Gibson to Avoid Tommy John Surgery… for now
The
Twins announced on Tuesday that top pitching prospect Kyle Gibson has a … let me get this right… flexor pronator muscle strain of the right elbow and a partially
torn ulnar collateral ligament… uffdah…
and will, at least for now, avoid Tommy John surgery. Instead, he will head
down to Ft. Myers and rehab.
This
is obviously not exactly great news for the Minnesota Twins as the very
talented right hander will be shut down for the rest of this season. The only
cure for a torn ligament is Tommy John surgery, but the Twins are going to
attempt the rest and rehab thing again. If you recall, that is what they did
with Francisco Liriano in 2006 and Pat Neshek in 2007. If Gibson had Tommy John surgery now, he
would likely miss all of the 2012 season. If Gibson has Tommy John surgery in
October or November, he would miss all of the 2012 season. According to Phil
Mackey (Via Twitter) of 1500espn,
Braves pitchers Mike Minor and Arodys Vizcaino have
successful rehabbed from partial UCL tears and remain great prospects. Both have been recalled to
the Braves in the last week, with the 20-year-old Vizcaino just recalled late
last night.
When
the Twins drafted Gibson with the 22nd overall pick in the 2009
draft, they were thrilled. Because of some forearm issues, which Gibson was
very forthright about, he slipped to the Twins. There was some concern at the
time about the injury. However, after signing late in 2009, he made his pro
debut in 2010. He scurried through the minor leagues, starting at Ft. Myers
before moving up to New Britain and finally to Triple
A Rochester where he made three starts before being shut down. In 2011, he
returned to Rochester after impressing manager Ron Gardenhire
in spring training. He was one of my Top 3 Twins minor league starting pitchers
for both April and May. However, he struggled some in June and after pitching
in the Futures Game in Arizona, he had just one second half start, and it went
really poorly. Uncharacteristically, he walked five batters. Concern for the
elbow was immediate. The team shut Gibson down, hoping
that it was just inflammation and missing a start or two would help. It just
wasn’t recovering as quickly as he had hoped. That’s why he flew to Minneapolis
on Sunday night. That’s why he had an MRI on Monday, and went through more
testing on Tuesday.
The
top pick in that 2009 draft, Steven Strasburg got to the big leagues early in
2010, but was shut down and required Tommy John surgery which he had last
September. On Sunday, he made his first rehab appearance and went 1.2 innings.
That is a very aggressive timeline. Recovery from Tommy John surgery is
generally 12-17 months. If Gibson has his surgery this month, he could be ready
next August or September, but most likely (and wisely), the Twins would wait
until spring training of 2013 to have him come back. At that point, he will
still be just 25 years old and have plenty of time for a comeback. Obviously
there is no cookie cutter return from Tommy John surgery, but there are so many
examples of pitchers who have come back and been just as successful that there
is no reason for pessimism.
But
again, first and foremost, best wishes go out to Kyle Gibson and his family.
I’m sure this would be a very nerve-wracking moment, but he is very strong and
strong in his faith. FEWDY,
right Kyle?!
I
asked Gibson if he cared to join me for a bit on last
night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast. He politely
declined saying that he “doesn’t have too many answers right now.” He did say
that in the near future he would join a podcast again and we can talk through
some of this with him.
The
news was a little better for fellow Twins minor league pitcher Anthony Slama who was diagnosed with a flexor pronator
muscle strain in his right elbow, as well. He will also be heading back to Ft.
Myers to rehab the elbow area. I like to think that, if healthy, Slama could have played a big role in the Twins bullpen in
2011, although the Twins have never really given him that opportunity.
Miracle
shortstop Estarlin de Los Santos was put on the
Disabled List yesterday and traveled to Minnesota where he will be having Tommy
John surgery. I had heard that last week, but he kept playing 2B throughout the
weekend.
Miracle
pitcher Brad Stillings is in Minnesota where he will
have shoulder surgery
It has
been a very difficult year on the injury front of the Twins and throughout
their minor league system. Jeff Manship is on the DL
with a rib injury. New Britain reliever Tony Davis had his elbow scoped. Michael
Tarsi has been out quite awhile now. Miracle outfielders Oswaldo
Arcia and Angel Morales also had their elbows scoped.
I heard that Miracle starter Miguel Munoz had bone chips removed from his
elbow. Jhon Garcia is on the Disabled List now. Dan Osterbrock has missed most of this season with a shoulder
injury. Ben Tootle was just put on the disabled list. Matt Bashore
hasn’t pitched since July 24. 2010 draft pick Dallas Gallant had Tommy John
surgery earlier this spring. Of course, no injury has been as serious as that
of Paul Bargas, who was diagnose with brain cancer in
April. He continues to be at home in California.
When
it rains, apparently it pours.
BLOG SPOTTING
Let’s take
a quick look around the Twins blogosphere and see what people are saying:
·
Over the
Baggy asks Surgery
or rehab for Kyle Gibson?
