Cliff Lee has a Strained Abdomen
Here’s some unpleasant news, via Larry Stone’s twitter account:
Mystery solved: Cliff Lee has a right lower abdominal strain and was treated in Seattle today by team doctor Edward Khalfayan.
To add injury to insult, re: the whole suspension thing:
Wakamatsu: Lee believes he suffered abdominal strain during collision with Arizona’s Chris Snyder in Tucson last Monday.
Fantastic.
For those of you out there unfamiliar with abdominal strains, their worst feature is that they’re easy to aggravate, being one of those core stabilizing muscles. This also contributes to slow recovery times. It’s not the same exact thing, but think of last year when Kelley and Fields both missed months of time due to oblique injuries and you’d see why this might be problematic.
The M’s solution has been to inject some platelet-rich plasma into the area and wait a week to see what happens. Despite how it may sound, this is more scientifically sound than when Professor Farnsworth used stem cells to fight the aging process on that one episode of Futurama. In addition to various other uses, including bone mending, PR-P has had some practical applications in sports medicine on things like tendinitis, though the application of it in such measures is only a few years old.
In the past, Cliff Lee missed about two months of time in 2003 due to a similar injury coupled with a hernia, and in ’07, he missed a full month. One can be somewhat hopeful that the new treatment method might help things, but to say the team is weaker without him is quite the understatement, particularly with the back three in the rotation not looking too hot at the moment. The M’s get off a bit easy facing Kansas City, Baltimore, and Oakland for thirteen games in the month of April, but the eleven games total within the division (we escape having to face the Angels) could also make for a bad place to lose ground out of the gate.
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Shannon was just on 710.
She also mentioned the two other times he strained the same area, and hopes (with his experience of the previous strains) that his finishing the game and taking a bullpen indicates that it is not as serious as it has in the past. Her worry is that he is already so far behind this spring, and now will lose more pitching time— maybe get one more game in before spring ends, best case scenario
She is wondering (and stresses this is only her speculating) if he might have to go on the DL, take the suspension after that, and then get back up to speed for a very cautious team— and if they’ll be taking more looks at the 3-5th starters and maybe even look outside if there will be a two week absence at the start of the season
Why do things always have to be so damn interesting with this team?
I’m starting to like the idea of Jarrod Washburn a lot more.
12-man staff to open the season looking more and more likely all the time.
I had a strained abdomen a few years ago. It hurt from my knee cap to my shoulder, and I would have shooting pains while doing anything besides lying down. Hopefully his isn’t this bad, because it took me about 8 weeks before I could actually sit all the way up in a chair for more than a meal.
Also, makes sex very difficult, which really was the worst part.
Yet another reason to excuse Lee throwing at Snyder.
It’s so weird, I’m seeing Futurama references in like everything I read today and I just torrented every season 2 days ago.
But yeah, this is quite worrisome.
Strained abdominal. That sounds like it should only hurt when he breathes. I hope this doesn’t become like that hamstring injury that haunted Edgar for two seasons.
There’s some room for optimism here. Once you’ve had a certain injury or ailment once or twice in your past, you’re far more sensitive to it in the future.
I had gout in my ankle a few years ago and ever since then, every time my ankle feels a little stiff or sore, I get really worried and overreact. I’ve never actually had it come back but I’m constantly afraid that it will.
I’m hoping that this is all that Cliff Lee is doing. He felt a twinge in his abdomen, remembered his past pain, got worried and the M’s decided to take things cautiously.
Yes, let’s hope that is the case. I’m the same way with headaches because of my hydrocephalus.
How much longer must this team endure the curse of Selig.
I know, sounds panicky, but now is the time to get Washburn on the phone.
sorry, off topic – Mekias – next time you feel a gout attack coming on, make sure you drink a good amount of cherry juice and a whole lot of water while icing your effected joints and take ibuprofen. then, take a warm bath before going to bed. just from one gout sufferer to another.
Now I really hate Chris Snyder. All this because he got in Lee’s way while HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE ON-DECK CIRCLE! I mean cmon! Might as well get first base coaches to wrestle first basemen on pick off plays.
And Lee gets suspended for retaliating to that? MLB is unbelievable.
I wonder if this tweak caused him to lose control. He’s been wild enough this spring…
I hate to think that he was intentionally throwing at Snyder. So in my mind, Snyder caused this injury, causing Lee’s control to slip a little more, causing Lee to miss badly twice in a row. Snyder’s fault.
What’s the rotation going to look like without Lee? Felix, RRS, Snell, Fister, and Vargas? Or something like that. Kinda scary to have Fister and Vargas both in the starting five.
I remember feeling a warm glow of anticipation and excitement about this season…
Chris Snyder -> Cliff Lee
Reed Johnson -> Yovani Gallardo