Kerry's Frayed Labrum

[JC]

Link

 

The Cubs acknowledged Sunday that Kerry Wood may have arthroscopic surgery during the off-season to clean up minor fraying in the labrum of his right shoulder, and that a switch to the bullpen in 2006 also will be discussed.

 

How long have the Cubs known about this, I wonder? This sounds exactly like the injury I had surgery for last February, only mine was frayed in two spots. It hurt to throw a ball, and I don't throw 97 mph! The repair hurt through most of the summer, but I didn't have physical therapy that a professional athlete would likely receive. Regardless, it takes some time to heal completely.

 

If he does need surgery, shutting him down now and having surgery may be a better bet to have him ready for 2006.

[YearofDaCubs]

Wow, this is not good at all.

[mjued926]

I really think we need to shut woody down for the year and if Hill looks good tonight, give him the opportunity to win the 5th starter spot next year with a good showing for the rest of the year. Wood is only going to be doing damage to his arm and with the way his health has gone the last couple years there is no need to press the issue.

[katway]

I really think we need to shut woody down for the year and if Hill looks good tonight, give him the opportunity to win the 5th starter spot next year with a good showing for the rest of the year. Wood is only going to be doing damage to his arm and with the way his health has gone the last couple years there is no need to press the issue.

 

I agree we should shut Wood down if there's a physical injury requiring surgery. Let him heal up sooner and focus on delivery changes, etc.

 

Hill deserves a chance to start this year given his performance in the minors.

 

I'm also looking forward to seeing Guzman compete for a starter's job next spring since reports on his rehab have been positive.

[Chris]

Bruce Miles

[E.J.]

I really think we need to shut woody down for the year and if Hill looks good tonight, give him the opportunity to win the 5th starter spot next year with a good showing for the rest of the year. Wood is only going to be doing damage to his arm and with the way his health has gone the last couple years there is no need to press the issue.

 

I agree we should shut Wood down if there's a physical injury requiring surgery. Let him heal up sooner and focus on delivery changes, etc.

 

Hill deserves a chance to start this year given his performance in the minors.

 

I'm also looking forward to seeing Guzman compete for a starter's job next spring since reports on his rehab have been positive.

 

Guzman has been shut down for the year. Again. This time with a sore elbow. It's looking less and less likely that he'll ever make it to the majors. :cry:

 

Cubs.com Article about Guzman

 

(Scroll Down to bottom of the page.)

 

Minor matters, part II: Pitcher Angel Guzman most likely will not pitch in a game this year because of inflammation in his right elbow. Guzman had been slowed by a strained right forearm, but during a side session, he began to feel pain in his elbow. The Cubs have decided to shut him down.

Edited July 25, 2005 by E.J.

[Wendy City]

I agree...just shut him down. We can get a look at Hill tonight to see how he's coming along and we'll get a look at Schmidt too.

[Chocolate Milk]

I don't understand why they aren't shutting him down. If surgery is imminent, why pitch him at all? Get the surgery done. They are doing a disservice to him if they push him out there with a shoulder that needs to be surgically repaired, IMO.

[LoneStarCubFan]

"Kerry's Frayed Labrum" would be a good screen name.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

We need a "about to puke while smashing head into a wall" smiley.

[Mark_R]

Isn't this what Wade Miller had last season??

 

He's never really recovered from it from a pitching production standpoint.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Isn't this what Wade Miller had last season??

 

He's never really recovered from it from a pitching production standpoint.

 

Yeah, Miller had a frayed labrum. On the other hand, so did Matt Morris, and he's better than ever.

[JC]

"Kerry's Frayed Labrum" would be a good screen name.

 

I think I'm obliged to retell this joke at this point:

 

So, a rope walks into a bar and sits down. He orders a drink. The bartender remarks, "Hey! Can't you read the sign?! It says we don't serve ropes around here!"

 

The rope leaves the bar and walks around the corner. The rope proceeds to pull its end apart in several different directions and contort himself into a tied up bundle.

 

The rope returns to the bar and orders a drink. The bartender sees him and asks, "Aren't you the rope I just threw out of here?"

 

Answer, "No. I'm a frayed knot."

 

In response to the question about Wade Miller's return from the same injury, there really is no reason that Kerry couldn't return if is just a minor fraying. I feel like I can do everything I used to do at this point. As I said, with high end physical therapy, I would guess Kerry would have quicker results than I did. However, the sooner he starts, the better.

 

Oh, yeah. And anyone who thinks arthroscopic surgery is painless is crazy.

[E.J.]

Isn't this what Wade Miller had last season??

 

He's never really recovered from it from a pitching production standpoint.

 

Yeah, Miller had a frayed labrum. On the other hand, so did Matt Morris, and he's better than ever.

 

IIRC Wade Miller never had surgery to fix his frayed labrum. They decided he didn't need surgery and just let it heal on it's own. Maybe he should have had surgery.

[10man]

This Kerry Wood saga is beginning to sound more grim as the season develops... Edited July 25, 2005 by 10man

[10man]

Even if Kerry has his frayed labrum surgically repaired, if he maintains the same delivery won't it just become frayed again? Isn't it logical that the labrum was frayed because of the repeated motion of his delivery?

