In a minor upset, renowned ortopedic surgeon James Andrews concurred with the Phillies' medical staff that Freddy Garcia's damaged right shoulder may heal without surgery.Who knew?
That said, don't expect to see Garcia on the mound any time soon. In a statement, Phillies assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said Garcia will be shut down for "several weeks." After that, he'll begin a throwing program. There's no timetable on his return. Can't imagine it will be before the All-Star break.
(Update, 8:29 p.m.): Talked with Amaro a few hours ago, and he said the Phillies still can't be sure Garcia will pitch again this season. If, whenever he resumes throwing, Garcia continues to feel discomfort, surgery will become necessary. "There have been situations like this where pitchers have come back and pitched effectively," Amaro said. "There are also situations where they can’t and have to have operations. A lot of it will depend on how well he heals."
8 comments:
Well at least we won't have to miss The Chief's 4 and 2/3 innings effort every 5th game for the rest of the season. That would have been a huge loss. Where would they find a guy who can throw 100 pitches in 4 2/3 innings?
Good move, considering how much this same strategy helped Garcia out of Spring Training.
I feel confident in saying that I represent the extreme majority of the Phillies fanbase when i say:
Whatever.
Scott - what are the chances the Phillies trade for a starter? Unfortunitely I think I know the answer. But both Lieber and Garcia will be gone next year anyway - why not trade for one at the deadline? A good one, like Zambrano - why is it that only the Mets go after guys like him?
i still stand by my statement that garcias career is over. a labrum injury is no joke. its not like an elbow injury where you get tommy john and come back stronger after a year(re: randy wolf). add in the fact that he has a rotator cuff problem and he's got a HUGE uphill climb. if he does come back, it'll take at least 2 years to come back effectively.
i don't know why he would risk his shoulder that much to just try and come back and pitch in a contract year. mind boggling. or the fact that the phillies will knowingly throw out an injured pitcher over and over.
anon: the phillies refuse to add on any extra salary for fear that their pockets won't be lined with cash. the mets just want to win. the phillies want to win as well, but not at the cost of the bottom line.
here is a great article on labrums
http://www.slate.com/id/2100895/
Jamie: I agree that it's worrisome that Garcia has problems with his labrum and rotator cuff. But let's not get carried away. He's hardly the first pitcher to have a labrum problem, and he won't be the last. He also won't be the first pitcher to come back from it. Ultimately, I think Garcia will need to have surgery. But if James Andrews, the foremost orthopedic surgeon in the country, thinks rest and rehab may solve the problem, then it obviously isn't as serious as we're making it out to be.
Personally, if Andrews told me I could avoid surgery by shutting it down for a month, I'd shut it down. He knows more about this stuff than any of us.
Anon: Regarding your question about the Phillies trading for a starter: There's no doubt they'll look into it. But there won't be much out there. I can't see Florida trading Dontrelle Willis, especially within the division. Zambrano may be available, but the Cubs have plenty of money and may be hopeful of re-signing him.
The knock on Gillick for traditionally "standing Pat" at the trading deadline is inaccurate. There are plenty of years when he's added players to improve his team (Rickey Henderson in Toronto comes to mind). But I'm not sure how much payroll flexibility he's being given by this ownership.
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