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April 9, 2007

Under The Knife

First Week Roundup

by Will Carroll

It's been a first week of baseball that's run hot and cold, literally in some cases. There's a ton to get to, so powered by Tempurpedic, on to the injuries:

• The big story is that Chris Carpenter is back to square one with his elbow. While reports have him not losing quite as much range of motion in his pitching elbow, this still doesn't look good. He's headed for an MRI, and signs still point to this being a case of bone chips. In such a case, the small moving calcifications irritate the elbow when knocked around by the act of pitching. The Cards are still optimistic that this can be dealt with--they have used ultrasound on some players, most notably Albert Pujols with his heel spurs, and there have been some studies done on the use of such treatment on elbows. That said, it's never been tested on pitchers as far as I can tell, and doing so with a big-ticket ace like Carpenter probably isn't the best time to experiment. Surgery remains a possibility, and like Kelvim Escobar in 2005, it would cost him a minimum of six weeks. The Cards will give us a big indication on how long this will be on Tuesday. If Carpenter is not able to go--which is extremely likely--the Cards will go with either Blake Hawksworth or a "bullpen game." The bullpen game would indicate a short-term problem, while calling up Hawksworth is the course of action if Carpenter is headed to the DL.

• The Yankees are having their share of health problems early in the season, most of which have to do with weather. Hideki Matsui, once an ironman, is now headed to the DL for the second time in his career after being held back by a strained hamstring. While it's not considered serious, the depth situation in the Yankees outfield forced them to make the move. It also forced Johnny Damon to make a decision over the weekend, and he convinced the medical staff that he would be okay for at least limited duty. He pinch-hit on Saturday and entered the game on a double switch on Sunday with no apparent problems. In the another Yankee aches-and-pains development, the Captain also struggled over the weekend, leaving a game after fouling one off his foot, a problem sources say was amplified by the cold temperature. Derek Jeter came back and showed no problems over the weekend, though his defense appears to be suffering some.

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