Image
GIRD
Stretching: The Truth
I'm planning on a series of articles to update our readers on some of the current concepts in pitcher related injuries and diagnoses that most fans have not heard much about.
We've all had our fill of reading about pitchers with rotator cuff and glenoid labrum tears. There are some interesting trends in sportsmedicine that have lead to changes in exercise programs throughout the majors and minors in an attempt to protect pitchers from a cascade of preventable injuries most fans don't know about.
Diagnoses such as:
•GIRD: (Glenohumeral Internal Rotation Deficit...not to be confused with the stomach malady also known as GERD which Cubs fans get from watching too many losses). Pitching (both cocking phase and deceleration phase) leading to a tight or thickened posterior shoulder capsular ligament plus a loose anterior capsule and loss of internal rotation of the shoulder. Extra external rotation of the shoulder develops at the expense of internal rotation.
•Scapular Dyskinesia: Shoulder blade weakness with altered kinematics.
•Internal Impingement: Thought to be related to posterior shoulder contracture from GIRD with subsequent instability of the shoulder as the humeral head (ball of the shoulder joint) which shifts back/posteriorly and upward/superiorly). This is a different entity from subacromial or rotator cuff impingement which is more common and typically occurs from friction outside the shoulder joint.
...and finally connecting the dots, sorting out how the the injured or weakened shoulder (scapula) leads to severe strain on the elbow and tearing of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament (aka the Tommy John injury).
My attention to this topic started last summer, when I heard a remarkable interview on XM radio with renown Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Craig D. Morgan with hosts Jim Memolo and Rob Dibble. The focus of the interview was Stephen Strasburg's shoulder tightness and the subsequent ulnar collateral ligament elbow injury that lead to "Tommy John" reconstruction of that ligament last summer. Dr. Morgan said that he had predicted elbow problems in Strasburg by watching the way he held his shoulder.
More on how the arm bone is connected to the...after the jump.
- Read more about Stretching: The Truth
- 112 comments
- Log in or register to post comments
Recent comments
Childersb3 (view)
Mastrobuoni can't come back, yet
Wisdom does have an option left. He can hide in Iowa if Jed DFA's someone else
Does Brennan Davis get shown the door? I know it's too early for that, but these injuries are crunching the roster of a 12-7 team playoff demands and BDavis isn't going to help anytime soon.
Someone has to go to add Peralta. And Canario isn't going to get to play everyday regardless of RHers or LHers. Neither is Tauchman. Also don't see PCA getting a chance over Peralta.
If Jed does those moves:
4 OF: Belli, Peralta, Canny, Tauch
2 C: Gomes and Amaya
2 DH: Cooper and Mervis
5 INF: Busch, Nico, Dansby, Morel, Madrigal
Little short on OF depth but two injuries will do that
Arizona Phil (view)
I have had the pleasure of watching some of the young A's pitchers lately (first Joe Boyle the last day of Minor League Spring Training in March, and more recently Luis Morales last week and Steven Echavarria yesterday at Extended Spring Training), and it reminds me of the Miami Marlins a couple of years ago. A really nice collection of young pitchers. It will be interesting to see what the A's will get for two years of ex-Cub Paul Blackburn at the Trade Deadline (there should be a robust market for Blackburn).
Childersb3 (view)
Good deal
MB needs some talent infusion!
Arizona Phil (view)
Childersb3: Very possible. Suriel, too.
Arizona Phil (view)
DJL: if a pitcher is recalled to be the 27th man for a doubleheader and then is optioned back to the minors the next day, the 15-day "clock" does NOT reset. The one day call-up for the doubleheader is treated like it never happened with respect to a pitcher having to spend at least 15 days on optional assignment before he can be recalled.
Arizona Phil (view)
Probably the only reason David Peralta is still in the organization (he is at AAA Iowa) is to be available in case anything bad were to happen to Ian Happ (which it just did). So if Happ needs to go on the IL, the Cubs can select Peralta to play LF, DFA Wisdom (and hope he and what remains of his $2.725M salary gets claimed off waivers), and recall Mervis to platoon at DH with Cooper (with Canario / Tauchman sharing RF), at least until Suzuki and Happ are back...
crunch (view)
i'd just like to take a moment to express to the world i'm still pissed willson contreras is not a cub when the pricetag was 5/87m (17.5m/yr).
it would be nice to have a legacy-type player to stick around, especially one with his leadership and the respect he gets from his peers. cubs fans deserved more than 1 season of contreras + morel...that was gold.
crunch (view)
happ, right hamstring tightness, day-to-day (hopefully 0 days).
he will be reevaluated tomorrow.
Childersb3 (view)
I guess I'm not looking for that type of AB
Just a difference of opinion
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
I don’t see Tauchman as a weak link in any position. He simply adds his value in a different way.
I don’t know that we gain much by putting him in the outfield - Happ, Bellinger and Suzuki and Tauchman all field their positions well. If you’re looking for Taucnman’s kind of AB in a particular game I don’t see why it can’t come from DH.