Touch Me I'm Sick - Injuries (and Recoveries) in 2013

[Edgy MD]

Anybody see Ramon Ortiz's exit yesterday? He felt his elbow go --- and at 40, likely the last vestige of his now marginal career --- dropped to his knees and started crying in despair. Walked off the field sobbing.

I kind of thought with the Jays having already snuck him through waivers once or twice this year, that he may end up being a 2013 Met, at least ephemerally. We've been at waiver war with the Jays for two years, it seems.

Is Ortiz the last member of the Benson Bunchers? He has to be, right?

[Ceetar]

on the Mets front, d'Arnaud out of his boot. Baseball Activity time!

[ashie62]

Awesome!

[Edgy MD]

It might be, but I think we're getting conflicting reports on the persistence of the boot.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Edgy MD wrote: It might be, but I think we're getting conflicting reports on the persistence of the boot.

[MFS62]

ESPN:


WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Jeurys Familia is headed to New York to be examined by team doctors.

Familia landed on the disabled list May 12 with what has been labeled biceps tendinitis. He made a pair of rehab appearances with Class A St. Lucie before the issue resurfaced. Terry Collins recently had expressed hope Familia would be back on a mound this past weekend after letting the issue calm.

Familia told ESPNNewYork.com at Palm Beach International Airport on Tuesday morning that he is not in pain -- just that he cannot fully extend his arm during his delivery.


Later

[Edgy MD]

Matt d. Dekker, reporting for game duty.

[Lefty Specialist]

he cannot fully extend his arm during his delivery.

So I'm thinking that may be a problem.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Dumped by Mets, Perez Revives His Career as Mariner
By DAVID WALDSTEIN
Published: June 8, 2013


Oliver Perez pitching against the Yankees last month. Through Friday, his E.R.A. was 1.29. In 2010, his last season
with the Mets, his E.R.A. was 6.80.

SEATTLE � At the worst moment of his career, Oliver Perez swallowed hard, blinked several times to prevent tears from forming and told reporters what all ballplayers say, even if sometimes it�s hard to believe. He claimed he still loved the game. His earned run average was over 8.00, his velocity was under 86, and every time he walked anywhere near a mound, a thunderstorm of boos assaulted his ears. Other than the money, what�s to love about that? It was March 21, 2011, and the Mets had, in the words of Perez, just fired him. He was so bad that the strapped club was willing to eat most of the $12 million it still owed him just to make him go away and stop reminding the Mets of their costly mistake � a three-year, $36 million extension for a left-handed starter they thought could win 15 to 18 games a season. Perez had been so bad the season before that the Mets tried to send him to the minor leagues, a request he rebuffed. The Mets responded by refusing to pitch him for a month, and in all, he appeared in only 17 games for the season, with an 0-5 record and a 6.80 E.R.A. In an absurd outing in the final game of 2010, he walked three batters and hit another in the 14th inning. Naturally, he took the loss. By spring training in 2011, he had become such a distraction that the Mets could no longer abide his presence. Never mind that a lingering knee injury was preventing him from throwing with his usual force. The Mets, and their fans, wanted him gone, and now he was. But before he ducked into a waiting sport utility vehicle, Perez dutifully spoke to reporters in Port St. Lucie, Fla., vowing to come back with another team. �I think when you get fired from anywhere, you feel sad,� he said. �It�s not a good moment. But you have to be stronger, you know. And my life is not done.� More than two years later, Perez has made good on his promise. After spending 18 months fighting and scraping his way through the lower levels of the professional game, Perez has reinvented himself with the Seattle Mariners and now has some of the most impressive numbers of any major league reliever. His E.R.A. is 1.17, and he has 31 strikeouts in 23 innings. �He�s been invaluable to us,� Mariners Manager Eric Wedge said. �He got his velocity back, and now he�s pitching with confidence. He�s just been huge.� His path to being an invaluable member of the Mariners actually began the day he left the Mets for good. �I couldn�t believe it,� Perez said in a recent interview. �I got home and I cried with my wife. I was in shock. But I was only 29. My family told me, �You are too young to quit.� � Two days later, Scott Boras, his agent, found Perez work with the Washington Nationals. It was not glamorous. He was assigned to Class AA Harrisburg, where he spent the season riding buses and sleeping in modest hotels. He made 15 starts and had a 3.09 earned run average. And his knee was healing. Toward the end of the season, the coaching staff in Harrisburg, realizing that Perez�s numbers against left-handed hitters had become exceptional, suggested that he consider becoming a left-handed specialist, a short reliever used primarily to retire left-handed hitters. Thinking it was the quickest way back to the majors, Perez embraced the idea. He went home to Culiac�n to pitch in the Mexican Winter League and also went to work with Rafael Arroyo, a former bullpen catcher with the Mets. Perez�s career as a reliever began to take shape. �He was very vulnerable at the time,� Arroyo said. �He hadn�t had success, and he lost a lot of confidence. He was really in a do-or-die situation. It was a turning point for him. He had to give up his ego and go about as far down as you can go to get back up to where he is.� While Perez was toiling in Mexico, Boras called the Mariners and told them they had to see him. His knee was strong again and his velocity was up to 94 miles per hour. And Perez did pitch well for Culiac�n, although even there, in the city of his birth, he was still susceptible to hearing the jeers that had become his soundtrack with the Mets. �I was more nervous pitching in Mexico because everybody wants you to be good all the time,� he said. �I�m the first one to get to the big leagues from that city. But sometimes, they boo me, too.� So far, he has not been booed in Seattle. He joined the Mariners last June, and in 33 games last season had a 1-3 record and a solid 2.12 E.R.A. This season, his E.R.A., after 25 appearances, is startling. Moreover, Perez, 31, says he wants to pitch until he is 40 and wants to pitch on a championship team. Maybe that will be in Seattle, or maybe somewhere else. Just not in Queens. �With these numbers, he�s going to be at minimum an eighth-inning guy like a Jeremy Affeldt,� Boras said, citing the left-handed specialist who has won two championship rings with the San Francisco Giants in the last three seasons. �He fought his way back,� Boras said of Perez.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/sports/baseball/mets-discard-oliver-perez-reinvents-himself-as-mariner.html?_r=0

________________________________________

If, two or three years years ago, Perez was willing to acknowldege his knee injury and accept his Minor League reassignment, the response would have been more sympathetic and he might still be a Met today. His contract was guaranteed. Instead, he brought on all of the wrath by insisting on remaining with the big club, despite a fast ball that was almost 10 MPH slower and a total loss of pitch control.

[Edgy MD]

With the success of Perez and Bay, I'm half surprised Luis Castillo's agent hasn't swung a deal with Seattle. Other sex-Mets toiling for the Sailormen include Kelly Shoppach (poorly) and Endy Chavez (pretty OK).

[Ceetar]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: If, two or three years years ago, Perez was willing to acknowldege his knee injury and accept his Minor League reassignment, the response would have been more sympathetic and he might still be a Met today. His contract was guaranteed. Instead, he brought on all of the wrath by insisting on remaining with the big club, despite a fast ball that was almost 10 MPH slower and a total loss of pitch control.

Another possibility would've been to actually DL him, have him actually rehab the knee, and work on regaining the velocity. And when you DL him, don't just ignore him and then randomly bring him back to the roster and stick him in the bullpen and forget about him. That was the most mind-boggling thing, that they knew his velocity was down, knew his knee was still weak, and did nothing about it. Of course, this is the same manager/pitching coach that saw symptoms of injury and velocity drops in Maine and decided to start him anyway..for 5 pitches and then changed their mind.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Per Rubin, Guys!, and a few other tweeters, Justin Turner heading to the DL with an ingrown beard hair. Or an intercostal muscle strain, whichever comes first. Atchison and Wheeler to be activated, since they can carry 26 for a DH, then who knows on Wednesday.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I hope Ike Davis isn't waiting by the phone.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Turner on the DL, Scott Atchison activated.

[Edgy MD]

Atchison. Somebody on Twitter said that it was cool to see Wheeler showing up with his Dad.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Edgy MD wrote: With the success of Perez and Bay, I'm half surprised Luis Castillo's agent hasn't swung a deal with Seattle. Other sex-Mets toiling for the Sailormen include Kelly Shoppach (poorly) and Endy Chavez (pretty OK).

I miss Endy.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Kevin Burkhardt wrote: Mets at Phillies. 4pm on PIX 11. Lucas Duda back to NY for tests on his oblique. 100% odds he heads to DL. Return of Ike?

Geez, they're dropping like flies.

[Guest themetfairy]

When Good Hot Dog Eating Contests Go Bad

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Andy McCullough ?@McCulloughSL 24m Francisco Cervelli had a "stress reaction" in his elbow, and was shut down, Girardi said. Girardi say he may not return until August.

A tear welled up in the corner of his eye. "Doc," he said, "give it to me straight. I know it don't look good, and I know it's a long road and a lot of work, but when it's all done will I be able to pump my fist like a giant douchebag again?"

[ashie62]

Keith looks old to me today.

He looks better out of the sun...

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Ruben Tejada activated from the DL - and demoted to Las Vegas.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

According to Rubin the Mets may skip Marcum's next turn.

He's not hurt. I'm putting this here because I'm sick of looking at him.

[Lefty Specialist]

"My arm isn't sore, it's just a little stiff."
-Steve Barber in Ball Four

Edited July 7, 2013 by Guest

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Lefty Specialist wrote: "My arm isn't sore, it's just a little stiff." Steve Barber in Ball Four

I can see Marcum spending all his spare time in the diathermy machine.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Jason Grilli leaves the Pirates to go back to Pittsburgh for exams on his owie forearm, per Bucs writer Rob Biertempfel. That's not a typo.

Every time a ballplayer so much as gets a hangnail they're rushing him in for an MRI. I'm surprised they didn't do one on Harvey's blister. I can only imagine how people feel sitting and waiting at the radiology center, their kid taking a day off from work so they can bring them in to get an MRI on their brain tumor, and they continue to wait while some douchebag jock breezes in, cuts the line, and gets an MRI on their forearm tendinitis. 'Cause I'm sure Derek Jeter sits in the waiting room with the November 2004 Reader's Digest until it's his turn for the machine.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Mike Kerwick ?@mikekerwick 6m Wheeler had a blister on his finger, per Collins, but it's better now. He'll still go Thursday. #mets

First Harvey, now Wheeler? Apparently those cheap-ass Wilpons sell all the used game balls to schools, orphanages, VA hospitals and the like at a huge markup, and the team's pitchers warm up using prickly pears that are trucked up in bulk from the Texas farm of Jeff's cousin Heffernan, a.k.a. Heff Wilpon.

[Centerfield]

Heard on the broadcast last night that Niese was a few starts away from coming back.

What they didn't mention is whether the tear is healing. I know he didn't need the surgery. Does that mean it fixed itself?

[Edgy MD]

Looking forward to the seven-man rotation.

Any word on Wright's ham?

[Centerfield]

Cramp. He says he's fine.

[Edgy MD]

Hopefully, an objective third party can make that call.