Wood Might Head to the DL

[anabiono]

so um woody is going to be ok right?

 

when are we going to hear about his hand specialist visit...tomorrow...friday?

[Joe_Cub]

wood's never ok

 

thanks for a good half season though, kerry.

[Clem Fandango]

I can't understand why blisters keep so many pitchers form pitching for so long. I get it that they can't throw while they have it and all, so I can totally understand if they have to skip over him while he recovers...

 

But it's a friggin' blister. Unless it's the blister to end all blisters, how serious can it be, and why does it take so long to recover. I had a gnarly blister on the inside of my ring finger once from doing yard work, stung and hurt like a B, but it didn't take but a week for it to heal over and a another half week to be completely healed with ointments. Why do pitchers get knocked on the DL for months at a time for a blister?

[SouthSideRyan]

I can't understand why blisters keep so many pitchers form pitching for so long. I get it that they can't throw while they have it and all, so I can totally understand if they have to skip over him while he recovers...

 

But it's a friggin' blister. Unless it's the blister to end all blisters, how serious can it be, and why does it take so long to recover. I had a gnarly blister on the inside of my ring finger once from doing yard work, stung and hurt like a B, but it didn't take but a week for it to heal over and a another half week to be completely healed with ointments. Why do pitchers get knocked on the DL for months at a time for a blister?

 

Because you don't grip your rake on tightly wound seams.

[Brian]

I can't understand why blisters keep so many pitchers form pitching for so long. I get it that they can't throw while they have it and all, so I can totally understand if they have to skip over him while he recovers...

 

But it's a friggin' blister. Unless it's the blister to end all blisters, how serious can it be, and why does it take so long to recover. I had a gnarly blister on the inside of my ring finger once from doing yard work, stung and hurt like a B, but it didn't take but a week for it to heal over and a another half week to be completely healed with ointments. Why do pitchers get knocked on the DL for months at a time for a blister?

 

Because you don't grip your rake on tightly wound seams.

 

and the leaves aren't trying to knock the rake 400 feet out of his hand either.

[Clem Fandango]

Those explanations don't make sense.

 

Example A: I am doing yard work and my finger gets irritated and busts open creating a small blister and making it difficult for me to grip things in that hand.

 

Example B: Kerry Wood throws pitches until his finger gets irritated and busts open creating a small blister.

 

In Example A, I would stop what I'm doing, go put anti-biotic ointment on it and cease to use it for anything major, letting it heal as much as possible. Are you trying to tell me that in Example B, Kerry Wood continues pitching until he's in so much pain that it will only further knock him out of playing time for much longer than a regular blister? Throwing fast and gripping a ball tight doesn't make the act of getting a blister any worse than using a rake, once the skin breaks it's pain city. It's what's done afterwards that makes it more prolonged. So what did he do... keep pitching? I can't imagine they'd let him once he reported discomfort considering his history

[Banedon]

According to Mully and Hanley this morning, Wood could only throw breaking stuff yesterday, and is still having issues. They were saying that Hendry may look for a closer, like Fuentes.

[RynoRules]

Does a pitcher's blister eventually become a callous? When I first started lifting weights as a teen I would get blisters, but eventually they hardened. I have been lifting pretty consistently since and have never lost them. Is it different for pitchers because of the seams on the ball?

 

I would think that a pitcher wouldn't want a callous on the pads of his fingers as he would lose "feel" for the ball

 

Good point. Anyone have any info on this sort of thing from a pitcher's perspective?

[Brett]

Does a pitcher's blister eventually become a callous? When I first started lifting weights as a teen I would get blisters, but eventually they hardened. I have been lifting pretty consistently since and have never lost them. Is it different for pitchers because of the seams on the ball?

 

I would think that a pitcher wouldn't want a callous on the pads of his fingers as he would lose "feel" for the ball

 

Good point. Anyone have any info on this sort of thing from a pitcher's perspective?

 

It must be true, because otherwise, why wouldn't they just pop the sucker, drain it, and cover it with superglue?

[Old Style]

According to Mully and Hanley this morning, Wood could only throw breaking stuff yesterday, and is still having issues. They were saying that Hendry may look for a closer, like Fuentes.

So this could turn out to be a positive in the long run if this forces Hendry to add a guy like Fuentes. This blister is not going to keep Wood out forever.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Len and Bob mentioned that Wood could only throw his changeup, because there's no pressure put on the blister with that pitch.

 

In general I really don't like paying for relievers, but as long as other teams are scared off by Colorado's asking price for Fuentes, and there's some assurance he'll be Type A, I'd give up Veal and a lower level hitter for him(maybe a catcher like Clevenger or Bautista). That seems to match up with the proposed deals that other teams have balked at.

