Injury Bulletins: Hamilton To Undergo Surgery, Will Miss 4-6 Weeks; McCarthy To 15-Day DL
Joey Matschulat
Right-hander Brandon McCarthy hurls a pitch at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, June 4th.They say that bad news always comes in threes ... so whom is the next to fall?
● According to Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels, center fielder Josh Hamilton will undergo surgery tomorrow morning to repair a partial tear of his right abdominal muscle -- a diagnosis which was confirmed by Philadelphia-based surgeon Dr. William Meyers earlier today -- and will remain sidelined for approximately four to six weeks (Evan Grant, D Magazine)
[And exhale. Doctors have reportedly expressed optimism that Hamilton's recovery time will trend towards the lower end of that four-to-six-week spectrum, potentially aligning the .240/.290/.456-hitting slugger for a pre-All-Star break return; however, it's probably safe to assume that Texas will elect to refrain from rushing his rehabilitation and instead activate him from the 15-day disabled list on the opposite side of the mid-July festivities in St. Louis, which would afford him five-plus weeks to attain full health and become completely game-ready.
Dr. Meyers reportedly utilizes a less invasive procedure than that which is typically used to repair hernias, one which involves suturing the herniated area in such a way that it is conducive to quicker recoveries; it certainly doesn't hurt matters that the tear is less severe than the one which sidelined second baseman Ian Kinsler through the final six weeks of the 2008 regular season. According to Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus, Hamilton was ready to undergo the knife "as soon as Monday" if operation was deemed necessary, reflecting his tremendous competitive spirit and his desire to resume helping his team chase a post-season berth as soon as possible.
Marlon Byrd will maintain his standing as the Rangers' everyday center fielder during Hamilton's absence, although manager Ron Washington speculated that Andruw Jones could log playing time at the position as well. David Murphy enters Monday evening's series opener against the Blue Jays hitting .311/.387/.444 over his last 106 plate appearances (spanning a total of 30 games), so if he and a white-hot Nelson Cruz can remain productive through this stretch, Texas can survive.]
● Right-hander Brandon McCarthy is out indefinitely with what a Monday MRI exam revealed to be a stress fracture in his right scapula, a relatively rare injury similar in nature to what beset the oft-injured hurler during August 2007 (T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com)
[Frustrating. McCarthy apparently complained of shoulder soreness after his mediocre four-inning, six-run effort at Yankee Stadium last Thursday afternoon, prompting further examination, and will "not pick up a ball for several weeks," according to Jon Daniels.
Writes Baseball Time in Arlington's and TexasLeaguers.com's Trip Somers of McCarthy's latest setback: "Last month, I said that if McCarthy could stay healthy and have success with his mechanics, there was no reason to change them. I now believe there's sufficient reason to start that process. McCarthy and the Rangers need to give serious consideration to making major changes in his delivery."
This most unwelcome sequence of events will undoubtedly re-open the debate over whether McCarthy should be transitioned to a full-time relief role to protect his health going forward (which I'm not sure makes a whole lot of sense, even in light of this latest injury), but more importantly saps the Rangers of more precious rotation depth; southpaw Matt Harrison (left shoulder inflammation) tossed 41 pitches over three innings during a successful minor league rehab start at Double-A Frisco last Saturday and encountered no problems during a 10-15 minute bullpen sesion on Monday, but might make his next scheduled start on Thursday at Frisco regardless.
Assuming Harrison makes a healthy return, left-hander Derek Holland will surely occupy McCarthy's rotation spot ... and after Holland, you begin to get into the Doug Mathis- and Tommy Hunter-types, which aren't palatable starting options for a playoff-pursuing team. McCarthy had posted a 4.92 ERA (92 ERA+) through 64 innings across 11 starts thus far in 2009, along with a strikeouts-to-walks ratio (1.69) that was his best since his arrival in Texas in December 2006.
Sigh.]
Reader Comments (9)
With the way the team's been playing, I'm not too worried about missing Hamilton. The team went on a tear throughout the middle of May without him and just completed a .500 road trip against two of the best teams in the AL. McCarthy, I am worried about. We need our pitchers to stay healthy and with the way Mac's been pitching lately we can't afford to lose someone like him long-term.
Well, we just have to hope that Holland is able to make it to 6 innings consistantly and can start producing quality starts.
Hard to believe that McCarthy lasted all the way until June without a DL trip, really. Here's hoping he can be back in a month. If not - he better watch out - there are a few guys who might like to take his job and never give it back.
Remember when the Rangers had so much starting pitching depth that we were debating whether McCarthy should be sent to the bullpen to make room for Holland? Yeah. Well, since then, Millwood and Feldman have shown signs of vulnerability, Harrison has gotten himself hurt, Padilla has been offered up for free with absolutely no takers and McCarthy ... well, we know the story there. The rotation is obviously the best place for Holland in terms of furthering the development of his secondary pitches (which definitely need some work), but he's going to get hit hard again, and as Jason most recently restated on Monday before boarding a flight for Mexico, this team has some pretty significant holes.
One tweak of the groin for Millwood and this thing probably goes south really, really fast. It's a little disconcerting. Actually, a lot. If the Rangers are going to pull this whole "getting to the post-season for the first time since the Clintons were still in office" thing off, they're going to have to address their starting pitching situation via trade or free agency ... and at this rate, they're going to have to do it pretty soon.
The Baseball Gods must want Derrek Holland in the rotation ... OK, we get it, he'll stay!!
Tough break (no pun intended) for McCarthy ... hard work and dedication shouldn't be rewarded with more injury to overcome, but ... so now, even in the midst of a serious playoff push (a year ahead of schedule, perhaps), youth will be served ... the suddenly vaunted Rangers Minor League pipeline will now be asked to produce a legit starter (Holland) and bullpen help (Mathis, AJ Murray, Tommy Hunter(?), Thomas Diamond(?)), and perhaps an alternative in CF (Borbon) ... and frankly, I'd rather go this route than panic and trade away prospects. If our Minor Leaguers are what most of the experts say they are, then it's time to give them the chance to prove it ... and besides, Hamilton will be back before the deadline, so it's almost like a trade acquisition ... Francisco should get better over the next few days, and be back in his role shortly ... and while it's a shame about McCarthy, we did bring Holland up here to be a starter, eventually ... right?
GO RANGERS !!!
I take full responsibility for yesterdays bad news, last nights game include. It's my stinking karma. Yesterday morning I spent $200 on tickets for Fridays game.
Bad news, but I hope this isn't going to make JD think he has to sell the farm to get a pitcher right now. Reading some quotes by him yesterday, it would seem that he isn't thinking that way, but you never know.
Texas needs Hicks to sell sometime in the near future, and they must get new ownership who will go out and buy a couple of FA pitchers (Lackey & Sheets are the obvious choices) to help next year. It doesn't do any good to trade away pitchers who are in A right now, as you have no way of telling which ones are going to be good & which ones aren't. You could trade away the next big ace starter by doing that.
So Texas needs to hold tight, try to go with what it's got, and trade from its strength - one of the starting catchers and maybe one of the 4th OFs. Leave the pitching alone for now. That's my opinion.
A recurring theme in ancient Greek tragedies is that "Man shall learn by suffering." The Rangers are still suffering with various pitching woes: foolishness (Padilla), inexperience (Holland) and injuries (Harrison and now McCarthy). But there are many signs that the Rangers have learned, and continue to learn, from these type of sufferings over the last few years. Our new pitching coach this year might be the best, the minors appear to be stocked with young arms, and Nolan hall-of-fame Ryan is president of the club (and may become the owner at some point).
Nice callback to ENGL 2332, JP (well, for me at least).