On Monday, August 2nd, I had a brief conversation with sports injury expert Will Carroll, from Under the Knife, around a handful of Mets injury issues; including Jacob deGrom’s elbow; Noah Syndergaard’s rehab, and why the Mets chose not to sign Kumar Rocker. The conversation is paraphrased below.
Question: What is going on with Jacob deGrom’s elbow?
Will Carroll: There is nothing specifically wrong with his elbow. I’ve heard conflicting reports on whether they are using ultrasounds or MRIs to scan the arm. Even so, the current problem is in his forearm, the flexor mass strain. That’s scary to everyone, people think because he has a flexor problem it’s going to lead to a UCL issue. That’s not always the case. But that is just result, it’s not the source of the problem.
They have to figure this (recurring injury) thing out. He’s had more and more issues as his velocity has increased. He goes out there and has no-hitter stuff all the time. A few years ago, he was a great pitcher, but wasn’t getting hurt all the time. The question is, how much additional force is he putting on his arm, and is that additional force causing the injury. It’s really a problem of managing the forces now.
Managing the forces is a mechanical problem. They need to fix it. There are some lateral deficiencies I see, when it comes to the lead leg. But to put it more simply, he has all the gas and none of the breaks. He is not decelerating as well, his forearm (injury) is the consequence of the change in the kinetic chain.
So, he has a great engine, but he has to figure out how to make his delivery more efficient by constraining the forces. There are a million ways to attack the problem, but it’s going to be really hard to rebuild those mechanics. Roy Halladay was able to do it, and deGrom will too (in order to prevent these injuries from re-occurring).
I do expect him to be back this year, but they will have to tread carefully with him.
Question: What do you know about Syndergaard’s recovery?
Will Carroll: This has been a weird year for Tommy John guys. Severino is not back, Chris Sale isn’t back. Why are we seeing such significant set-backs? I don’t know what’s different? Why are these guys taking 16-18 months on average, rather than being more on the top-end of the range (of recovery) – which is usually 12 months.
Has something fundamentally changed in the program? Something is off.
Dakota Hudson and Justin Verlander both has TJS at the end of last season, and both are reportedly ahead of schedule. Verlander indicated he probably could get back in time for the season end, but not sure what the point would be.
With Syndergaard, he’s just one more data point in an odd trend, so it’s a bit of a mystery.
I do think he’ll be back. I don’t know if they can build him as a starter. We saw Adam Wainwright used as a reliever way back. When he gets back though, it’s possible he can follow up some of the other top-end Metss starters to be one super pitcher (e.g. deGrom to Syndergaard for 9 innings). They have some possibilities with him, I don’t think he’s going to be a 4, 5, 6 inning guy, at least this year.
Question: On Kumar Rocker, why was there such a disagreement between the Mets’ medical experts and Boras’ ?
Will Carroll: This is the issue: What’s wrong? What did they (Mets doctors) see vs. what his doctors’ saw. We just don’t know, and the Mets aren’t allowed to say. They’ve been quiet about the whole process. Boras also had no reason to let it out, unless he has some other end game. But the question remains, is it his elbow? Is it his shoulder? If he had MRIs after the season, if they weren’t submitted, why?
I will say one thing, based on the medicals before the draft, I know from my sources that 0 teams took him of their board. Rocker’s medical records were shared with all the teams, but it’s the MRI where the issue came up, so we just don’t know what they saw.
In the long run though, I do expect Rocker to be redrafted next year, and to make as much money as he would have (with the 10th pick) or more.
Question: Mets prospect Thomas Szpapucki recently had elbow nerve transposition surgery, how is the recovery process from that?
Will Carroll: It’s very common, not a very difficult surgery. The long-term prognosis is about as good a prognosis as it comes.
2 comments:
Jeremy, ask Will if he thinks what happened with Rocker was that the Mets felt the elbow was too close to blowing out while Boras’ was clinging to “he can pitch right now”, which means that it’s still good until it blows.
Nice update. I would have asked them if they are being too conservative with Thor after it barked.
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