Why does this always happen to the Reds?
The season has ended prematurely for the player selected by the Reds as their top minor-leaguer last year.
Pitcher Richie Gardner, who made 13 starts for Double-A Chattanooga this season, underwent arthroscopic surgery Thursday to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.
“It was similar to, maybe a little more extensive than what Luke Hudson had (in 2003),” said Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek, who performed the surgery at Beacon Orthopaedic Center. “He had a cyst inside his shoulder. We tried to treat him non-operatively, but he just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Gardner soon will travel to Sarasota, Fla., to begin his rehabilitation at the Reds complex there and is expected to be throwing again in time for minor-league spring training.
A sixth-round draft pick in 2003, Gardner was rated by Baseball America as the third-best Reds prospect entering this season.
Very disappointing. But there’s a reason that Baseball Prospectus says TNSTAAPP.
Years ago, when Tom Seaver was with the Reds, there was a tendancy for other pitchers to copy his famous delivery. There was a rash of sore arms back then too. I wonder if someone in the organization is trying the one size fits all theory on pitchers, an there by causing what seems to be a rash of injuries. I don’t know. Its just a theory.
Chris,
I was basically puttting out there for discussion, a theory that maybe the answer to the pitcher injury bug might be a one size fits all approach to pitchers in the Reds minor league system. It wasn’t an attack on Seaver’s motion. His motion worked for him all the way to the Hall of Fame.
I was wondering out loud. Were pitchers being instructed to change theyre deliveries in a cookie cutter sort of fashion rather than going with what was natural to them? We’re all not built the same. I don’t have any hard evidence that this is what is occurring but the Reds do seem to be plagued with torn labrum’s and elbow ligament problems. Again, I’m just wondering out loud as to what could possibly be the cause.