The adage that bad news comes in threes has a new application in the age of Twitter. Witness three Reds beat writers dutifully tweeting out this bad, terrible, awful news:
Anthony DeSclafani's elbow soreness came back. Will not start tomorrow. May start on DL, more tests being done
— Zach Buchanan (@ZachENQ) March 12, 2017
DeSclafani has return of elbow tenderness after last side bullpen. Scratched from Mon start. To get MRI. Likely start season on DL #reds
— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) March 12, 2017
DeSclafani scratched. will get MRI. will most likely start season on DL. more to come on https://t.co/tdJVP2bFd3
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) March 12, 2017
This ends the regularly scheduled “there’s no red alert at this time” part of the broadcast. None of us need be reminded of the proximity the ulnar collateral ligament has to one’s broken elbow.
I’ll add a contribution of my own from that website.
Out of grave concern for first 6 innings, Reds could move Michael Lorenzen – their best pitcher last year – back to the starting rotation.
— Steve Mancuso (@spmancuso) March 12, 2017
The Enquirer now has a short article up about the situation. Also Sheldon at MLB.com. More to follow.
They’ll try to use “rest and rehab” until July when it’s just long enough that he’ll have to miss this year and next year and then decide to have TJ surgery
It may just be bone spurs, some loose debris in the elbow. An MRI will show what it is. Might be arthroscopic surgery and back in six weeks.
But the recurring soreness is more that just early season work load and throwing.
Homer and now Disco. Not too optimistic about either right now. Hey, life of a Reds fan.
The management of Votto’s knee was incompetent, can we agree on that? And Cueto’s oblique strain lasting from October 2012 through most of 2013 seems a little….off. Maybe the rest of it is bad luck/the same as other teams, but I have my doubts.
I like the Lorenzen to rotation idea but I also would see if you could get Quintana for a package of …?
The Reds would need to give up so much it would likely make them worse. The White Sox want 2-3 top prospects.
It always takes 2-3 top prospects for the Reds to acquire someone, but when other teams are acquiring Bruce, Chapman, and Frazier…they always seem to get a mid to low level prospect.
You’re comparing apples to oranges.
Chapman, Leake, Frazier were all rentals. Quintana is signed for 3 more years at a friendly rate. Huge difference.
There was a limited market for Frazier and the White Sox learned this winter that there is virtually no market for Frazier.
Yes to Lorenzen
Not to Quintana due to cost
Sal Ramano may make all of us forget pitching woes after he is called up in June. That guy is flat out getting the job done
I posted the above before Sal’s pitching today…..
Is Sal Ramano a #1 starter for the Reds right now? I think this guy gets 3 starts wherever AA, AAA and then he is going to be with the big club for the rest of his career.
this guy is good
I’m a fan of Romano. I think he has to be in the discussion as a long-term solution in the rotation.
Hopefully the Reds learn to target bats and trade for arms. Less risk and more action on the ball.
I don’t think they’re incompetent, but I always wonder why they don’t take an MRI when these issues initially arise? $? Couldn’t be that, given the big bucks they invest in these guys…
I read on one of the reports that he had undergone a diagnostic ultrasound. In some ways, it is even better than MRI, especially because you can move the part through the range of motion and see what the suspected parts actually do and if they are damaged. It is somewhat limited versus MRI though because it can’t always see everything, which is generally due to depth of the tissue you’re trying to view.
Based on https://redlegnation.com/2017/03/10/the-fight-for-the-final-two-rotation-spots/ will we start the season with five of the following six:
Brandon Finnegan, Scott Feldman, Cody Reed, Amir Garrett, Robert Stephenson, Tim Adleman
as our starting rotation?
Excellent post. Agree with everything you say.
Me too
Romano looked fantastic today. Once he’s up I think he’s here to stay.
The Reds have been terrible with handling injuries under this ownership. They are too shortsighted when handling injuries. Chapman was on the starting track until Madsen got injured and ownership let Baker poison Chapman’s mind about being a “dominant” closer. Now they may change Lorenzen’s role to a starter? Yes, Lorenzen should be a starter, but the Reds aren’t sold on that. Either way, decide what maximizes talent and value and then COMMIT.
The Reds’ shortsightedness under this ownership has hurt the Reds.
Some pitchers perform much better in the bullpen than they do in the starting rotation for a number of reasons. I totally get wanting to see Lorenzen, arguably the team’s best pitcher last season, start every fifth day. But we saw a historically bad bullpen before his installation in the back half of it. We also saw how dominant a multi-inning shutdown reliever can be from the other Ohio team. You need some designated bullpen arms, or the pen will always be an afterthought. As shown by the 2016 Reds, an afterthought bullpen is only good for getting you the second pick in the draft.
I think Lorenzen can work great as a swing man in this specific scenario – have him start a few games, and pull him for a reliever before his third time through the lineup. I think the Reds are set on keeping him in the bullpen for the long term, and I’m fine with that. We have to remember that they’ve got so much more information on Lorenzen than the fans do, and with DW’s small-but-impressive track record when it comes to using information so far, I’m giving him and the front office the benefit of the doubt on this one.
I’m hoping this report creates an avalanche of “Edward Scissorhands performs surgery for the Reds. The Reds suffer more injuries than the 1940 French Army” post.
That narrative may be accurate, but for the love of God will someone just offer some actual facts…..just once.
If this doesn’t lead to them starting Lorenzen, nothing will.
I hope the best for Disco!
Kremchek was actually rated the 3rd best TJ surgeon by Will Carroll in this 2014 ranking:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2065296-meet-the-super-surgeons-tasked-with-putting-mlbs-broken-arms-back-together
That doesn’t speak directly to his diagnostic skills; but, I doubt he’d be that high on such a list if he didn’t have a very impressive positive outcome rate for the surgeries he has done..
Here is what the Enquirer had about it.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2017/03/12/rolled-ankle-forces-reds-rhp-rookie-davis-start/99103732/
In case you can’t get through their paywall, Davis is quoted as saying he expects to make his next regular turn.
After reading the Enquirer article, my question is why was Davis even still in the game after tweaking his ankle (twice) to slip and plunk Ian Desmond with the pitch which resulted in a broken hand for Desmond?
Great insight/perspective…I concur
Great points, Steve
Miller was completely shot by Game 7 of the WS….as was Chapman.
If a team assigned a pitcher to be the ” High leverage guy” then you’d have to be able to objectively predict when a HLS would likely occur in order to give ample warm up time. If you wait until it happens, then it’s either often too late or you have him warm up multiple times a game….which will have an onerous impact over time.
If the Reds use data to suggest that Starter X begins to struggle in the 6th….and the batters that will be coming to the plate in the 6th perform at an elevated rate the 3rd time against a pitcher..then you can decipher that there is a X percent chance that a HLS will develop and you warm up Lorenzen in the bottom of the 5th.
Modern baseball psychology? Looking back through fading memory at the 60’s, the environment wasn’t one where -everyone- had to be a power pitcher and even the power pitchers weren’t trying to be power pitchers 100% of the game. Couple the power pitching obsession with modern nutrition and (over)conditioning regimes and you can see how we got to where we are. Classic rule-proving case – Koufax (who had to leave the game years before his peers). Also, most pitchers came up to the show with two-three pitches not just variations on the heater.
More finesse, please.
But, old boyo’
Never Fear
We have Bronson Arroyo
And they have not.
Clarifying:
Koufax as a pure power pitcher, as opposed to his more durable peers.
and my apologies to the ghost of Hillaire Bellocq (classical reference)