Baseball Guru
02-15-2003, 01:24 PM
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ESPN.com news services
PEORIA, Ariz. -- The San Diego Padres are preparing for the possibility that closer Trevor Hoffman could miss the entire 2003 season with a shoulder injury.
Hoffman had his right shoulder examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum on Friday in Tempe, and will get a second opinion from Padres team doctor Jan Fronek on Saturday. Results from an MRI and other tests should be known Saturday as well, according to manager Bruce Bochy and general manager Kevin Towers.
The Padres fear that Hoffman may need invasive surgery, which would sideline the 10-year veteran for the entire season. The surgery would involve shaving the clavicle near the A/C joint.
Another option would be to continue rehabilitation on the shoulder.
"We'll sit down -- Fronek, Bochy and the trainers -- and have Yocum available on the phone," Towers told MLB.com. "We'll have all the information in front of us and we should know where we're going by tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon."
Jim Daniel, the Padres' assistant trainer, said he knew of only one pitcher, Jaret Wright, who recovered from similar surgery to pitch again in the majors. Wright, who underwent numerous surgeries on his right shoulder in 2000 and 2001, has not pitched much the last couple of seasons. He is eight years younger than Hoffman, who is 35.
"One option is to continue doing what we've been doing," Daniel told MLB.com. "But there's a cutoff period even on that where we'd have to make a decision for him to be able to come back next year. And that's rapidly approaching. In a worst-case scenario, for him to even be able to pitch (in 2004) he'd have to have that surgery pretty soon. But that's the last resort."
Hoffman, who has 352 career saves, had arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 16 to clean up debris in his sore shoulder.
Hoffman hasn't thrown since he was shut down late last season "He should be a lot further along right now than where he is," Daniel said.
"I don't feel any better than I did (in December)," Hoffman said Thursday. "Surgery, I think, is speculative at this point in time. I'm still status quo. There's still pain, and I'm still concerned about the overall status of my shoulder. But I haven't made any decisions one way or another yet."
ESPN.com news services
PEORIA, Ariz. -- The San Diego Padres are preparing for the possibility that closer Trevor Hoffman could miss the entire 2003 season with a shoulder injury.
Hoffman had his right shoulder examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum on Friday in Tempe, and will get a second opinion from Padres team doctor Jan Fronek on Saturday. Results from an MRI and other tests should be known Saturday as well, according to manager Bruce Bochy and general manager Kevin Towers.
The Padres fear that Hoffman may need invasive surgery, which would sideline the 10-year veteran for the entire season. The surgery would involve shaving the clavicle near the A/C joint.
Another option would be to continue rehabilitation on the shoulder.
"We'll sit down -- Fronek, Bochy and the trainers -- and have Yocum available on the phone," Towers told MLB.com. "We'll have all the information in front of us and we should know where we're going by tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon."
Jim Daniel, the Padres' assistant trainer, said he knew of only one pitcher, Jaret Wright, who recovered from similar surgery to pitch again in the majors. Wright, who underwent numerous surgeries on his right shoulder in 2000 and 2001, has not pitched much the last couple of seasons. He is eight years younger than Hoffman, who is 35.
"One option is to continue doing what we've been doing," Daniel told MLB.com. "But there's a cutoff period even on that where we'd have to make a decision for him to be able to come back next year. And that's rapidly approaching. In a worst-case scenario, for him to even be able to pitch (in 2004) he'd have to have that surgery pretty soon. But that's the last resort."
Hoffman, who has 352 career saves, had arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 16 to clean up debris in his sore shoulder.
Hoffman hasn't thrown since he was shut down late last season "He should be a lot further along right now than where he is," Daniel said.
"I don't feel any better than I did (in December)," Hoffman said Thursday. "Surgery, I think, is speculative at this point in time. I'm still status quo. There's still pain, and I'm still concerned about the overall status of my shoulder. But I haven't made any decisions one way or another yet."