Thursday, February 24, 2011

Battletoad Towed

The first million is supposed to be the hardest, right? But given the news that Vicente Padilla is undergoing surgery that could knock him out of the first half of the 2011 season, that first-half of the $2M contract he signed might not come with game-day pressure:

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla will undergo surgery on Thursday to free the troublesome nerve at the top of his right elbow, which an MRI exam showed was being trapped by a muscle in his forearm.

General manager Ned Colletti said the team expects Padilla to return during the first half of the season, but the team's medical staff could not be more specific since the condition is rather rare. The procedure, which will be performed in Los Angeles at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic by team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache and Dr. Steve Shin, is expected to finally resolve an issue that also landed Padilla on the disabled list for two months early last season.

Padilla, a free agent last winter, passed a physical examination before the Dodgers re-signed him to an incentive-laden, one-year contract with a $2 million base salary. Colletti said Padilla also reported early to spring training and has been throwing off a mound for about three weeks.

"[But] this came back when he started to increase his velocity the other day," Colletti said. "Rather than going through this all season long and wandering back and forth, back and forth, this was the best course of action knowing we still have a week to go in February."

Why is it the start of spring training, and we are "finally resolv[ing] an issue" that kept Padilla out for two months last season?

In any event, get well soon Vicente. I have a feeling we'll need you as soon as you're able to pitch again.

By the way, I was going to insert some snarky reference about the Cardinals being in deeper shit given Adam Wainwright's injury. And then I realized that Jon Weisman had beaten me to the punch. Sigh.

2 comments:

Kyle Baker said...

Solves the dread "sixth starter" conundrum, though, doesn't it?

Steve Sax said...

Not like we don't have plenty of other conundrums...

Can Broxton close?
Can Ethier lead?
Can Kemp focus?
Can Loney mash?
Can Dioner diet?
Can Uribe range?
Can Furcal last?
Can any-of-the-95-left-fielder-candidates play?
etc.