Koji's injury is serious
The arthrogram on Koji Uehara's right elbow has revealed a partial tear of his flexor tendon, and he's expected to miss two months.
Uehara won't require surgery, but he'll need to rest for three to five weeks and take part in a throwing program.
"We're looking at probably seven to eight weeks before he'll get in a game," manager Dave Trembley said.
Uehara will seek a second opinion, but the Orioles medical and training staffs are in agreement on the diagnosis.
Trembley described Uehara as being "dejected" upon hearing the news from team orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens.
It's conceivable that Uehara could have pitched with the tear, since it didn't involve a ligament - which requires surgery - but he would have been placed on a limited pitch count.
"That's an area (of the elbow) that can't handle it," Trembley said.
Trembley conceded that Uehara might move to the bullpen when he returns, though he still views the right-hander as a starter.
"I have no way of knowing if he had this for a while, and if he did, he's one tough son of a gun," Trembley said. "I have to believe he was pitching with some discomfort for a while."
It appears that David Hernandez will be here for a while.
"We all like him," Trembley said. "He's got good stuff. He's got an upside. He'll get an opportunity to pitch. He deserves a chance."
Unfortunately, as Trembley noted, it comes because of an injury to Uehara.
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Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko Orioles |
There are some difficult decisions in the offing when Sarfate is ready. If Hernandez can improve his command while under fire, it should work out.
Otherwise , I think we need another arm in the pen to fill things out as we go against other AL east teams.
Forgotten in the afterglow of last night was Hill's performance which was contrary to what DT desired in the Q&A segment.
JackA$$ said:
"So I hope Andrew is smart enough to realize that it is just not Trembley's job who is in jeopardy!"
DumbA$$, if AM has to worry about his job, it would Mr. Angelos that would do the firing. But according to you on way too many occassions, AM is a "YES" man for Mr. Angelos and lining his pockets. So which is it?
Are you as stupid as you make out to be? I sure hope you didn't reproduce.
Uehara to the pen in Sept. when he gets back is a no brainer. They can see if he handles middle relief better.
Two months is September! Might as well just see him in spring training. What would that last month do for us? Nothing.
My god, Andrew should be fired, like NOW!
Let's look at the stellar talent he has brought in in the last 6 months
Hendrickson
Eaton
Koji
Rich Hill ( with his 7 plus ERA!)
Simon
Any plans Andrew has for starting pitching should be handled by someone else. This guy cannot identify healthy starting pitching talent.
This is the guy who sent down Bergy when he was clearly major league ready. This is the guy who continued to march out Eaton and Hendrickson when they were clearly inept.
I feel bad for Koji, I really do. But I feel worse for this team. They are being run by a guy who does not know pitching!
I hope this makes everyone who's been complaining about Koji's lack of stamina feel sufficiently stupid.
Once again, folks, it's OK to wait for all the necessary information to come in before expressing an opinion. Really.
Bad news about Koji. Explains a lot. Another lesson on never having too much pitching. Some of the Fab Four down in AAA/AA will not make it in the bigs, some here will fizzle, some who make it and some here already will fall to injuries. For a good run in 2010-1011, we need 10 quality starters or high-ceiling prospects between Baltimore, Norfolk and Bowie. Currently we have Guthrie, Bergy, Koji (still might be starting those years), Hernandez, Berken, Hill, Arrieta, Tillman, Patton, Matutz as our ten. You can put another name ahead of one of these 10 if you like. But it goes to show why we are not giving up so quickly on Berken and Hill.
Strongly in the minority, I suppose, but I am still supportive of many more starts for Hill. Absolutely no rush. When one of the Big Three or Fab four are ready, they may take Berken's spot first anyway. But at least until then (another month at a minimum, probably longer), Hill is your best play. Get lucky, and you have a real lefty starter with big league experience. If he shows no improvement in 5 more starts or so, then you can decide.
Goobs - The attendance for each game appears at the bottom of the box scores.
Craig with no Dots - Outstanding work. Let you exec director have it! if he can't take a joke....
Beerman - I grieve with thee on having to leave early. The silver lining? Your wife will feel even worse if she influenced you to miss that. So milk that guilt for every game you attend with her for the rest of your life!
