound, then admitted that he’d had trouble getting loose during warm-ups. The team will have Wood looked at by Reds physician Tim Kremchek today, and an MRI on the shoulder will be considered. (Reports that no MRI is scheduled don’t tell us much. Kremchek has his own MRI equipment at his state-of-the-art facility in Cincinnati.) There’s not much in the way of positives here. Wood’s adjusted mechanics are apparently not taking enough stress off the shoulder to allow him to pitch without problems, while the “trouble getting loose” points to issues in his throwing regimen between starts.

• Livan Hernandez may or may not be injured. His season may or may not be done. The Nats may or may not be freaking out. There’s a lot up in the air right now in Washington besides the Supreme Court. Quotes from him in Thursday’s Washington Times make it sound like there may be a knee problem or that he may simply be angry with something there in Washington. The story has Hernandez quoted as being “99.9% sure” his season is done, while also saying that he’s not quitting on his team. While Hernandez has had some problems with the right knee, including having it drained back in May, team sources indicate that this is the first time surgery has been mentioned. Even Hernandez seems to acknowledge that the knee is just a means to an end. I think this may be the first time that a player has initiated his own type of roster shenanigans. Hernandez will undergo some medical tests on Thursday, as much to rule out things as to see what’s wrong.

  Late word is that this may be related to the roster move dropping Wil Cordero. Evidently Cordero was Hernandez’s closest friend on the team.

• Roy Halladay is off crutches and one step--literally--closer to a return. Reports from Toronto have Halladay walking without a limp. He’s kept his arm loose and was able to ride a stationary bike. He’s about a week away from getting on a mound, but the short duration of his time off makes it unlikely that he will need anything in the way of rehab time. I don’t anticipate Halladay having any problems with his return, picking up right where he left off. Only his counting stats should suffer from the time off, though there’s a minor benefit in the forced reduction of his innings.

• While A.J. Burnett is the subject of rumors and plays his new Clash theme song, Josh Beckett is ready to return, making Burnett just that much more expendable. Beckett had a side session on Wednesday and had no problems with his oblique and, another positive, had no problems with blisters. His actual return is up in the air due to the uncertainty of Burnett’s situation. The tentative date is Saturday in San Francisco. The Fish could also get “El Pulpo,” Antonio Alfonseca, back in the bullpen as soon as this next week. Alfonseca has good velocity so far on his rehab assignment.

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