Vernon Wells tested his left hamstring on Wednesday and reported that he felt good. I always tend to be a little suspicious of what the athletes tell the media. He’s trying to come back from his second hamstring injury in a year to this hamstring. I’m sure the Jays are going to be cautious at this stage of the season.
He’s aiming at coming back next week and he probably will. I think he’ll start the season in the majors, but there’s going to be that increased chance of recurrence that I always worry about with hamstrings. On top of that, he’s going to be 30-years old and has only had two elite level seasons.
Fernando Perez dislocated his left wrist while diving for a Travis Snider liner. This is obviously a very tough and scary injury for a hitter since you must have quick wrists to get around on major league pitching. He was likely going to start in AAA but now he’s going to be missing at least three months as he tries to recover from this gruesome injury.
Angel Pagan underwent surgery on Wednesday to remove bone spurs from his elbow. He’s another player who will likely spend time in the minors but the track record for this in position players is quite good. He’ll be out 6-9 weeks and everything should be just fine.
Alfredo Amezaga will be out 4-6 weeks with a sprained MCL in his knee. He was fighting for playing time and this will definitely set him back. I don’t expect any long-term effects though.
Joe Mauer was diagnosed with inflammation in his low back and will be treated with stronger anti-inflammatory medicine and more physical therapy. Thankfully this is nothing more serious but I am still concerned at his chances of staying behind the plate for a full season.
He has the talent but there are less risky options out there that provide similar production. There hasn’t been a definitive timetable of return but I expect it to be measured in weeks not days.
Brandon Morrow has been shut down “indefinitely” while dealing with forearm tightness and soreness which is decidedly not music to my ears. Pitchers almost always suffer continued forearm stiffness and tightness before ultimately finding out it’s the UCL that is damaged.
This is not always the case as he may have been working on a different grip or overworked the flexors one day and is now suffering severe tendinitis. It’s a situation that we will definitely have to monitor closely but I would not be surprised if he has to go in the ER at some point this year.
And finally, Alex Rodriguez had a successful surgery to repair just the labral tear in his hip. He didn’t have the full surgery that he needed, however, and the Yankees are gambling on this being enough to hold him until the offseason when he can have the remainder of the surgery.
He still needs to have the head of the femur cleaned up as it is somewhat rough. The gamble is that this roughness won’t help create another labral tear. He’s only supposed to miss about 20-something games or up to nine weeks.
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