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

[Ceetar]

TheOldMole wrote: Are we worried about Zach's oblique?

No.

(and it's Zack not Zach, because he's a pitcher and striKes a lot of guys out. )

[ashie62]

Johan took the wnter off..so says Heyman

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/jon-heyman/21798836/mets-santana-wasnt-in-pitching-shape-when-he-got-to-camp

[Edgy MD]

Damn shame if true --- and it sure seems to be, with the agent more or less copping on his behalf. Always seemed to be pretty attentive to his condition to me.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Damn shame if true --- and it sure seems to be, with the agent more or less copping on his behalf. Always seemed to be pretty attentive to his condition to me.

Well, the rest was always supposed to be important, but I wonder if Johan thought that with the long Spring Training his arm would respond quicker, faster, perhaps like it did when he was younger before all this. It surprised me too that he wouldn't have started throwing in January like normal though, I wonder what his reasoning was for not.

[Edgy MD]

No IGT today, but I fell asleep with a 4-0 lead and awoke to a 5-4 deficit (now 6-4).

More importantly to this thread, Kirk Nieuwenhuis just got carted off after hurting his knee stealing second.

[Edgy MD]

Reported as a "bruised left knee."

[Benjamin Grimm]

Good thing the team is deep in outfielders...

[Edgy MD]

Oh, the depth is there.

Just not the, um, height.

[Guest vtmet]

Ashie62 wrote: No WBC for Johan..so why rush him..Santana is adamant he feels fine and just needs to build him arm up. He's no kid and has had surgery.. He will be ok

how did Santana even think that he might be ready for the WBC? Was his "interest" just a publicity gimmick so that he'd look like he really "wanted" to play, but figured that the Mets were going to say no anyhow to get him off the hook?

[Ceetar]

vtmet wrote: Ashie62 wrote: No WBC for Johan..so why rush him..Santana is adamant he feels fine and just needs to build him arm up. He's no kid and has had surgery.. He will be ok how did Santana even think that he might be ready for the WBC? Was his "interest" just a publicity gimmick so that he'd look like he really "wanted" to play, but figured that the Mets were going to say no anyhow to get him off the hook?

my guess is he just assumed he was 'healed' and his arm would respond like it always used to. He'd already have made two starts and be ready to go for the limited first round.

[ashie62]

Did Johan let the Mets know the only thing he rehabbed off season was his mind?

[Ceetar]

Ashie62 wrote: Did Johan let the Mets know the only thing he rehabbed off season was his mind?

I'd put my money on Johan out-pitching half the league with just his mind anyway.

He wasn't rehabbing anyway, no injury to recover from behind the simple rest and recovery for a sore back/ankle.

[TransMonk]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/61836/kirk-headed-for-mri-on-ailing-knee

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who suffered a left-knee injury on a steal Sunday, will undergo an MRI this morning to help gauge the severity of the injury.

A day after the issue arose, Nieuwenhuis said the knee felt similar.

Nieuwenhuis will be examined in Florida and will not need to travel to New York.

"I mean, I can put weight on it and stuff like that," Nieuwenhuis said.

I thought that Florida was an MRI-free zone?

[Benjamin Grimm]

The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the cheapass Wilpons don't want to spend the money to send him to New York. Am I right people?

[Ceetar]

TransMonk wrote: I thought that Florida was an MRI-free zone?

my guess, and just a random one at that, is that it's not deemed to be serious or complicated, and therefore the Mets don't think it's important to make sure their own doctors take care of it first hand. If it comes back less than 100% conclusive though, you can be sure he'll be headed to NY for a second opinion.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Johan Santana gets the Reyes treatment

