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August 13, 2009

Under The Knife

Feeling Famous?

by Will Carroll

Derek Jeter
Mariano Rivera (8/14 ERD)
Exhale, Yankees fans. The Yankee captain fouled a ball off of his right foot and was forced to leave the game. (Maybe he can build a big wall around his foot?) X-rays showed it was nothing more than a painful bruise, and the world began to rotate on its axis again. I'm only being slightly facetious, given Yankeeverse (over)reactions. Jeter tends to come back quickly, so if he misses any time with this painful foot problem, it's unlikely to be much. One thing to watch is to see whether or not he loses any range to his left. There have always been question marks about how to measure Jeter's defense, but this could tell us whether it's reaction time or actual physical speed that has always caused him problems with balls going up the middle. As for Rivera, he stayed behind and saw team doctors about his "cranky" shoulder. I'm sorry, but cranky is what I am before coffee; Rivera's shoulder is inflamed and a bit sore. Not painful, just sore, which means that Phil Hughes and Phil Coke might see even more usage. The back of the bullpen is being treated like Joe Torre never left, and that could be an issue. Rivera should be fine in a couple days. As always, he has one of these every year, comes back fine, and remains perhaps the greatest closer of all time.

Carlos Delgado (9/15)
The Mets are going to have to wait a little longer for Delgado and perhaps a lot longer. That's because he strained his oblique while rehabbing in Florida, and the early word is that it's a significant problem. Delgado was expected back from hip surgery in the next ten days, but pushing that past September 1 is going to cause some roster repercussions. The Mets seem to think that Delgado won't be able to get the at-bats he needs in the minors with this latest setback, which could keep them from bringing him back, even with expanded rosters. That doesn't make sense to me, and makes me wonder if there's some financial reason for them not to do so. Delgado's not going to make any difference at this stage in terms of the "surge" the Mets had hoped to get with returns from Delgado, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran, but there's the matter of Delgado proving that he can still play. Even if the Mets have no interest in re-signing Delgado, allowing him to prove that he's healthy is one of those nice things teams do, knowing that players talk and that small things often affect decisions on where to play. I still think we'll end up seeing a Delgado cameo at the end of the season.

Lance Berkman
Berkman is back out on the field after missing time with a strained calf. It was just another 2-for-3 day for the guy who does nothing but hit. At 33, he's only a couple of years younger than Todd Helton, but both might see the end of their careers shaped by injury. Berkman has, for the most part, avoided the chronic conditions that Helton's had to deal with, but while you might perceive that Helton has had a significant gap in his career due to injury, it's hard to find in his career line. Despite back and intestinal issues that were extremely significant, his single-season low in games played is 144. Berkman came back quickly from an ACL tear a few years back and hasn't really missed a step (no pun intended) because of the style of player he was and is. Two years younger than Helton, Berkman nevertheless seems to have several years more at near-peak left in him, plus a couple of contract years coming up. With almost 1500 hits and over 300 homers, it's time to start thinking about Berkman as a possible Hall of Famer. As for his leg, it shouldn't be an issue.

Ian Kinsler (8/15)
Kinsler started his rehab with Frisco, but had to go to Tulsa rather than staying in the Metroplex. For his trouble, he went 0-for-2, but at least the hamstring didn't appear to be an issue. It wasn't really tested, at bat or in the field, but he'll have one more game in Double-A before returning to the Rangers' lineup for the playoff chase. Kinsler is key to the team's hopes in a lot of ways, and even with an off year, the offense has keyed off of his ability to get into scoring position and then across. He's on pace to score as many runs as he did last year, which ended a month early, so does a 60-point drop in OBP equal out to that missed time? We'll see if he can get back to expectations once he returns. The hamstring shouldn't be what holds him back.

Chris Young (10/4)
So, Jake Peavy's gone, and now Young might not be back. That alone sums up the Padres' season. Young hasn't pitched in two months, and after a visit to Kerlan-Jobe it's looking like the shoulder injury might keep him out for the rest of the season. We're told that Young will head out for a second opinion, and who he goes to might tell us more about what the problem is at the core. MRIs have never been able to reflect a clear problem, but we know that Young can't throw without inflammation and pain. The assumption has been that it's his labrum that's bothering him, so we'll look to see if he heads out to Jim Andrews, or whether he goes to one of the shoulder experts like Craig Morgan or Keith Meister. Either way, it looks as if Young's season is done, his third year of declining innings totals due to injury.