Reds #1 prospect Robert Stephenson has landed on the 7-day minor league DL. And we’re no longer talking about a “wrist cramp.”
Hot off the Twitter presses:
Stephenson has a right forearm strain. #reds
— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) August 18, 2015
Stephenson placed on the 7-day DL by Louisville. Tony Cingrani, who had a neck injury, was activated and starts tonight for Bats #reds
— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) August 18, 2015
Yikes. Earlier today we had reported there is nothing to worry about:
Monday’s news was mostly good for the Cincinnati Reds’ top pitching prospect. Stephenson will miss one start, Louisville Bats manager Delino DeShields said, but only one. A former first-round pick by the Cincinnati Reds left in the third inning Wednesday due to discomfort in his wrist, which cramped and altered his control. Stephenson went to Cincinnati on Monday for a look by the Reds’ Dr. Timothy Kremchek. “I think everything checked out OK,” DeShields said. “He’ll be back in the rotation next time around.”
Maybe this is nothing to worry about. But as someone who has spent a bunch of time researching Tommy John surgeries lately, I can say you never want to hear about the forearm, because that’s often code for ulnar collateral ligament.
But not always. Sometimes a forearm is just a forearm. It could just be a muscle strain.
If everyone is using the English language correctly, strain means muscle or tendon, sprain would mean ligament.
Update: John Fay’s report says “strained right (throwing) wrist” and quotes Reds general manager saying:
“It’s just a mild strain,” Jocketty said. “They’re going to work him back into a throwing program. We put him on the DL because it’s going to be at least a week. We needed to activate (Tony) Cingrani. … He’ll be back in the next couple of weeks.”
To state the obvious, your wrist is not your forearm. Being back in the rotation next time around isn’t the same as back in the next couple of weeks.
Some of this inconsistency is probably just short-term reporting confusion.
But on the timetable for return, you have the player’s manager saying something different from the club’s general manager.
That’s not good.
More wow: Stephenson apparently just tweeted:
I’m no health expert. But I’ve worked in public communication for about 30 years. If this tweet means what it appears to mean, it’s another indication the Reds baseball-side front office is TERRIBLE at intra-organizational communication.