Jarrod Saltalamacchia Pulled from Winter Ball Game with Injury

I just wanted to update a story I covered about a month ago.

Saltalamacchia met with Dr. Greg Pearl on Friday morning and has been cleared to begin baseball activities yet again. As a matter of fact, Saltalamacchia felt so good yesterday, he joined fellow Rangers Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, and Craig Gentry for some batting practice with hitting coach Clint Hurdle.

The reason for Saltalamacchia’s set back in December? He came back to early. A procedure like the one Saltalamacchia had requires 12 weeks of recovery time and he tried to come back in about seven weeks.

Saltalamacchia should be ready for spring training and good to go for Opening Day.

Original Post

According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com , Texas Rangers’ catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was pulled from his winder ball game in the Dominican Republic Wednesday because he was experiencing tingling and numbness in his right arm.

Saltalamacchia will be examined by the Texas Rangers’ medical staff on Friday.

This injury is nothing new for Saltalamacchia. Towards the end of last season, Saltalamacchia came down with thoracic outlet syndrome. That’s a condition in which a rib bone pushes against an artery or nerve in the shoulder, causing tingling and numbness in the arm.

Saltalamacchia had surgery for the condition in September.

Saltalamacchia came over to the Rangers in the Mark Teixeira trade in 2007 and to be honest, I feel he has been a little bit of a disappointment so far in a Rangers’ uniform.

In 2009, Saltalamacchia hit just .233 with a .290 OBP in 310 ABs. He really hasn’t yet to emerge as the offensive player many thought he would be.

In all fairness to Saltalamacchia, he is still only 24-years old, so there is still plenty of time for him to develop into an offensive threat.

You know what’s funny? At the end of the 2008 season, the Rangers had Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, and Gerald Laird on the roster and everyone, including the Rangers thought they had a surplus of catching.

The Rangers sent Laird to the Detroit Tigers before the 2009 season. Then Saltalamacchia got hurt, so the Rangers needed a catcher.

The Rangers then went out and brought Ivan Rodriguez back to Texas. Now, if Saltalamacchia’s arm injuries persist, the Rangers might be forced to add another catcher this offseason.

This just proves there is no such thing as a surplus of anything in Major League Baseball. This is why I don’t think the Atlanta Braves should trade Javier Vazquez or Derek Lowe.

They’ll trade one of them and in July and then the Braves will be looking for a pitcher because someone else got hurt or is not living up to expectations. It’s inevitable.

If the Rangers don’t feel comfortable about Saltalamacchia’s arm, they could always bring back Rodriguez for the 2010 season.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg