Pittsburgh Pirates Director of Sports Medicine Todd Tomczyk gave some updates to the local media on players who are out with injuries on Tuesday afternoon. Here’s a rundown.
JT Brubaker is going to get a second opinion regarding his elbow injury. That is being done today, so we should know more on him soon. He has been on the injured list since Opening Day.
Mike Burrows left his start last week after 1.2 innings with with a forearm injury. Ben Cherington gave up update on Sunday. The report today is that it’s a forearm injury, which includes a ligament injury. He is also receiving a second opinion, so we will find out more on this at a later date.
Some #Pirates injury updates (1/2):
Oneil Cruz was discharged from Allegheny General Hospital.
JT Brubaker is seeking a second opinion.
Mike Burrows sustained an injury to the forearm and ligament itself. He's seeking a second opinion, too.
— Justice delos Santos (@justdelossantos) April 11, 2023
Burrows was placed on the injured list for Indianapolis today. They also placed left-handed pitcher Caleb Smith on the 7-day injured list, so they are down two starters.
As of right now, they have only activated infielder Josh Bissonette, though he’s replacing Mark Mathias on the active roster. The Pirates have assigned pitcher Eli Villalobos to Indianapolis, though he’s a reliever.
The update on Jared Triolo is that he had his cast removed two weeks after hamate surgery. He is with Indianapolis beginning his rehab work to get back into game shape.
Lonnie White Jr. is projected to miss 7-9 weeks after having surgery on his thumb according to the update today. That was the initial timeline for returning when it was first reported two weeks ago.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
All injured players get well soon and get back to doing what you love.
Sounds like TJ for both Brubaker and Burrows. Big blow to our SP depth 🙁
Any idea on a timeline for Triolo or typical timeframe for hamate surgery? I remember reading it typically saps your power for an entire year following surgery, but HR power isn’t Triolo’s thing anyways
Man, this organization cannot catch a break.
Mike Burrows report has me feeling very, very scared. 😬🫣
Oven mitts for all position players!
I’m still hopeful for Burrows as none said torn ligament. Maybe it heals over time? 🙁
Kyle Nicolas to AAA? Just proposing a potential move… not reporting anything I heard with all my connections (sarcasm intended).
Is not connection, is sources!
Has a second opinion ever led to a pitcher avoiding surgery? It seems like every time I’ve heard about a pitcher getting a second opinion, it’s followed within days by an announcement that the pitcher is having (or has had) surgery. Maybe there are examples of such, I just can’t think of any.
David Price avoided TJ when he got a second opinion. His second opinion was from Dr. Andrews. It does not happen a lot, but it does happen.
Rare, but it happens. Marte injured his hand 10 years ago, the team doctor recommended surgery, he got a second opinion and decided not to get the surgery. He was back in about 1/2 the time it would have taken him to heal from going under the knife. David Price got a second opinion on his elbow in March and avoided TJS. He only pitched 75 innings that year but 75 > 0. Also several cases where the second opinion is more pessimistic than the first (Lindor’s ankle, for instance) – the team tells the player he’s healthy when he just doesn’t feel right.
But the overwhelming majority of times the second opinion confirms the first.
I think Tanaka years ago on the Yankees avoided. TJ. There aren’t many examples, but they are out there.