·
I was contemplating waking up and writing a Nine Innings blog. I
looked at my subjects for nine innings, then saw Aaron
Gleeman’s Twins Notes blog and realized that I could just link you to
that and you’d get the same thing!
·
Nick
Nelson calls the return of Kevin Slowey a Chance
at Redemption.
·
Twinkie
Town’s Jesse considers the Top
10 Candidates for the Twins 2012 Rotation.
·
North Dakota
Twins Fan notes that Slowey finds his way out of the doghouse. Great
blog article, but I tend to disagree in that I think this is simply a case that
the GM overrides the manager. Smith wants Slowey to
show that he has value, maybe even to other teams. Of course, it is also an opportunity
for Slowey to get back into the good graces of his
manager and his teammates.
·
K-Bro
Baseball discusses Scott
Baker’s return to the DL, and she’s got a contest going on too!
·
The Baseball Outsider writes
about Gibson, Slama, Baker and Slowey.
·
Travis posted
his most recent Player
Profile on Oswaldo Arcia.
·
The Twins
Fan from Afar has presented Jim Thome with a
post-baseball job opportunity!
·
Troy’s
Twins Dugout asks, “So,
when should we give up all hope the Twins won’t make the playoffs?” I
think pretty much any time would be good.
·
In his most recent FSN North blog, Michael Cuddyer writes that he
likes doing things the right way.
MINOR
LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS FROM TUESDAY
Rochester lost to Durham 10-6. Justin Morneau
went 3-5 with two doubles. He now is 8-14 in his last three games after going
1-8 in his first two games with the Red Wings. (yes, I
would say he is rather close!) Luke Hughes went 2-5 including a first inning
home run, his third for the Red Wings this year. Dustin Martin went 3-5 with
his fourth triple. Brian Dinkelman was 2-3. Scott
Diamond started and was roughed up again. The lefty gave up eight runs (6 earned)
on eight hits and a walk. In four innings, he struck out five. Kyle Waldrop
gave up a run on three hits in two innings. Dusty Hughes struck out two in a
scoreless inning. Jim Hoey gave up a solo home run in
the 8th.
Tom Stuifbergen picked up his fifth
win of the season with seven strong innings. He gave up three runs on eight
hits. He walked none and struck out five. Bruce Pugh struck out two in two
scoreless innings for his 13th Miracle save as Ft. Myers beat
Bradenton 6-3. Oswaldo Arcia
was 3-5 with his 9th and 10th doubles, and his fifth home
run. Angel Morales and Dan Rohlfing were each 2-4.
James Beresford was 2-5. Aaron Hicks was 0-2 but he walked three times. Josmil Pinto followed up Arcia’s
home run with his fourth homer of the year.
The Snappers split a double header with Quad Cities on Tuesday.
In the first game, Beloit won 12-6. AJ Achter gave up
six runs (5 earned) on nine hits and two walks in just three innings. Bart
Carter came in and gave up two hits and a walk but no runs in two scoreless
innings. He struck out two. Jose Gonzalez gave up two hits and a walk in his
two scoreless innings. Lance Ray led the offense. He went 3-4 with his 13th
home run. Daniel Ortiz was 2-3 with his 30th double. Jairo Perez was 1-3 with a walk and his 12th
homer. Andy Leer knocked a grand slam for the Snappers, his second homer of the
season.
The Snappers lost the second game 6-5. Pedro Guerra made his
first Snappers start of the year. He went four innings and gave up six runs on
six hits (2 homers). He walked three and struck out six. Sam Spangler came in
and gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings. On offense, Tyler Grimes
went 2-3 with his second homer. Lance Ray added his 32nd double.
Elizabethton got a two-run, pinch-hit double from Eddie Rosario
in the top of the 9th to tie the score at two. In the 10th,
Kennys Vargas knocked his sixth home run of the
season to give the E-Twins a 3-2 win over Danville. Max
Kepler was 2-5 with his ninth double. Niko Goodrum went 2-2 with three
walks. David Hurlbut started and gave up two runs on
six hits and a walk in six innings. Cole Johnson threw two scoreless innings.
Steve Evans picked up the win with a scoreless frame, and Matt Summers recorded
his fourth save with a perfect tenth.
The New Britain/Altoona game and the GCL Twins/GCL Rays game
were both postponed by rain.
By the way, LaVelle E. Neal
tweeted last night that he will be posting his new Top 10 Twins Prospect list,
with numbers 6-10 posted today and 1-5 posted on Thursday. Check out the Twins
Insider blog throughout the day to see how it compares to my most recent
Top 10 list from August 1. (Oswaldo Arcia, Liam Hendriks, Aaron
Hicks, Kyle Gibson, Miguel Sano, Joe Benson, Adrian Salcedo,
Eddie Rosario, Angel Morales, Chris Parmelee)
Feel free to E-mail me, or leave
some Comments.