Tired of wondering about Guthrie's shoulder
I had to sweat it out, but the Eagles lost by fewer than seven points last night, leaving me 5-9-1 against the spread. I won't be heading to Vegas, but it's better than 4-10-1.
While I was bemoaning all the freakish and inexplicable losses on Sunday, I inadvertently left out the blown call that allowed the Broncos to defeat the Chargers. That one didn't do me any favors, either.
I thoroughly enjoyed your suggestions for Orioles T-shirt slogans. Among my favorites:
(front) O (back) the humanity (with cartoon bird piloting The Hindenburg)
Over 1 Billion Batters Walked
Daniel Cabrera - Turning the Corner Since 2004
The strained oblique was replaced this year by the torn labrum, or so we thought. The shoulder impingement is making a late push for MCI (Most Common Injury).
Jim Johnson and Jeremy Guthrie have been placed on the disabled list with the same ailment this month, which raises two questions:
1). Why are these guys on the DL with rosters expanded in September?
2). What is a shoulder impingement?
In the case of Johnson, the Orioles wanted to send him home to Sarasota, Fla. and have him report to the fall instructional league. There's also the theory that they could move him to the 60-day DL if they need to create room on the 40-man roster.
Guthrie supposedly had a "tired" shoulder and still wanted to pitch. He tried to talk manager Dave Trembley into letting him throw again rather than shutting him down.
If nothing else, last night's transaction will stop reporters from asking Trembley about Guthrie before every game. But it's still puzzling that the Orioles placed their ace on the DL with two weeks left in the season. Guthrie's name is going to come up again during today's pre-game session with the media. And perhaps we'll have a better understanding of the club's thought process.
So what's an impingement? According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, it's one of the most common causes of pain in the adult shoulder. It results from pressure on the rotator cuff from part of the shoulder blade (scapula) as the arm is lifted.
The rotator cuff is a tendon linking four muscles: the supraspinatus, the infraspinatus, the subscapularis, and the teres minor. These muscles cover the "ball" of the shoulder (head of the humerus). The muscles work together to lift and rotate the shoulder.
The acromion is the front edge of the shoulder blade. It sits over and in front of the humeral head. As the arm is lifted, the acromion rubs, or "impinges" on, the surface of the rotator cuff. This causes pain and limits movement.
The pain may be due to a "bursitis," or inflammation, of the bursa overlying the rotator cuff or a "tendonitis" of the cuff itself. In some circumstances, a partial tear of the rotator cuff may cause impingement pain.
I'm not a doctor, though I play one on this blog, but it appears that Guthrie has more than a "tired" shoulder.
So the question is do the Orioles have a single starting pitcher they can count on for next season?
Roch,
When will the O's reveal the new uniforms for next year? Have you heard much about them? Is it true they'll contain a MD state flag patch in addition to "Baltimore" on the front?
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Other than "Baltimore" on the road jerseys, I haven't heard much about them. I'll ask around. - Roch
Roch, no one ever mentions the Oriole's pitching coaches, up and down the line, naturally including Kranitz. How are these guys compared to other club's staffs? Are these guys really working with our pitchers on techniques, etc? Too many of our pitchers seem to be falling off toward 1st base. What are they doing about it? Why not put a barrier on the their left side and let them bang that when they fall off to their left as a training aid? And many more aids to get these guys doing it right. We can't be getting all the bad pitchers in the world, can we?
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Pitching coach Rick Kranitz gets high marks for his work, and his communication skills. He seemed to have Cabrera on the right track for a while, but I'm not sure anyone can make him a consistent 15-to-20 game winner. Liz's delivery is much improved from last year (he's not opening up as much), but he's a work in progress. Olson's issue appear to be more mental, but Kranitz is doing everything he can with the lefty. It's tough to compare him to other coaches, since I haven't been around them all, but I know he's quite respected in baseball circles. - Roch
Roch,
Been there done this.. I had an impingment from to much softball last year. It is actually an injury that is difficult to work with and overcome. It becomes a structural issue and for pitchers it is never a good thing. Through theropy I have found that mine was a long time coming due to bad posture, thats right, bad posture! On top of that the shoulder is one of the most difficult places to heal due to the lack of blood flow to the area. I let mine heal over the winter with no luck and have pressed through this year, sleeping with my shoulder sore is sometimes as painful as it gets! However, with the training staff involved they will be fine, shutting it down for the year is the best thing!
Generally, a Most Valuable Player would play the last month of the season to be considered and not exit due to injury. We have seen just how valuable Guthrie has been this season, pitching or not, but such awards generally aren’t given out showing how worse a team is when a certain player isn’t active. The same can be said for Jim Johnson. (Side note: when do the pitching injuries end, and there has to be something more than just bad luck to account for the numerous injuries that affect the pitching every year.)
So, I change my previous vote from Guthrie to Huff. 31 HRs, 104 RBIs, a .314 average, and a .944 OPS—that’s just impressive stuff. I have long been a Huff doubter—even forecasting a disappointing season from him before the season began—but at least for this year, I’m impressed (I don’t think he’ll repeat this next year, but who cares right now?). Markakis, Roberts, and Mora have also had seasons that, in different years, might make them most valuable. Overall, Markakis and Roberts are this franchise’s most valuable players, but Huff’s got them all beat this year on offense. Nice job, Aubrey.
Roch,
Should be a very interesting off season for the Birds, by all projections the O's will free up in excess of 50 million after 2009 but the free agent market is better this year then next. Andy is preaching a youth movement but unless someone surprises there is no one ready to step in next year.
For years the O's have "filled" spots and we may be heading that way again next year.
A question for you, and maybe your faithful following, which O's do you resign? Between next year (Cabrera(?), Payton, Millar) and the bonanza year of 2009 (Huff, Roberts, Baez, Gibbons (somewhere in there) Walker, Mora and Hernandez) the O's potentially loose alot of pieces that don't necessarily fill in "youth" movement.
My guess is that we try and sign Pavano instead of Burnette, keep Roberts and maybe Huff if no other 1st basemen is signed. That would leave three large holes in a pitching staff that would have to be filled with someone not cutting it now or rushing the "kids". Decisions, decisions, decisions.
In answer to your second question try: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00032 . Though you might need some medical training to understand it. More or less it's irritation/pain caused by shoulder blade rubbing on rotator cuff. As to your first question that answer lies within the Warehouse.