Prior

[JeffH]

The real question is whether the Cubs will gamble the $3.5M to resign him?

 

No, they're going to pick up their option on Trachsel instead.

[Brian]

if the Cubs pick up that Trachsel option and non tender Prior, my head will literally explode

[CUBZ99]

There is a plethora (love that word) of good to great pitchers who recovered from TJ and had great following years, just hope Prior is one of them.

 

Has he been throwing at all?

 

Pitchers tend to recover better when having TJ than they do with shoulder surgery. The shoulder is one thing you do not want to mess with if you are making a living throwing a baseball.

 

Shoulder scopes actually have a better success rate than TJS

 

For us laymen, what is the difference between a shoulder scope and fixing a tear in the rotator cuff?

 

I would be interested to know how bad Prior wants to stay with the Cubs. Presumably he would not have the same type of loyalty that Wood has, but I wonder if he would take a 2 year contract similar to the one Dempster took, in order to stay.

[TruffleShuffle]

There is a plethora (love that word) of good to great pitchers who recovered from TJ and had great following years, just hope Prior is one of them.

 

Has he been throwing at all?

 

Pitchers tend to recover better when having TJ than they do with shoulder surgery. The shoulder is one thing you do not want to mess with if you are making a living throwing a baseball.

 

Shoulder scopes actually have a better success rate than TJS

 

I don't think this was a simple shoulder scope. There was some labrum damage and also a problem with the rotator cuff.

[Guest]

There is a plethora (love that word) of good to great pitchers who recovered from TJ and had great following years, just hope Prior is one of them.

 

Has he been throwing at all?

 

Pitchers tend to recover better when having TJ than they do with shoulder surgery. The shoulder is one thing you do not want to mess with if you are making a living throwing a baseball.

 

Shoulder scopes actually have a better success rate than TJS

 

I don't think this was a simple shoulder scope. There was some labrum damage and also a problem with the rotator cuff.

 

"It stayed in the arthroscopic stage. But I think he had some touch up work in a lot of places," Hendry said. "But at the same time there didn't seem to be anything so significant that it would require more than the scope. It didn't have to be opened up and have extensive surgery."

 

They did mess with the rotator cuff but it was still a scope. But I'm no doctor. :?

[SABR Gamer]

There is a plethora (love that word) of good to great pitchers who recovered from TJ and had great following years, just hope Prior is one of them.

 

Has he been throwing at all?

 

Pitchers tend to recover better when having TJ than they do with shoulder surgery. The shoulder is one thing you do not want to mess with if you are making a living throwing a baseball.

 

Shoulder scopes actually have a better success rate than TJS

 

I don't think this was a simple shoulder scope. There was some labrum damage and also a problem with the rotator cuff.

 

Ya, I know exactly what it was because I happen to have had the same exact injury and surgery as him, as well as having the surgery the day after him. I cant throw til the end of the month but im already swinging a bat, I assume hes about at the same point as I am. What Prior had done has a BETTER success rate than TJS. He had his Labrum repaired because it was torn and then he had superficial rotator cuff damage which is nothing. All it is, is damage little scrapes and cuts in your rotator cuff that you get from throwing with a torn Labrum, which Prior did for 2+ years thanks to the Cubs genius medical staff. It is easily repaired, the real issue with Prior was the Labrum and according to my surgeon, who I throughly questioned, 80% of the surgery's result in an improvement in velocity and effectiveness from when you were healthy, and the other 20% are AS good as they were before. There is a less than .5% rate of failure. Prior earned his rep as a softy because he went on the DL so much, but if ANYONE played 2 years with a serious injury that was never fixed then ANYONE would go on the DL all the time. The Cubs FINALLY fixed Prior and he is in much better shape than anyone thinks he is, I expect him to be in the rotation next year, the Cubs obviously shouldn't plan on it, but it sure will be nice when Prior kicks Marquis out of the rotation in the spring. Chris Carpenter had the same problem and came back to be better than he ever was pre-op, as he won a Cy Young. Prior is less likely to injure his shoulder again than someone with a perfect health record, its nearly impossible to re-injure your shoulder after that operation, they tighten your tendons to stabilize your shoulder and prevent future injury. Go ahead and doubt, but if your reading this, don't be surprised when Prior is in the starting 5 next season.