By Howard Megdal
10:42 am Mar. 4, 2013

You could field a really good baseball team made up exclusively of players the Mets have criticized in the media for not returning fast enough from injury. There was Jose Reyes, who the Mets decided should come back late in 2009 to play in a meaningless final weekend series. When he objected, a whisper campaign from management led to a teary Reyes news conference. Oh, and a ramped-up comeback attempt followed, complete with tear that then required surgery. When the Mets were unhappy with Carlos Beltran's decision to follow a third doctor opinion recommending surgery, they held a conference call to blast Beltran for the decision. (Beltran's post-surgery production only reinforces it was the right move for him.) When they didn't like David Wright's concern about playing with an injured thumb, they leaked to the Daily News, as he made his decision, a reluctance to offer Wright a long-term deal because he might be "injury-prone." Now it is Johan Santana's turn. On Saturday, general manager Sandy Alderson described it as "self-evident" that Santana, the team's highest-paid player from a contract signed in the era just before ownership's involvement with Bernie Madoff was discovered, hadn't arrived in camp in pitching shape. And those nameless "club officials" that always seem to be around when the Mets might get blamed for something "have wondered aloud why Santana did not do more before spring training to strengthen his shoulder." There's so much that is strange about this story. By going quasi-public with intimations that Santana was somehow to blame for following the very plan recommended by doctors, according to Alderson himself last August, the Mets took what should have been an anodyne story about a 34-year-old pitcher with multiple recent surgeries attempting to come back, and turned it into a story with a villain. Santana has responded by largely boyotting reporter questions, which is the equivalent of receiving an upsetting text message and getting angry at Verizon. Most disquieting is the suspicion, shared by both a friend of Santana and the Mets themselves, that the stories about Santana motivated him to return to the mound and throw earlier than he'd planned to. A pitcher trying to do right by his body, who'd previously been more committed to the significant objectives of pitching well for the 2013 season, not just making a symbolic opening day start, and resurrecting a career, was exactly what the Mets should have supported. Instead, those criticisms are all it took to get the same Santana who threw an ill-advised bullpen session in an attempt to pitch through a torn anterior capsule in his shoulder in 2010, the way he pitched with bone chips in his elbow in 2009 and a torn meniscus in his knee in 2008. He tried to do the same thing with an ankle injury in 2012, with disastrous consequences on the field. In all cases, the Mets failed to protect Santana from himself, and much of their six-year, $137.5 million investment was the ultimate casualty, with Santana missing all of 2011, while 2012 ended early. Why exactly the Mets haven't learned from both their mistakes and the wisdom of many (not all, but most) other teams, who protect their star players with both public media cover and are more concerned with long-term recoveries than quick comebacks, is impossible to know. But there's nothing new about it; this phenomenon goes back to Mike Piazza, who wrote in his new book that Jeff Wilpon once asked him to play, injured, in a spring training game because it was a sellout. According to Newsday's David Lennon, just writing this in his book could be enough to keep Piazza out of the Mets Hall of Fame.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/sports/2013/03/8123200/johan-santana-gets-reyes-treatment

Here's the Piazza story:


Mike Piazza's chances at Mets' Hall of Fame a 'Long Shot'?

March 3, 2013 9:16 PM By DAVID LENNON david.lennon@newsday.com

When John Buck changed out of his uniform and into workout clothes after Saturday's game at Tradition Field, he put on a blue T-shirt with the No. 31 across the chest. The circle emblem, with a pinstriped background, was designed by a fan-run company as part of a movement to get Mike Piazza's number retired by the Mets. But when Buck was asked by a teammate about the shirt's meaning, the catcher shrugged. "I don't know," Buck said. "It was just in my locker." Piazza's No. 31 has not been seen on a Mets' jersey since 2005, his last season in Flushing before signing with the Padres. It was an amicable parting back then -- Piazza even said so in his newly released autobiography, "Long Shot" -- but his relationship with the Mets has cooled some over time, according to people familiar with the situation. What that means for the fate of the No. 31, as well as Piazza's candidacy for the Mets' Hall of Fame, is uncertain. If everything had followed the fairy-tale script, Piazza would have been elected in January to Cooperstown, which then could have paved the way for the Mets to honor him at Citi Field a few months from now -- and possibly retiring his number during that ceremony, as well. Instead, Piazza received only 57.8 percent of the vote, appearing on 329 of 569 ballots, and landed far short of the 75 percent needed for induction. Though Piazza's hitting resume made him a no-brainer for Cooperstown, the cloud of PED suspicion apparently was enough to deter a large segment of BBWAA voters. As for the Mets, the jury is still out. The committee for the franchise's own Hall of Fame has yet to meet on any of this year's candidates, including Piazza, but the Mets weren't thrilled by some of the catcher's comments about the club in "Long Shot." COO Jeff Wilpon, who has the last word on both the Hall of Fame's recommendations and the retired numbers, was criticized in the book as Piazza claimed Wilpon urged him to play with an injury in a spring training game because it was a sellout. Piazza also ripped longtime media relations director Jay Horwitz, who happens to be a member of the Mets' HOF committee, for not doing a better job of shielding the team's players. "I felt he was more loyal to the writers and the broadcasters than he was to the players," Piazza wrote. Are a few stinging sentences enough for one of the Mets' most popular stars of the past two decades to be alienated? That depends. Piazza also declined an invitation to attend SNY's unveiling of the team's 50 greatest players last year (he was No. 6) and team officials buzzed about that dis for months. There is little -- if any -- communication these days between Piazza and the Mets, who are confused as to why he's pulled away to this degree. In the meantime, the No. 31 stays on the shelf. The Mets have only four retired numbers: Tom Seaver (41), Gil Hodges (14), Casey Stengel (37) and Jackie Robinson (42). In addition to Piazza, they have two other numbers in limbo, as in not retired but out of circulation: Gary Carter's No. 8 and the No. 24, famously worn by Willie Mays in Flushing but last donned by Rickey Henderson as both a player (2000) and coach (2007). As one Mets person explained, the team's Hall of Fame does not have to be tied to what transpired this winter in relation to Cooperstown. In fact, Piazza failing on the first ballot might actually nudge the Mets to induct him into the Flushing Hall, which currently has 26 members. John Franco was admitted last season. Back in 2010, the Mets inducted Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Davey Johnson and Frank Cashen. The odds are that Piazza's percentage for Cooperstown will climb in the coming years, perhaps helped by a more lax attitude toward the so-called Steroid Era over time. If he ever does get in, Piazza likely would be fitted with a Mets cap based on the length of his tenure in New York and the impact he made there. But how his former club chooses to treat Piazza's legacy in the coming months will be interesting to see. Other than a few stray T-shirts, Piazza has been mostly ignored in these parts recently, like a distant relative. And that's not a good thing for him or the Mets.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/david-lennon/mike-piazza-s-chances-at-mets-hall-of-fame-a-long-shot-1.4744940

