Baseball Injury Report

Featured Note of the Week

Bartolo Colon (RHP, LAA)
The Angels are using Pedro Martinez as a guide in projecting the future for Colon. Reportedly, Martinez’s slightly torn rotator cuff (2001) is similar to Colon’s. In his rehab program, Martinez did not throw for three months and was not throwing at maximum velocity for a good six months after starting the program. The program includes complete body training to help take some of the stress of the pitching arm, and building the pitcher’s entire body strength, not just his shoulder. It will be interesting to see if Colon adheres to the program, considering his reputation of avoiding conditioning workouts.

If we use the first week of August as the starting point, Colon won’t begin throwing until very late in October. If all goes well, he’ll be throwing in the 75-80 % capacity range late in January and around 90% or so by the opener in 2007. With all that said, every pitcher is different and it could be a longer or maybe a bit shorter time frame before he’s close to 100%.

From Injury Watch Notes This Past Week

Nomar Garciaparra (1B, LAD)
Garciaparra may be back, but his sore right knee isn’t close to 100% yet. The Dodgers medical and coaching staffs are concerned about how the knee will handle lateral movement, suggesting stability issues remain regarding the knee. These are the chances you take when your team is fighting for the playoffs. The Dodgers hope they can “hide” him at first base, and that the knee won’t be a problem.

What happens if he’s on second base and needs to score on a hit to the outfield? Will the knee hold up? It sounds like we’ll find out soon enough.

Pat Burrell (OF, PHI)
Burrell admitted to the media on Tuesday that his troublesome right foot will bother him the rest of the season. It’s already cut down on his mobility in the field, making him a risky player to have in the outfield in the late innings of a close game. Burrell had surgery on the foot in October 2005 to remove a bone spur. He’s already starting to look into having another surgery to eliminate the pain. Does he have the surgery before the end of the season to allow more time to heal, or does he go the rehab route since last year’s surgery didn’t clear up the problem?

If Burrell is on your roster, prepare to see him either miss a bunch of games in September or be shut down for the year to have surgery.

Casey Blake (OF/1B, CLE) The Indians placed Blake on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right ankle. This is his second trip to the disabled list; the first was for a strained oblique muscle. The play occurred as Blake attempted to break up a double play on Saturday. The Indians gave the ankle two days to stop swelling so they could get a clearer picture of the severity of the injury.

The fact they placed him on the disabled list quickly suggests they were convinced the ankle would not heal in the next 3-5 days. Unless we discover that the ankle injury is a high ankle sprain, we should see Blake back by the end of the month.

Keith Foulke (RHP, BOS)
The Red Sox are expected to activate Foulke on August 11 or 12. He’s currently on a rehab assignment, recovering from soreness in his pitching elbow. Observers from his rehab games say that he isn’t dominating minor league hitters and looks rusty. The sinking ship (a.k.a the Boston Red Sox bullpen) sure could use a boost, but Foulke isn’t the answer. He hasn’t been healthy, nor has he pitched well all season when he has been in there. It’s highly unlikely he’ll turn it around now.


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