Edited October 10, 2007 by New York Cubs Fan

[imb]

that's interesting.

 

particularly because whenever i see that picture of you pitching, I can only think of two words.

 

mark. prior.

[SABR Gamer]

There is a plethora (love that word) of good to great pitchers who recovered from TJ and had great following years, just hope Prior is one of them.

 

Has he been throwing at all?

 

Pitchers tend to recover better when having TJ than they do with shoulder surgery. The shoulder is one thing you do not want to mess with if you are making a living throwing a baseball.

 

Shoulder scopes actually have a better success rate than TJS

 

For us laymen, what is the difference between a shoulder scope and fixing a tear in the rotator cuff?

 

I would be interested to know how bad Prior wants to stay with the Cubs. Presumably he would not have the same type of loyalty that Wood has, but I wonder if he would take a 2 year contract similar to the one Dempster took, in order to stay.

 

The shoulder scope in Prior's case was for a torn Labrum, which is a piece of cartilage that stabilizes your shoulder joint, the rotator cuff is the muscle that wraps around your shoulder, attaching in the front and back of your body. The rotator cuff is a much harder injury to overcome because it is a much larger part of your shoulder and it is a muscle not cartilage. Muscle's are much more sensitive and heal differently. The rotator cuff is also a much more important part of your shoulder so it's a much worse injury. If you tear your labrum, you can still throw a baseball fairly fast while your injured, as Prior showed, but you will still lose velocity. If you tear your rotator cuff, you can't throw, you would be lucky to throw at 1/2 velocity while your injured.

[mul21]

OK, the rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons to begin with. Second, the rotator cuff is an easier repair because there is actually something to work with in terms of skeletal structure to attach to. The labrum surgeries have come a long way in the last 10 years. If Prior had this surgery done in 1997, he would have a 6 inch scar on the front of his shoulder. The labrum is a more difficult fix because it is almost solely responsible for holding the front side of your shoulder together and there is very little skeletal structure to attach it to just because of the way the shulder is constructed.

 

Now, after all that, Prior probably does have a pretty good shot at coming back because the loss of velocity is tied to the loss of external rotation. The loss of external rotation is due to tightening of the shoulder, which is easier to avoid when a surgery is done arthroscopically and less initial swelling is experienced and therapy can start sooner and be more effective. I'm no doctor, but I've had 2 labrum surgeries on the same shoulder in the last 10 years.

[forbez18]

Thanks for the info. and I may have a little more hope then I did before with Prior. That is interesting to hear, and I hope the best to you on your recovery.

[SABR Gamer]

OK, the rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons to begin with. Second, the rotator cuff is an easier repair because there is actually something to work with in terms of skeletal structure to attach to. The labrum surgeries have come a long way in the last 10 years. If Prior had this surgery done in 1997, he would have a 6 inch scar on the front of his shoulder. The labrum is a more difficult fix because it is almost solely responsible for holding the front side of your shoulder together and there is very little skeletal structure to attach it to just because of the way the shulder is constructed.

 

Now, after all that, Prior probably does have a pretty good shot at coming back because the loss of velocity is tied to the loss of external rotation. The loss of external rotation is due to tightening of the shoulder, which is easier to avoid when a surgery is done arthroscopically and less initial swelling is experienced and therapy can start sooner and be more effective. I'm no doctor, but I've had 2 labrum surgeries on the same shoulder in the last 10 years.

 

Eh, your first surgery probably wasn't as well done as your second one, and it may be fact that there was no skeletal structure to attach it to, but these days a labral fix is quite simple, they just anchor it into your shoulder bone, its not as tough as it may have been when your had your. ALSO, your labrum does what you said, yes, but you dont rip the whole thing off, one of the two sides rips off and that is a much smaller structure than the rotator cuff which goes around your entire shoulder. It's not like labral repairs are rocket science, they are fairly simple now and are done with a great success rate. I think it's debatable as to which is more difficult to fix at the moment.

