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July 30, 2009

Under The Knife

Save the Date!

by Will Carroll

Carlos Beltran (8/15)
Carlos Beltran is coming back. That was always the plan, but how he's going about it speaks a lot to where he might be in the future. Beltran has decided to accelerate the pace of his rehab, hoping to come back towards mid-August, matching up closely with Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, and Billy Wagner. That's an infusion of talent no team will be able to match with trades, but it might also be too little, too late as the Mets continue to slip. Beltran made the informed decision based on the near certainty that he will need microfracture surgery and could miss much, if not all, of the 2010 season. He'll do everything he can to avoid it, but that's the worst case scenario and he's willing to give it a go. His success will be based on pain tolerance and management, as well as Jerry Manuel's ability to spot him in and out. It's unlikely he can play CF, though no one has said much about where he will actually play. It's a calculated risk that Beltran and the Mets are taking. Given the success - or lack thereof - with microfracture in MLB, it's a big risk and perhaps Beltran's last hurrah.

Gil Meche (8/6)
Gil Meche made it through a 50-pitch sim game and the Royals have told him he'll make one rehab start before returning to the Royals rotation. Meche came through the pitching okay, but he's still got soreness in his lower back. Most of the problem, he told MLB.com, is not the pitching itself, but the sitting. However, the sim game didn't appear to cause him too many problems. No one I spoke with knew what Meche did between "innings" in the simulation, but he didn't come off the field long. By this, I mean he wasn't going into the clubhouse or riding a stationary bike, two of the things you might expect. That's a good sign, I guess, but it's also a bit of an unknown. How did Meche go from achy to not achy in a matter of days? Back injuries change a lot, so maybe he just got better. If Meche doesn't have a setback, he'll have that one rehab start this weekend and be back in the Royals rotation this time next week.

Roy Oswalt (8/6)
Bud Norris
Roy Oswalt went to see a back specialist after returning to Houston. An MRI confirmed a small herniation in one of his discs, in the same location and amount as last year. He was able to pitch through that with only an epidural injection, which is what was done again. Oswalt will miss a start, but should be back in the rotation for his next scheduled turn after that. Given his success in getting through the injury last year and the lack of problems through the first half, we have to expect similar results. Of course, that similar result is pointing to there being a fatigue component to this issue, which has to be concerning the Astros. Speaking of fatigue, Oswalt's teammate, Bud Norris, is now going to be exposed a bit more. He's already over his career high in innings (102), but the Astros say that he'll finish out the season without what they termed "aggressive limits." At 24, Norris isn't a young, high-ceiling arm, even if he is the best the Astros terrible system has. Assuming he isn't abused on a game-to-game basis, this is pretty reasonable, especially if the Astros stay close in the division. This has to be a team in win-now mode.

Francisco Liriano (8/4)
Any elbow injury to a post-Tommy John pitcher is always a concern, but inside the "honeymoon period", it's just odd. Francisco Liriano is having trouble with his forearm. Sources tell me the problem is in the "belly" of the muscle, the thick part nearer the elbow. An MRI showed no structural problem, but the Twins saying that the diagnosis is "forearm irritation" is just a description of the symptoms, not an analysis of the cause. It's interesting in that the doctors cleared Liriano to pitch Wednesday, but that the Twins decided to play it safe. Remember that Liriano had issues with communication both before and after his Tommy John surgery. While indications are that Liriano will be back in for his next turn, this one will bear watching. There are off days both today and next Monday, which buys Liriano a bit of extra rest.

Alexei Ramirez (7/31)
Carlos Quentin
Alexei Ramirez sprained his ankle trying to break up a double play. While they don't believe the injury is serious, he will be on crutches and have x-rays as a precaution. The team actually expects him back on Thursday, though they'll be cautious and it could be longer. The team has Jayson Nix as the fill-in, but a longer term absence might shift Gordon Beckham over to his natural position. Carlos Quentin hit a home run, but was in clear pain as he rounded the bases. WGN showed Herm Schneider working on his foot in the dugout, so that fasciitis is still in full effect. Afterwards, Ozzie Guillen was also in full effect. "Carlos looks like an old drunk," he told reporters. Quentin is "coping" with the pain, he says, and we'll see if he's forced to miss any time. Luckily, no one took his Jeffrey Leonard-paced home run trot as an insult.