I am very impressed with Trembley's change in approach with Mora. Never thought it would happen. Moving him down to 7th was tough enough. Pinch hitting for him with another righty, wow. Sitting him today: wow x2. I am not a Mora hater, I am just saying it is great to see DT have the grit to use him as performance dictates. The guy may light it up out West now that he may feel slighted and have something to prove. If so, we all win.
Yes the team has been slower than some would have been on the Mora move, the lineup shuffle, the promotion of Bergy or Reimold or Wieters, the s**tcanning of Eaton, the experiment on Pie and Hill, etc. It will be very interesting to judge the timing on those things at season's end. Will Pie or Hill get it together? Did the extra time help Reimold? Would another month have helped Wieters?
Count me among those who is satisified with the timing decisions on most of the moves to date. The Eaton thing and the Mora batting slot took too long, in my opinion, but patience is hard. I am glad I don't have accountability for those choices. More fun to criticize from the sidelines.
That stinks.
I think that this means we'll see Tillman pretty soon, though. I don't think Berken and Hill can continue their struggles for much longer before the need is addressed.
Brummie, how predictable that you are trying to get everyone fired up. Those all you mention are vets put in place only to bridge the gap for the young arms on the way. AM has done a great job. Anyone who knows anything about baseball knows that you cannot rebuild overnight. This team is in position to take steps forward very soon.
The only move I question of AM's is the BRob extension. He should have been dealt for more arms when we had the chance. Then again I question who ordered that move
For Wimbledon lovers, Andy Roddick is up 1 set to 0, but is down 5-4 in the second set.
So Brummie according to you we should have never signed Eaton, Hendrickson and Hill and rushed all our top prospects up to the majors because "they're major league ready", ruined their confidence when they get blasted by the Rays, Yankees and Sox, throw em out there for 5 innings every day because they would be on a pitch count I'm SURE and just basically wreck the rest of their careers all because you didn't want to see Eaton and some others get hammered 3 times a week?
You are one of the major reasons why AM is a GM and you are a couch potato complaining about every move he makes.
Andrew nows pitching better than some English know blogging. Stick to what you know best BO. Let us know about Octomom or details from Michael Jackson's death. Your Enquirer editor will be mad if you miss those scoops.
Roch, I am wondering if you understood what Felix Pie was saying in his interview yesterday that is under the video archive? It sounded like he was saying the F the game.
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Not sure exactly which part you're making reference to, but it wasn't the F bomb. - Roch
B&O,
What proof do you have the Bergesen was ready for the Majors before the season? His ST stats? Those are obviously reliable because we saw how it reflected with Chris Ray. Who did you want signed that wouldn't have blocked the young pitchers coming up? Did you think we were actually ready to compete this year? If so then you aren't too bright. All McPhail did was sign cheap stop gap pitchers to hold places until the young arms were deemed ready. Bergy was brought up when he was considered ready and has steadily adjusted and done well. Tillman is "stumbling" at AAA a little right now and Arrieta and Patton weren't ready. He has brought up the hitters as he has seen fit and continued to cut dead wood from the team (Freel traded, Eaton and Walker released etc). So I'd love to hear you or Jack say EXACTLY what you would have done that was so different and have put us in a better position.
On a side note, you detract from the real point, which is, it stinks for poor Koji and my heart goes out to the guy. Clearly he is a team player and doesn't want to just sit around and collect a pay check. Hope he gets healthy soon and is willing to adjust to a long term reliever roll.
Andrew doesn't know pitching. Andrew acquired Chris Tillman. Andrew presided over the Matusz draft, and was in charge of the negotiations by the time we signed Arrieta. Andrew should promote Tillman, Matusz, and Arrieta today because they are ready and need no more seasoning. Logic is a cruel mistress, unless you completely ignore her.
Guthrie officially wins Rotation Survivor 2009 as the only starter left from opening day. I feel bad for Koji, was this something that has been bothering him all year? If so, it would explain why he could't pitch deep into games.