[Jon]

Len and Bob mentioned that Wood could only throw his changeup, because there's no pressure put on the blister with that pitch.

 

In general I really don't like paying for relievers, but as long as other teams are scared off by Colorado's asking price for Fuentes, and there's some assurance he'll be Type A, I'd give up Veal and a lower level hitter for him(maybe a catcher like Clevenger or Bautista). That seems to match up with the proposed deals that other teams have balked at.

I'd first demand a written guarantee that Piniella wouldn't use him as a lefty specialist.

[Soul]

So can someone explain this to me from a more expert perspective?

 

It's a blister. Pop it, soak it in some bacitin or something like that. Bandage it. A couple days later problem solved.

 

Why will this not work? We've all had hundreds of blisters. What makes this one incurable?

[FergieJ31]

About the healing process :

 

It's not so much about the time it takes for the blister to heal, it's about the time it takes to rebuild the callous. A healed blister is still very thin, fragile skin. That skin is easily ripped to shreds after a few fastballs, then it's another week to wait for that to heal.

 

Remember the Ismael Valdez era? That guy had blister issues for years.

[CubinNY]

Those explanations don't make sense.

 

Example A: I am doing yard work and my finger gets irritated and busts open creating a small blister and making it difficult for me to grip things in that hand.

 

Example B: Kerry Wood throws pitches until his finger gets irritated and busts open creating a small blister.

 

In Example A, I would stop what I'm doing, go put anti-biotic ointment on it and cease to use it for anything major, letting it heal as much as possible. Are you trying to tell me that in Example B, Kerry Wood continues pitching until he's in so much pain that it will only further knock him out of playing time for much longer than a regular blister? Throwing fast and gripping a ball tight doesn't make the act of getting a blister any worse than using a rake, once the skin breaks it's pain city. It's what's done afterwards that makes it more prolonged. So what did he do... keep pitching? I can't imagine they'd let him once he reported discomfort considering his history

You have to be joking. You are comparing yard work to throwing a baseball?

 

Oy vay.

[Guest]

Len and Bob mentioned that Wood could only throw his changeup, because there's no pressure put on the blister with that pitch.

 

In general I really don't like paying for relievers, but as long as other teams are scared off by Colorado's asking price for Fuentes, and there's some assurance he'll be Type A, I'd give up Veal and a lower level hitter for him(maybe a catcher like Clevenger or Bautista). That seems to match up with the proposed deals that other teams have balked at.

 

I can't imagine Fuentes would come as cheap as Veal and Clevenger. Colorado seems to be asking the moon for anyone and everyone.

 

I would go after Fuentes even if Wood's blister healed up, given Howry's struggles outside of May and Eyre's inability to stay healthy.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Len and Bob mentioned that Wood could only throw his changeup, because there's no pressure put on the blister with that pitch.

 

In general I really don't like paying for relievers, but as long as other teams are scared off by Colorado's asking price for Fuentes, and there's some assurance he'll be Type A, I'd give up Veal and a lower level hitter for him(maybe a catcher like Clevenger or Bautista). That seems to match up with the proposed deals that other teams have balked at.

 

I can't imagine Fuentes would come as cheap as Veal and Clevenger. Colorado seems to be asking the moon for anyone and everyone.

 

I would go after Fuentes even if Wood's blister healed up, given Howry's struggles outside of May and Eyre's inability to stay healthy.

 

Okay, Marshall for Fuentes. That's not too different in value from Clay Bucchholz, Wade Davis, or Jonathan Niese.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Why not go after Mike Gonzalez?

[Brian]

the crazy thing about this whole thing is the Cubs have not started a single 9th inning or later with a save situation since Wood has been unavailable. Marmol pitched into a save situation during that mess against San Fran, and With 2 on in a 4 lead I guess he pitched into one last night too.

[circlecitycub]

the crazy thing about this whole thing is the Cubs have not started a single 9th inning or later with a save situation since Wood has been unavailable. Marmol pitched into a save situation during that mess against San Fran, and With 2 on in a 4 lead I guess he pitched into one last night too.

 

He can't pitch himself into a save situation.

[Brian]

the crazy thing about this whole thing is the Cubs have not started a single 9th inning or later with a save situation since Wood has been unavailable. Marmol pitched into a save situation during that mess against San Fran, and With 2 on in a 4 lead I guess he pitched into one last night too.

 

He can't pitch himself into a save situation.

 

yeah I didn't mean that they were save situation for him, I was just saying those are the only technical times there were 'save situations' in the 9th inning or later and they were created.