Category: Baseball Injuries

16 All Stars will miss the game in total.

2011 has seen a humongous number of all stars falling by the way side during the all star game. Injuries have to do with it, but also arcane rules about pitching.

MLB says that if a pitcher pitches five days prior to the all star game they are ineligible to pitch again.

Egads.

Here is the complete list of players missing and the reasons why:

1. Placido Polanco – Toe injury.
2. David Price – Pitched prior five days.
3. Derek Jeter – Emotionally exhausted.
4. Alex Rodriguez – Knee surgery.
5. Mariano Rivera – Right triceps injury.
6. CC Sabathia – Pitched prior five days.
7. James Shields – Pitched prior five days.

Ryan Hanigan is a catcher for the Cincinnati Reds. His playing time is shared with another catcher, but that doesn’t prevent the normal injuries that occur.

Recently, Ryan strained his back and it led to missing a game here and there. As he said at the time:

We’re doing what we can to let it calm down. It’s spasming. I could play if I had to. We’re letting it cool down because it hasn’t been getting better.

Back strains are something that are very touchy, because they can indicate a more serious issue or be a minor annoyance. It’s hard to tell when it happens, so Ryan’s strategy of letting it calm down is actually the right play.

Baseball catchers have one of the toughest jobs in professional sports. The only worst job is being a hockey goalie. The best illustration of this is J.R. Towles of the Houston Astros. He ended up with chin stitches due to a pitch bouncing off the ground and slamming into his chin.

Yep, a freak injury.

What are the most common catcher injuries in baseball?

1) Knee injuries: Due to the constant squatting position on the knees, catchers are more susceptible to prevalent knee injuries such as torn cartilage, strains or sprains.

2) Shoulder inflammation: On almost every play, catchers have to throw the ball to the pitcher from a squat position putting more pressure on their shoulder cavities. This constant pressure leads to inflammation among the ligaments and muscles.

The Cleveland Indians are hitting a bit of a rough patch with injuries. Michael Brantley, their very consistent outfielder, hasn’t played in a number of days due to shoulder soreness.

He said:

It’s nothing serious. He just wanted to give me an extra day. I’m ready to go off the bench. Whenever they need me, I’ll be ready to go.

It’s good that he doesn’t consider it to be a serious issue. Still, many people who play sports on the weekend experience shoulder soreness.

What is shoulder soreness? Your shoulder is the joint used to provide mobility and stability to your arms. Without your shoulders the arms would flop around. It is a collection of bones, ligaments and muscles. The soreness most people feel is from a shoulder strain or shoulder overuse.

Justin Morneau just came off the disabled list and is going back on. Why? Well, he has a pinched nerve. A pinched nerve so bad he has trouble with feelings in his fingers. He also has an issue grasping.

He says:

The thing that kind of made the decision was hearing that it could be permanent weakness in the arm, and numbness in the fingers and all that stuff. I’d like that to go away. That’s the plan for the surgery, hopefully that’ll be the result and I’ll come out good and be ready for August and September.

Six weeks is how long it usually takes. Read on for the details.

Shinn-Soo Choo. Man, I love that name. He’s had a very rough year, though. Busted for DUI earlier this year, his stats have plummeted. From South Korea, he’s considered a power hitter with slugging capability, but he hasn’t hit his mark.

In a game against the San Francisco Giants he broke his thumb in the fourth inning when hit by a pitch.

The Cleveland Indians manager, Manny Acta, said:

Losing Choo is a big blow for us. He means so much to us not only offensively, but defensively and running the bases. He’s a very important part of our lineup. Especially the way he was coming on with the bat the last couple of weeks.

Kerry Wood is headed to the disabled list for the 15th time in his career. This time it is due to a blister on his hand, which makes pitching impossible.

Cubs manager, Mike Quade, said:

I was really hoping the last few days that he could manage that thing and it didn’t get any better.

Kerry Wood has no luck when it comes to injuries. The blister is just the latest, but don’t laugh, they can be onerous to a pitcher.

What is a hand blister? Your skin is composed of layers, but when you apply constant friction the layers can separate and form pockets. The pockets fill with air, blood, puss or a clear bodily fluid. This is a blister.

The last time Albert Pujols was significantly injured it was in 2008 when he suffered a torn calf muscle. Back then, the Cardinals were overly optimistic about his recovery. With his broken forearm, the Cardinals are taking all the caution they can and placing him on the disabled list for 4-6 weeks. We’ve covered how to treat a broken forearm when Tony Pike broke his, but in this case we need to discuss how long it takes to recover from a broken forearm, especially in baseball.

This isn’t the first the Cardinals have dealt with forearm issues this year. Nick Punto is still on the disabled list with a strained forearm. The injury occured when Albert attempted to tag out a base runner at first. He was drawn off the bag by an errant throw. You can watch it by going to the MLB site and watching the video. You cannot embed their videos.

Derek Jeter is trying to secure 3,000 hits, which is a milestone for any baseball player, but especially the New York Yankees. He has pulled up lame with a strained calf muscle, though. People are acting like it is the end of the world even going so far as to discuss his replacement.

Whoa, not so fast.

The manager of the Yankees, Joe Girardi, said:

Obviously, we’re worried about it. For our team, it’s frustrating. He’s our leadoff guy.

Derek himself said about the pressure:

It’s impossible for it not to be in your head because I’m asked that question all the time. All I can control is having good at-bats, trying to hit the ball hard and hoping it finds some holes.

Aaron Harang was sent to the disabled list by the San Diego Padres today. His 2011 statistics are looking pretty good, but he bruised his right foot. He’s 7-2 this year with a 3.71 era and 55 strikeouts. He doesn’t know how it was bruised, but it’s been bothering him for a couple of weeks now.

The foot plays a pivotal part of a pitcher’s ability to win games as it provides:

• Balance
• Power
• Agility

Let’s look at how to deal with the injury.