« 2008 AL Preview: Top Ten Prospects, Toronto Blue Jays | Home | 2008 AL Preview: Top Ten Prospects, New York Yankees »
Schilling Has Cortisone Shot As Details On His Injury, Contract Are Released
By Administrator | February 10, 2008
Curt Schilling received a cortisone shot in his right shoulder yesterday.
It was the first step of the conservative treatment plan mapped out by the Red Sox medical staff (which believes that the surgery recommended by Dr. Craig Morgan, who operated on the pitcher’s shoulder in 1995 and 1999, would likely end his season and career).
——————————————-
Dr. Morgan was interviewed about Schilling’s injury and treatment options on WEEI (Dennis and Callahan) yesterday morning. He confirmed that he has a difference of opinion with the Red Sox on Schilling’s shoulder injury… about the diagnosis, course of treatment and prognosis for a return to action.
Morgan said he believes that having surgery NOW gives Schilling the best chance to get back on the mound before the end of the season. Asked when Schilling might be able to pitch again if he doesn’t have surgery, Morgan said: “Never. And that’s my opinion”.
He elaborated: “This is a progression of disease that’s been going on silently probably for several years, became symptomatic last year, and now has progressed… When the tendon becomes irreversibly diseased, which my opinion is that it is now, the fibers are bundles within the single tendon, can start to separate longitudinally. It isn’t torn cross-wise, it separates into these bands of spaghetti would be a good term to have a layman understand it. And once you see that, which is how it appears on his recent MRI, then really conservative measures will not resolve the pain. And without resolving the pain by conservative measures, I see no shot at being able to have him become pain free and strengthening of the shoulder muscles — with or without a cortisone shot. I don’t think this guy will even be able to exercise, to be able to find out whether that approach is successful in any way, shape, or form. And the real issue here is if you blow six or eight weeks, trying that to see, and it’s unsuccessful, then if you try to pull the trigger on surgery, you’ve blown six to eight weeks, and then the season may be gone”.
————————————
It has come to light that the Sox knew Schilling’s shoulder is damaged and that they elected to re-sign him anyway… that team medical director Thomas Gill had raised red flags about re-signing him after the team performed its physical (prior to sining the contract) back in November.
Sources told the Boston Globe that Gill recommended the Sox not sign Schilling, but that the club decided to take a chance. The Globe reported that “(m)anagement was reportedly aware that Schilling’s shoulder likely would not hold up to the stress of a full season and most likely would require time on the disabled list. For that reason, they initially proposed to Schilling that he sign a Roger Clemens-type contract, one that would have required him to pitch no more than a half-season… but Schilling refused to go along with that plan, which led the Sox to offer him an $8 million deal, considerably less than the $13 million he made in 2007. They assumed that at best, he’d give them about 120 innings and would not attain the performance incentives included in the deal, and in that light, $8 million was money well spent”.
But now Schilling has experienced severe shoulder pain and the plan has unraveled.
Topics: Sox Front Office, Sox Players |
