04.19.07
Injured aces
Four batters into the first inning last night, Felix Hernandez took himself out of the game with “tightness” in his pitching elbow. Ironically this start came against the Twins, who just last year lost Francisco Liriano to Tommy John surgery. Liriano was terrific last year through May (1.13 ERA), June (2.31 ERA), and July (1.51 ERA). He seemed certain to win Rookie Of The Year honors, and had even begun to gain mention for the Cy Young. Then the following drama began to unfold (see here for the full chronology and quotes):
- Aug 1: Francisco Liriano was scratched from Wednesday’s start against the Rangers because of discomfort in his left elbow. “It’s nothing to be alarmed about,” pitching coach Rick Anderson said. “It’s just that he’s a young kid with a bright future, and you don’t want to mess with it.” Anderson added that an MRI showed no structural damage and Liriano wanted to go ahead and make the start.
- Aug 7: Francisco Liriano was bothered by soreness in his left forearm during Monday’s loss to the Tigers and might require a DL stint. “It’s a muscular problem — as the game was going on, he started to feel it,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We had him checked out before, and everything was fine, but we’ll have him checked out again. It’s muscles, not his elbow.”
- Aug 10: An MRI showed that Francisco Liriano has a mild chronic strain of his ulnar collateral ligament, and a clinical exam revealed weakness and stiffness in his shoulder that is causing the soreness in his forearm near his elbow. His status for the rest of the season is uncertain.
- Sep 2: Francisco Liriano (elbow, shoulder) came through a 12-minute bullpen session pain-free on Saturday. He’s scheduled to throw batting practice on Wednesday.
- Sep 10: Francisco Liriano (elbow, shoulder) is expected to start Wednesday against the A’s after having no difficulties during his rehab start Saturday. “Everything felt good,” he said. “I didn’t feel pain or sore. I threw all my pitches and I felt comfortable. I’m 100 percent and I don’t feel like anything is wrong. Now I’m looking forward to getting back and doing what I was doing before all this happened.”
- Sep 13: Francisco Liriano said he heard a pop in his elbow before leaving Wednesday’s game in the third inning. He’s done for the year. “The last two pitches I threw, I felt a pop and it really hurts,” Liriano said.
- Nov 6: Francisco Liriano underwent successful Tommy John surgery Monday in California
There are some strong similarities between the two young pitchers. Like Liriano, Hernandez has been masterful this season. Entering last night’s game, King Felix had thrown 17 straight shutout innings with 18 K’s and only 4 hits! Both had a history of troublesome injuries in the minors. Liriano’s shoulder problems in 2003 limited him to just nine innings that year, a continuing concern that caused him to fall several places on lists of top prospects for 2006. Hernandez spent a month on the DL in 2005 with shoulder bursitis, though he still managed to throw 170 innings that season and 190 innings the next.
Yet there are differences as well. Liriano may have exacerbated his problems by pitching through pain. In the aftermath of that August start against Detroit, we heard that he started feeling weakness in the second inning (yet he ultimately threw 67 pitches to 21 batters). In contrast, Hernandez left his start last night in the first inning. Pitching through pain or muscular weakness can cause adjustments that cascade to more serious injuries. Hopefully Hernandez limited this damage with his early exit? Furthermore, reports from this spring suggest that Hernandez has been working on his mechanics. Some analysts have credited this work as contributing to his early dominance, but cleaner mechanics should also be expected to reduce his injury risk.
Just this spring, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus wrote, “[Hernandez]’s got the nickname, but the only way he’ll earn it is by staying healthy. Even more than Harden, Hernandez is dangerous.” These concerns were clearly justified, but there remains hope for a full recovery and a successful season. It took Liriano and the Twins three months from his initial injury to finally submit to Tommy John surgery, a path that Hernandez has only just begun to travel. The Mariners will certainly proceed with the utmost caution to prevent him from ever completing that journey.