6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: Will Carroll UTK Notes

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Thursday, August 25, 2005

Will Carroll UTK Notes

From today's UTK:

[A's starter Rich] Harden is hurting again with some type of indeterminate core muscle problem. While trainer Larry Davis says that it’s not the oblique again, he’s not saying what it is. Harden is scheduled to pitch Saturday, though they also made sure that Juan Cruz was available if necessary, lifting him early from a Triple-A start. There is also rampant speculation that Daric Barton may be called up as soon as this week to help the A’s offense.
The Padres have been patching together the back end of their rotation for much of the season. Pedro Astacio, little more than patchwork himself at this stage in his career, is dealing with a sore and weary shoulder, pushing his start back by a day. Instead, the Padres will use Adam Eaton on Friday. Eaton returns from a successful rehab stint in Triple-A where he was able to re-discover his breaking ball and overcome the finger problem that was limiting him. The problem is not cured, just dealt with for now, so off-season surgery remains a possibility. Astacio is expected to start Saturday, though Chan Ho Park is also a possibility if Astacio’s shoulder doesn’t respond to the extra rest.
Let’s see--they’ve tried holy water, sacrificing a live chicken, and Marie Laveau. I’m not sure what the next step for curse removal is for the Dodgers. Milton Bradley is headed for surgery on a near-full thickness tear of his patellar tendon and damage to his ACL, a significant injury that will end his season and likely impact him in 2006 as well. Bradley hurt his knee Monday on an awkward baserunning play, though this doesn’t seem like an injury that just happened; it’s more the type of thing where the hyperextension was the straw that broke the camel’s knee. Was Bradley injured on his “you didn’t score from second!” play? That’s an interesting question. The other question is, could Bradley continue to play with this injury. Yes, he could, especially with bracing, though much of that would be determined by pain tolerance, risk tolerance, and unfortunately the perception of intolerance. Whether he will or not should be determined in the next couple days.
More on this from Jon, who points out a post by the Broken Cowboy on Bradley. The Daily News now openly speculates that Bradley may not return in a Dodger uniform next year, as his contract is up, his production hasn't been what the Dodgers had hoped for, the injury bug has bitten him hard this year, and yes, he's a public relations concern. As does Jon, I hope Bradley returns.
The Angels weren’t surprised to hear that the specialist Dallas McPherson saw about his hip condition concurred with previous doctors, recommending surgery. Angels sources say that as early as August 1, the Angels front office had begun planning for life without McPherson down the stretch. They may have some interest in Mark Bellhorn. McPherson will now have surgery before the end of the season rather than trying to come back and DH in September. The Angels also saw the first rehab outing for Kelvim Escobar. It was short but successful, with Escobar’s elbow showing no ill effects. He struck out four in his 1 2/3 innings. He’ll have two more starts in the minors, building up stamina, before giving the Angels a boost in mid-September. There’s some discussion of using Escobar in the bullpen on his return.