Ramirez Out for a few Days

by craig on May 18, 2006 7:09 AM EDT in News and Rumors

Ramirez shoulder injury, apparently, wasn't that bad. At least that is the official press release.

An MRI performed on Wednesday confirmed that shortstop Hanley Ramirez has a left shoulder strain that will require a couple days' rest.

Ramirez said that he felt the shoulder pop out and then back in during a swing in the ninth inning of Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Braves.

If that is accurate, that is good news, but still there is something in the article that is a little unsettling to me. It is the fact that it has happened before.

This is the second time Ramirez has experienced shoulder problems swinging the bat. Last year, while playing Double-A ball in the Red Sox system, a similar incident happened. He had a big swing and miss on a changeup, resulting in shoulder pain.

A year ago, he missed three games because of his shoulder problem, but he says this pain isn't as severe as it was then.

"It was like three-quarters out [and the shoulder went back in]," said Ramirez of how he felt on Tuesday night. "Last year [when it happened], I got dizzy and I threw up."

Ramirez is a young, in shape, well nurtured athlete and he should recover quickly from this episode. But still I have a concern.

While I have no personal experience with this type of injury, I have seen a friend suffer through it time and time again.

Hopefully this won't be a reoccurring problem for Hanley but it bears watching over the next few years. Now, I'm not a medical doctor and I don't even play one on TV but there is no way that if it keeps happening that it can't be hard on the tendons.

If Fishfan24 has some free time, which he doesn't, maybe he can enlighten us on the subject.

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Comments

Shoulder Injuries

Shoulder injuries are notoriously complex and have a high rate of reccurence. I hate shoulder injuries. This is mainly because the shoulder is one of the craiest joints in the body, held by a small ligament, weak capsule, and 4 separate muscles, with little to no body attachment of its own. Also, it has what's called a high degree of instability.

All this is neccesary to give the joint the incredible mobility that it has.

The problem is, most shoulder sprains (sprain is another word for small tear in ligamentous tissue), if they become severe, will eventually requrie shoulder surgery to shorten the rotator cuff muscles.

Given that he's had more then one dislocation, it's my guess he'll have to have surgery eventually. Luckily he's not a picther, but he is a SS, and the motion of throwing a baseball is the absolute worst possible position to put an arm into for a person who is prone to anterior dislcotions of the shoulder.

Short version: he'll be OK for now, but given his occupation, he will most likely eventually need surgery, which will probably be successful (given the he'll probably have a great surgeon and rehab program.

Hope that wasn't too confusing.

Baseball > Med School

by fishfan24 on May 23, 2006 3:39 AM EDT reply actions