[SABR Gamer]

OK, the rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons to begin with. Second, the rotator cuff is an easier repair because there is actually something to work with in terms of skeletal structure to attach to. The labrum surgeries have come a long way in the last 10 years. If Prior had this surgery done in 1997, he would have a 6 inch scar on the front of his shoulder. The labrum is a more difficult fix because it is almost solely responsible for holding the front side of your shoulder together and there is very little skeletal structure to attach it to just because of the way the shulder is constructed.

 

Now, after all that, Prior probably does have a pretty good shot at coming back because the loss of velocity is tied to the loss of external rotation. The loss of external rotation is due to tightening of the shoulder, which is easier to avoid when a surgery is done arthroscopically and less initial swelling is experienced and therapy can start sooner and be more effective. I'm no doctor, but I've had 2 labrum surgeries on the same shoulder in the last 10 years.

 

Also, to add, the surgery for a rotator cuff may be easier, but it's a harder injury to come back from than a labrum tear.

[SABR Gamer]

But ya, if u want to have a more scientific outlook on Prior rather than the pessimistic outlook of ur average cubs fan read what mul21 and I wrote, as we both have personal experience with the topic, that should clear up a lot of doubt. If it doesn't then you truly are quite the pessimist.

[SouthSideRyan]

if the Cubs pick up that Trachsel option and non tender Prior, my head will literally explode

 

Gun to the head?

 

I'm going for the cyanide.

[SouthSideRyan]

There is a plethora (love that word) of good to great pitchers who recovered from TJ and had great following years, just hope Prior is one of them.

 

Has he been throwing at all?

 

Pitchers tend to recover better when having TJ than they do with shoulder surgery. The shoulder is one thing you do not want to mess with if you are making a living throwing a baseball.

 

Shoulder scopes actually have a better success rate than TJS

 

For us laymen, what is the difference between a shoulder scope and fixing a tear in the rotator cuff?

 

I would be interested to know how bad Prior wants to stay with the Cubs. Presumably he would not have the same type of loyalty that Wood has, but I wonder if he would take a 2 year contract similar to the one Dempster took, in order to stay.

 

I don't think Prior feels any loyalty to the Cubs, and I don't blame him for it with the way he's been treated by the media, fans and organization.

[Roast]

if the Cubs pick up that Trachsel option and non tender Prior, my head will literally explode

 

Gun to the head?

 

I'm going for the cyanide.

 

I chose the jump-in-front-of-the-CTA-train method.

 

Those things come into a station hella-fast.

[SABR Gamer]

if the Cubs pick up that Trachsel option and non tender Prior, my head will literally explode

 

Gun to the head?

 

I'm going for the cyanide.

 

I chose the jump-in-front-of-the-CTA-train method.

 

Those things come into a station hella-fast.

 

Why, in Gods name, would we want Trachsel anywhere near our 2008 roster? Didn't his suck do enough to keep him off?....Flat out terrible move if Hendry goes through with it, because not only does he suck, but we will get NOTHING for him. Lets say Hendry wants to pick up the option to trade him because he thinks Trachsel has some value (STUPID STUPID!!!). So the option is what? 4 mil? We are not gonna get the equivalent of a 4 million dollar player, not even a prospect who could eventually be a 4 million dollar player... Hendry hasn't even done anything yet and he's already mismanaging the tiny amount of money he will be given to get players with this off season. Lol if we sign A-Rod though, I'll shut the hell up, but until then I'm not gonna believe he has this much money, if any at all, to throw at a pitcher who is quite possibly one of the 10 worst players in baseball, if not THE worse....I mean I would rather have Neifi freakin Perez back (I don't want to hear Neifi's name ever again, but just trying to point out how much Trachsel blows).

[evv98]

"It stayed in the arthroscopic stage. But I think he had some touch up work in a lot of places," Hendry said. "But at the same time there didn't seem to be anything so significant that it would require more than the scope. It didn't have to be opened up and have extensive surgery."

 

They did mess with the rotator cuff but it was still a scope. But I'm no doctor. :?

 

I guess there is no reason to believe Hendry would mislead everyone about the extent of a player's injuries. :D

 

I am looking at it the same way I looked at the Cubs chances of winning the World Series this year. It would be great if Prior came back close to form and helped the team, but I have no expectations. That way I can't be too upset should it not come to fruition.