I hate to say it, but Orioles are themselves to blame for not foreseeing Koji's injury. It's obvious that Uehara struggles mightily once he reaches 60 pitch mark. After that he strains every single muscle in his body to heave the ball to the plate.
Shame about Koji.
That darn Andy...responsible for Koji's elbows problems now.
I will second Tom C's notion that Jack never reproduce and add Brum to that list as well. If you two are planning on reproducing, I suggest that the rest of us start a condom fund for the both of you.
I am convinced now that neither of you are actual Orioles fans...as a matter of fact, I hope you aren't.
It is obvious that some of the idiots here STILL do not have any concept of what MacPhail is doing. It is then that I realize the entire time I have been reading the illustrative pieces of garbage that they continue to post are just fine examples of flux posted by a Yankee fan with too much time on their hands.
The real question is...who do you think will be the very next starting pitcher called up for the rotation ? We have Hill & Berken both having problems....so who is on deck ??????
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Whichever guy is pitching well and deemed ready. I know you're looking for a name, but that's as much as I can narrow it down. Patton? Arrieta? The usual suspects. - Roch
Not to...confuse you with facts there BO, but A. Simon pitched for us in 2008.
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_stats_player.jsp?c_id=mlb&playerID=430580
Brummie,
I agreed with you yesterday but disagree today. None of the guys you mentioned cost them anything other than Uehara and if not for the injury to his arm, he's been respectable with an ERA of 4.00. To my knowledge he never had any arm problems in Japan, just the leg injuries and it's unfortunate. Hendrickson has done an admirable job in the bullpen and if not for some poor displays in spring training by some of the younger arms brought in and the injury to Hill, he would have started there. Eaton was also a result of the poor spring by many of the pitchers and Simon would be someone no one would have predicted to be one of the 5 best in spring.
Hill is disappointing but he was a high potential reward / low risk project and admittedly I don't think he'll ever work out..which is a shame.
Let's try something new...let's not blame Trembley or McPhail or Angelos or the scouting department...how about the players. Turning a roster over to youth is not easy and it gives guys opportunities they might never otherwise receive. Guthrie got a shot two years ago and he made the most of it. It's time for the players to step up...the big arms in the minors have to a large degree and if Berken, Hill and Hernandez don't seize this opportunity soon it's time for Tillman, et al.
Do you think it would be appropriate to move him to the bullpen? I think it's too much for him to be a starter.
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If the Orioles don't need him in the rotation when he comes off the DL, it would make sense for him to pitch in long/middle relief. - Roch
In "Roch, the movie" the voice of Brummie will be Eddie Murphy; he already played a braying ass in Shrek. Blaming AM for Koji hurting his arm is like blaming him for AJ having poor depth perception and hurting himself last night. Koji passed his physical or he wouldnt have been signed. You might disagree with it but Eaton and Hendrickson were signed as stopgaps, not cornerstones of the rotation. They obviously hoped for more but your continued harping on the fringe signings as if they were cracks in the foundation reveal your agenda driven posts. AM is a good enough judge of pitching to know that the future of this team is in the minors, not Eaton or Hendrickson as you obviously believe or you wouldnt be the shrill harpy of doom you play repeatedly.
haha, Brummie is totally insane. Did McPhail steal your girlfriend in high school or something? The bitterness runs so deep. I hate to see Uehara get hurt but I am excited to see him go to the bullpen where he belongs.
Brummie, maybe you should just shut up NOW. Yes, Andrew brought in Uehara, who has been a decent pitcher. It sounds like you expected Andy to be clairvoyant and know seven months ago that Koji was going to have an elbow problem. That is a clearly unreasonable expectation for anyone.
As far as the team being "run by a guy who does not know pitching," I think you need to take a closer look at his resume. He has a few World Championships to his credit.
Do us a favor and stay off of this blog. It is preety apparent to me (and others) that despite the Orioles winning an amazing game last night (the biggest comeback in team history), you will attempt to find fault with everything. We don't need that kind of "fan" supporting this team.
I would love to see your comments the day after a pitcher throws a no-hitter. I can see the posting right now, "Bergy pitched well, but instead of throwing 105 pitches to complete his no-hitter, he should have only thrown 95. Maybe one day he will learn how to pitch."
