Carpenter update

[heyzeus]

larry from veb posted this:

Update [2007-4-10 12:5:28 by lboros]: will carroll just sent me a sneak preview of his remarks for Under the Knife, which haven't posted yet at Baseball Prospectus but ought to appear there shortly. the gist of his comments: surgery looms as a pretty likely outcome. he also warns that with nonsurgical treatment, there's a risk that carp alters his mechanics to favor the elbow --- and thereby re-injures his shoulder or causes some other, more serious injury.[end update]

http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/

:blowup:

[cabby7588]

larry from veb posted this:

Update [2007-4-10 12:5:28 by lboros]: will carroll just sent me a sneak preview of his remarks for Under the Knife, which haven't posted yet at Baseball Prospectus but ought to appear there shortly. the gist of his comments: surgery looms as a pretty likely outcome. he also warns that with nonsurgical treatment, there's a risk that carp alters his mechanics to favor the elbow --- and thereby re-injures his shoulder or causes some other, more serious injury.[end update]

http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/

[jagtrader]

I kind of figured that's where this was headed.

[BW23]

I kind of figured that's where this was headed.

Me too. And I knew Carroll would certainly head that direction.

[indyredbird]

I think he is done for the year. I just don't see how rest will help. Maybe if it were late in the year, I could understand. I just hope the Cards can tread water and hopefully Mulder will return and pitch close to what he did with the A's.

The rotation is doing fine right now, but no one has ever pitched a high number of innings in the majors. I worry they will tire out.

[StL Dan]

I'm just going to come out and say it......I'm really REALLY happy the Cards and Carpenter won that World Series last year because it looks like the probability of that happening without Carp, with a hodge podge starting rotation are looking more and more slim for this season at this point in time.

[jim]

From Will Carroll at BP:

Chris Carpenter went to the DL after further examination and some sort of procedure. As expected, Carpenter appears to have bone spurs in his pitching elbow, a recurrence that was last dealt with at the end of the 1999 season. The Cardinals announced the injury as "arthritis and impingement," but as expected, sources tell me that the olecranon impingement is caused by bone chips. Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch gets similar information, and adds in that Carpenter had a lubricant (such as Supartz) injected into his elbow. This is an approved usage of this type of lubricant, though I can't think of another pitcher who's had this type of treatment. Carpenter missed four weeks with elbow problems in June 1999 before shutting it down in September for surgery, giving us some indication on how this might go. I'd expect that Carpenter will be given a couple weeks to see if the lubricant, anti-inflammatories, and rest will help, but that surgery is the next option. Carpenter does have a history of cascades--his elbow injury quickly led to his torn labrum, he had elbow problems after the shoulder surgery, and most will remember that his 2004 shoulder problem was preceded by lower back problems.

[Jocephus]

from will carroll:

Nothing's really changed when it comes to Chris Carpenter, but the interviews that various St. Louis media did with Dr. George Paletta were stunning. It seems that the Cardinals did an MRI of Carpenter before signing him to the extension and, if I'm reading this right, knew that he had bone chips.

i got that from someone at nsbb

[Hungary Jack]

Bone chips or bone spurs? Neither condition is typically career-threatening, and recovery times are shorter than Tommy John or fiddling with the labrum.

When I read the PD update a few days ago, my thoughts were might as well have the surgery and get on with it. Hopefully he'll be ready to go after the ASB.

[jim]

Completely guessing here, but I would thing bone chips would be easier to deal than a bone spur. You could just remove the chips I would assume, to get rid of a spur I'm not sure what you would have to do.