 

I guess a proper analogy would be is if you had a piece of rope resting against the corner of a building and you kept pulling that rope back and forth eventually you will fray the rope and if you repeat the process long enough it will tear completely. Let's equate surgery to replacing the rope with a brand new one. If you take that new rope and still apply the same exact motion as before, aren't you going to fray that new rope too and eventually tear it apart?

[Bruno7481]

I had surgery for a frayed Labrum the summer before my junior year in college. I did pitch, and even though the damage wasn't significant, it hurt like hell all throughout my shoulder everytime I threw the ball.

 

I did have the arthroscopic surgery and it took me a while to get back to normal. Lots of therapy. Its a "good" injury in the sense that its an easy fix. My rotator cuff was fine, they just had to clean up the labrum. But that said, it was painful and took some recovery time. I was in therapy through December.

[Stu]

Isn't this what Wade Miller had last season??

 

He's never really recovered from it from a pitching production standpoint.

 

Yeah, Miller had a frayed labrum. On the other hand, so did Matt Morris, and he's better than ever.

 

I think Pedro had it as well a couple of years ago. That was the season where the Sox GM said Grady "owed it to the market" to pitch Pedro, frayed labrum and all?

[wade]

I'm not trying to scare you guys, but I think about this article every time I hear about Angel Guzman and it has come to mind now regarding Kerry Wood.

 

http://slate.msn.com/id/2100895/

 

 

Some scary points from Carroll include "there's no difference between a 'frayed' labrum and a torn labrum" and that most pitchers just don't come back from that injury.

 

On the bright side (as brought up earlier), Morris is listed :google: as having a frayed labrum surgically repaired this past off-season, so maybe strides have been made concerning the ability to correct these types of problems.

 

If I were a decision maker on the club, I'd probably opt to shut him down lest he completely tear the labrum and possibly end his career.

[Mad Ducks]

I think it depends on what happens with Hill, Williams, and Mitre to what they do with Kerry. If all three pitch well, I think they may shut him down.

[Cubzfan64]

I think one of those articles this morning mentioned something like "the doctors say he can't do more damage to it than he already has" and they made it sound like that might be why they would consider using him yet this year.

 

I'm not a doctor, but that statement really doesn't make alot of sense to me - and even if it just allows him more rehab time I would consider shutting him down and getting it fixed now and just hope he comes back strong in 2006.

[ZZ Thorn]

I think one of those articles this morning mentioned something like "the doctors say he can't do more damage to it than he already has" and they made it sound like that might be why they would consider using him yet this year.

 

I'm not a doctor, but that statement really doesn't make alot of sense to me - and even if it just allows him more rehab time I would consider shutting him down and getting it fixed now and just hope he comes back strong in 2006.

 

From the Trib:

 

"[Trainer Mark] O'Neal stressed that surgery is not being considered now, adding it would be "careless" to make a decision on surgery only four days after the injury.

 

He said Wood would not risk further damage to the shoulder by pitching the rest of the season without the cleanup of his shoulder.

 

"Every MRI we've done on him has been very consistent," O'Neal said. "There's no significant changes with any of them. There's nothing that's jumping out and saying, hey, here's our problem. Theoretically, if he had something significantly wrong, he would not be able to do what he's doing right now. Your body is not going to allow you to do that."

 

This situation sucks, but the silver lining is that surgery should help a lot and Kerry should be strong to start 2006. Mabe he'll have another couple cortisone shots each month or so and he'll pitch in pain for the rest of the year. If that turns out to be a bad decision, maybe all those idiots saying Kerry is a 'wuss' who has no heart will be satisfied. :roll:

 

I don't know which is worse on the arm, but I wish Kerry wouldn't be more open to pitching in the pen. It'd only be for this year, cuz Kerry should be fine for 2006 with surgery. But I would be totally fine if he has surgery soon, misses the rest of the year and then has max recovery time. Could be much worse.

[mul21]

Having had the surgery for both problems, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable on the subject. Up until about 3 years ago, a torn labrum had to be fixed in an open surgery as opposed to an arthroscopic procedure. Now, they can do it with the scope, resulting in far less scarring, pain, and rehab time. My doctor is in fact the same guy who did Morris' surgery and he is damn good. I can say that the amount of pain involved in throwing when there is a problem with the labrum is significant and it feels like your shoulder is on fire and about to explode after every throw (See John Smoltz in the playoffs a few years ago). All in all, I think they should shut him down, fix the shoulder and see what he can do next year. If it turns out anything like Morris di, I will be a happy camper.

[sandberg23]

Oh, yeah. And anyone who thinks arthroscopic surgery is painless is crazy.

 

I had arthroscopic surgery and I thought it was pretty painless. I only took pain meds for 2 days. Not that I'd want to have surgery again, but I didn't think it was painful. The worst part was waking up from the anesthesia and having dry mouth.

 

Disclaimer: My surgery was not on my shoulder...that could be totally different than my knee surgery pain-wise.

[back2backjax]

wood should be shut down and undergo surgery immediately. this will increase his chances of being in tip-top shape next year. we've come this far without a major contribution from him so let's give hill the ball and see what happens.