Wow, this is too bad but when one door closes,another one opens.It's funny how we wound up with 3 pitchers that should have been in te rottaion all along.But I understand McPhail wanting to preserve the depth with the washouts.We always scuffle for gys to finish the year out.
-- Will everybody relax (again) about the pitching? This was supposed to be the year where we bought time for the minor leaguers to get more experience. Next year we were supposed to call them up. Berken, Hernandez, Bergeson and the others aren't even supposed to BE here yet. We're getting a good hard look at kids learning the craft. We need these old veterans to fill innings, if nothing more. Hendricksen gave them a good performance last night. As for Koji, I have no doubt he was pitching hurt, or he dehydrated himself sometime in late April when 5 mph left his fastball. I think Hill is pitching hurt as well -- he's got zero movement right now on his fastball and he already hurt his back against the Nats.
At the rate some of these guys are getting hurt, I'm just about ready to sign Daniel Cabrera for an emergency start. It wouldn't hurt to sign him, put him in Norfolk and tell him that nobody will yell at him, that we'll let him work things out by himself for the summer. He's had about 10 different pitching coaches, several with radically different ideas about what he should be doing. The Nats had him throwing in the 90-mph range, thinking it would help his control. It only got worse. Daniel is not a starter realistically, but he has situational bullpen stuff. Transform him.
I was just trying to be a little more subtle about the comments Brummie continues to make, JC-Zeep-Scooter. I realize that his opinion is worthless, with the exception of the entertainment value it brings us.
Sweet, he'll be ready for our playoff push.
Brummie,
I don't know you, but you seem to be very passionate about one thing - a keen dislike of all things Andy MacPhail. The fact is that he has won 2 World Series titles with the Twins, and the Cubs made it to the playoffs once or twice (kinda like winning the World Series for them) on his watch. Does what he did in the past help him here? No. It's a completely different situation. However, MacPhail has done a lot of positive things since he's been here, which far outweight the few negative things. So please stop calling for MacPhail's head. The Orioles wouldn't have won last night without some of his acquisitions (namely Hendrickson and Pie).
Hendrickson - he's been a good reliever for us. Yes, his time in the rotation was bad, but remember he was only in it because Hill wasn't ready yet. That time is over, and he's likely gone after this year anyway.
Eaton - flat out bad. But he's not in the rotation anymore, is he?
Simon - he'll probably never see the starting rotation again, but he only had 2 starts to prove himself before getting hurt.
Koji - I don't know why everyone keeps picking on him. His main problem is that he couldn't go deep into games. Perhaps this torn flexor has been going on longer than we thought. He's been pretty consistent thus far. He could be a very valuable reliever for us next year, when the kids in AAA are ready.
Hill - I agree that his time is coming to an end. Perhaps we'll see Tillman or Patton come up to take his spot (and Berken's). A rotation of Guthrie, Bergesen, Hernandez, Tillman and Patton would be nice.
This team is a unique place right now. We are rebuilding, yet some of the main pieces of that rebuilding aren't quite ready yet. Therefore, we had to rely on some short fixes to bridge that gap. I'm not saying that these were the best guys (especially Eaton), but the other guys were worth the shot. We are on the cusp of seeing a lot of our young pitchers in the rotation, so this argument is going to end up being moot.
Regarding Bergesen, the guy missed 2 starts this year. He came up as soon as Simon got hurt after his 2nd start. It's not like he was twiddling his thumbs in the minors for 2 months - he literally missed 10 days.
In a perfect world, we wouldn't need to have a season like this. We'd have already had a good major league team and a good farm system (a la Minnesota or Boston). We're getting there, though, and the next 3 months should be fun!
P.S. I'm not Tom C., and I'm open to discussing this like adults, without the flame throwing.
Andy does suck. He should have signed Garland (5.04 ERA in the inferior league) instead.
Oh, sorry, that would have been stupid.
I guess he could have INJECTED DYE into Koji's arm during the pre-contract physical, but I'm pretty sure that's not standard practice. All pitchers are injury risks, it's part of the deal.
We don't know how long this injury has been affecting Koji and his stamina. I think he deserves another chance to start, this time healthy.