Updating oft-injured pitchers

May 7, 2008   ·   Paul Raymond   ·   Jump to comments

Don’t know why I am wasting time on these two pitchers, but here are some injury updates for the New York Mets Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez and St. Louis Cardinals Mark Mulder. Mulder has had a setback in his rehab assignments, while Hernandez has finally taken the boot off.

Lets start off with El Duque. Hernandez has finally decided to take the protective boot off of his ailing right foot. Mets’ Assistant GM John Ricco has said that he no longer has any of the tenderness in the tendon, that required him to wear the boot. Don’t get your hopes up thou Mets fan, actually I doubt you did. Hernandez is still a long way from returning. All he’s been medically cleared to do is light throwing and jogging. A possible problem thou, that pesky bunion still remains. This guy’s such a joke, just go and retire already.

Now Mark Mulder. The Cardinals left hander was shutdown again, this time for a mild rotator cuff strain. Doctors have prescribed 7 to 10 days of rest, and then a re-evaluation. Mulder was scheduled to have one more rehab start, before his 30-day rehab window expired on the 14th. At that point, the Cardinals would have had to decide to promote, or cut. This setback pushes that decision back.

Mulder’s agent Gregg Clifton refuses to use the word setback thou. “The bottomline is this is not a setback whatsoever,” Clifton said. “It’s a hiatus for a week, and then after he’s re-evaluated he’ll be back out there. … Everyone feels a brief rest period will allow him to come back (feeling stronger).” In my opinion, if this wasn’t a setback then he’d make that start and THEN the Cardinals would just give him a brief rest before calling him up.

Mulder has been horrendous in his rehab stint, making 5 starts with a 6.66 era giving up 33 hits in 25 and 2/3 innings. He’s currently rehabbing rotator cuff and labrum surgery he had in September to repair the shoulder from the previous rotator cuff surgery.

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