I'll Let This Speak For Itself...

Here is the entirety of a press release issued by the Nationals today...

NATIONALS MEDICAL DIRECTOR RESIGNS

The Washington Nationals today announced that Dr. Ben Shaffer, Nationals Medical Director and Team Orthopedist, has resigned his position as team doctor.

“I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to provide care to the Nationals players and organization the last three years,” said Dr. Shaffer. “From a time standpoint, this responsibility has required an enormous commitment and I have decided to focus my energies on my family, my practice and the other professional teams I work closely with.”

Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden responded, I know I speak for the entire organization in recognizing Dr. Shaffer’s invaluable contributions to our players’ welfare and his orthopedic expertise. His departure is a real loss for our organization.”

Injury Update: Wily Mo Pena

The Nationals issued a press release this morning describing the surgery and rehab for Wily Mo Pena:

Earlier today, Nationals outfielder Wily Mo Pena had successful surgery performed on his left shoulder by Dr. Timothy Kremchek in Cincinnati, OH. Dr. Kremchek repaired a significant partial tear of his rotator cuff, as well as a tear and fraying of his posterior labrum.

Pena will be placed in a sling for approximately 3 weeks, at which time a formal rehab program will begin. Pena will be out for 4-6 months, but is expected to be ready for Spring Training 2009.

Bottom(feeder) Line: Pena may very well have played his last game in a Washington uniform, depending on the route the front office goes between now and the beginning of Spring Training next season. It's not a stretch to think that Pena's future hinges on GM Jim Bowden being retained. Pena was terrible this season, both at the plate (.205/.243/.267 with two homers and 10 rbis in 195 at bats) and in the field. Apparently some of that can be attributed to the injury.

Pena's actions, however, continue a disturbing trend in either players hiding or downgrading their injury, or the team's inability to properly diagnose the problem and get proper medical attention before a catastrophic result -- surgery. Patterson, Cordero, Hill, Kearns, Zimmerman and now Pena have all followed a similar disturbing pattern.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008

Zim To DL, Casto Up From Minors

You can get the full read here, or here, or here; anyway you slice it (pun intended), this is not good news for the Nationals.

Here were the pearls of wisdom from JimBow (courtesy of Chico Harlan, WaPo):

"I've had players who've had the same injury who took 10 days off, then played
for five years," General Manager Jim Bowden said. "Then I've had some who've been operated on. It can be anywhere in between, and we just don't know yet."

Zimmerman has what's being described as a "small" labrum tear, meaning the mechanism in his shoulder that allows him to swing a baseball bat with authority and without pain is structurally flawed right now. Team orthopaedist Dr. Ben Shaffer (I didn't even have to look it up anymore) is prescribing rest and inflammatories. Zimmerman will be getting at least 15 days rest, since he was placed on the 15-day DL Monday, with Kory Casto getting the call from Columbus.

Casto, 26, who has experience as both an infielder and outfielder, appeared in 16 games last season with Washington, batting .130. With Columbus this season, he's gone .314/.385/.465 with three homers and 15 RBIs in 86 at bats in 21 games. It sounds like he's figured something out this season against Triple-A pitching. One would imagine, though, that Aaron Boone will get the majority of starts at first base, leaving Casto to fulfill the roll Boone had been ably manning, pinch-hitting and spelling Meathook at first in the late innings.

What's not known yet is the real extent of the damage. The results of Zimmerman's MRI were rushed out Monday to all the famous shoulder guys: James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.; Timothy Kremcheck in Cincinnati; and Robert Cofield in Rochester, Minn. If they see something in the test results different than Dr. Shaffer, Zim could be looking at some surgery and more down time than he's ever had in a summer in his entire life.

If you want to do more reading on exactly what we're talking about here, check out this link. It spells it out pretty simply in lay terms. While a labrum tear is almost a death sentence for pitchers, hitters can have good success with rest or surgery. Scott Rolen had the procedure done mid-season in 2005 following a horrific collision at first base with Hee Seop Choi.

But here's the famous Will Carroll article on Slate.com that details in no uncertain terms what labrum surgery means to pitchers.

We'll keep on top of this as the recommendations come filtering in from the other surgeons. For Zim and the Nats' sakes, hopefully they concur with Dr. Shaffer and think that rest will do the trick.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008

Injury News From the Nationals

Here's the straight scoop, from the press release just issued:

MEDICAL UPDATES FOR RYAN ZIMMERMAN AND NICK JOHNSON

The Washington Nationals today announced the following medical updates for third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and first baseman Nick Johnson.

Ryan Zimmerman underwent a gadolinium enhanced MRI of his injured left, non-throwing shoulder today and was then evaluated by Dr. Benjamin Shaffer, team orthopedist. The MRI exam revealed a small labral tear. Dr. Shaffer advocated rest and anti-inflammatory medications. The Nationals are consulting with the following renowned orthopedic physicians for additional evaluations: Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham (AL), Dr. Timothy Kremchek of Cincinnati (OH) and Dr. Robert Cofield of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (MN).

Nick Johnson’s wrist was evaluated today by Dr. Benjamin Shaffer, two weeks after his injury occurred. Because of persisting tenderness of the Extensor Carpi Ulnaris tendon sheath in his right wrist, the wrist was re-casted for an additional two weeks. He will be re-evaluated on June 16, at which time rehabilitation options will be determined.

Bottom(feeder) Line: Call me pessimistic, but neither of these outlooks sounds very good to me. Zim's "small labrum tear" is quite disconcerting. It's in his non-throwing shoulder, which is of course very good. But any deconstruction of the labrum area is bad for a baseball player, considering the power and speed that ones needs to generate from the upper body. Expect Zim to go on the 15-Day DL at any time. Either way, he needs to rest it for a while to get the inflammation out.

As for Johnson, I think we all knew what was coming. He's a slow healer, and the news isn't shocking. If Johnson plays before the all-star break, I'll eat my hat.