[Edgy MD]

How is the 7 Line getting it's stuff into players' lockers and onto their backs without them knowing how they got there?

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: How is the 7 Line getting it's stuff into players' lockers and onto their backs without them knowing how they got there?

Clearly one of the other players put it there. I believe he sends some of them a bunch of stuff, so one of them probably figured the catcher should have the catcher shirt, or it wasn't his size, or something.

[Benjamin Grimm]

MRI indicates that Nieuwenhuis has a bone bruise in his knee. He's expected to be out for a week.

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: MRI indicates that Nieuwenhuis has a bone bruise in his knee. He's expected to be out for a week.

Wasn't that the original diagnosis for Ike too?

[Edgy MD]

Well, that was the ankle, but I hear that's connected to the shin bone which is connected to the knee bone, so... .

I guess this benefits Jordany Valdespin the most.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: MRI indicates that Nieuwenhuis has a bone bruise in his knee. He's expected to be out for a week. Wasn't that the original diagnosis for Ike too?

Ike's was the ankle, and it turned out he had cartilidge damage. While I supposed that's still possible with Nieuwenhuis, it's probably just the week.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy MD wrote: Well, that was the ankle, but I hear that's connected to the shin bone which is connected to the knee bone, so... . I guess this benefits Jordany Valdespin the most.

Not Den Dekker, y'think? Might not be bad to bring on a guy who can be of some use caddying for Duda AND Byrd (presumably), along with splitting time with Cowgill against righties.

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Edgy MD wrote: Well, that was the ankle, but I hear that's connected to the shin bone which is connected to the knee bone, so... . I guess this benefits Jordany Valdespin the most. Not Den Dekker, y'think? Might not be bad to bring on a guy who can be of some use caddying for Duda AND Byrd (presumably), along with splitting time with Cowgill against righties.

den Dekker isn't presumed to be able (if ever) to hit Major League pitching. Valdespin has at least shown some ability to do that, plus Alderson said "Don't rule Valdespin out".

Also, 40 man roster.

But I think it benefits no one, because Kirk will be ready.

[Edgy MD]

dD needs to hit a least a little in AAA before he gets a chance at New Shea, I think, but sure, his prospects are looking better today than yesterday.

Cowgill had the team made either way, I think.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Kejia has "problems with his physical" and is headed back to NY.

Drugs?
Heart condition?
Ulnar collateral gone missing?

[Edgy MD]

That's too bad about Kejia. Who's Kejia?

Oh, wait... Mejia?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

My typing is only getting worse.

[Edgy MD]

I was hoping it was a new dude I didn't know about.

[ashie62]

The only prescription for the OF is more Cowgill.