Yanks Send Chamberlain to Orthopedist By TYLER KEPNER Published: August 5, 2008 ARLINGTON, Tex. — If pitching were a natural act, Mike Mussina likes to say, we would all walk around with our arms above our heads. In its essence, pitching is unnatural and damaging to the arm. Teams try to prevent injuries with pitch counts and closely monitored workouts, but it is all about reducing the odds. “When you are a power pitcher — or any pitcher at this level — you’re subjecting yourself to injury from time to time,” said Harlan Chamberlain, whose son, Joba, had several tests Tuesday on his stiff right shoulder. “It’s the nature of the beast.” It might have been naive to think Joba Chamberlain was supposed to be different. But considering the care they took with him, the Yankees never expected Chamberlain to need an appointment Wednesday with Dr. James Andrews, the renowned orthopedic surgeon in Birmingham, Ala. “There are certainly no guarantees,” General Manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday, without revealing what Chamberlain’s tests showed. “I don’t want to go into specifics, because we’re not in position to talk about what we’re dealing with. But I’m very comfortable and confident in our pitching program. It limits the risk, but it doesn’t prevent injuries.” It is hard to imagine Chamberlain avoiding the disabled list. He has already been scratched from his start against the Angels on Saturday, when Ian Kennedy will take his place. Kennedy is 3-0 with a 1.33 earned run average in his last four starts for Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Asked why the Yankees sent Chamberlain to Birmingham, instead of simply sending the results of his magnetic resonance imaging test there, Cashman said it was standard procedure. But the need for an extra trip for Chamberlain — which was not announced — was a curious development. “Generally, especially when one M.R.I.’s already been done, Andrews is looking at it for a second opinion,” said the YES broadcaster David Cone, who saw Andrews for shoulder problems during his pitching career. “But you don’t get a second opinion unless the first M.R.I. showed something, generally speaking. What you see on the M.R.I. is the key, and to shuffle it down to him must mean you see something on there. What, I don’t know.” Asked if he knew whether his son has a major or minor shoulder problem, Harlan Chamberlain said he could not say. “The only thing I can say is I have every confidence that he’ll be back,” he said. “I hope and pray that it’s nothing of a serious nature. Obviously, he’s going to have to do some rest. As for how long that rest is going to be, time will tell.” Chamberlain added: “He’ll be back, there’s no doubt. He’s a strong kid and we’ve confronted adversarial things throughout his career, and we’ve been able to answer them each time. It’s not like this is insurmountable. It’s a temporary setback. That’s the only way you can look at it.” Some teams considered Chamberlain a risk in the 2006 draft because of concerns about his knee and triceps. The Yankees drafted him out of the University of Nebraska with the 41st pick, 20 slots after taking Kennedy. He threw 116 innings last season — a total that included the minor leagues and the postseason — and he has thrown 89 this season. That put him on pace for roughly 140 innings this season. Chamberlain turns 23 next month. When Mussina was 23, he threw 241 innings for the 1992 Baltimore Orioles. On Tuesday, Mussina and Cone talked at length together about the way pitchers are developed these days. “For me, part of being able to get a chance to pitch in the major leagues was being durable enough to pitch a lot of innings,” Mussina said. “Someone has to experience discomfort, because there’s a difference between being hurt and pitching with discomfort, and that has to be learned. “You’re not told that, you have to learn that.” Cone made the same point. Not knowing the test results, he said, it was impossible to tell what kind of pain Chamberlain endured. His velocity was fine Monday, but Cone said the weather — it was 101 degrees at game time — might have caused Chamberlain to put more stress on the shoulder. “I’ve seen this happen before,” Cone said. “Generally, it’s cramping or a little tendinitis — your tendons, especially the biceps tendon where he was pointing, can be a real trouble spot in hot weather. You tend to get looser, a little more range of motion, a little more extension. Sometimes, that leads to a strain, because you can definitely reach out there a little further. I’ve seen that happen a lot.” One reason for optimism is that Chamberlain was able to perform the basic strength drills the training staff administered Monday after he left the game. Manager Joe Girardi, who spoke with Chamberlain on Tuesday, said he assumed he still felt strong. “I guess,” Girardi said. “I would have heard if he didn’t.” http://tinyurl.com/5c78ga --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.109.23.17