The Mark Mulder Project

by victim of the sixties on Oct 22, 2008 8:50 PM EDT Comment 12 comments

I have an idea for Mark Mulder. To put it simply, reinvent yourself as a left handed bullpen specialist.

From what I have observed during his brief appearances this season, is that he usually could retire the first one or two hitters he faced. And he looked pretty good doing it. It was usually the third hitter where he fell apart, or more accurately finishing off an inning. I see this as screaming psychological problem. I think Mulder has been somewhat mistreated by his doctors, and possibly the team.

Let me explain what I mean by mistreated. Mark, his doctors and the team kept insisting that his problem was physical. And they have all been continually puzzled. It seems no one had the observation skills or else the balls to address the psychological issue.

Granted, his arm slot was never the same as in his hey day, but he is not the first pitcher to find himself in this predicament. Others have been able to find an arm position that enables them to pitch again. It seems that Mulder is hung up on exactly recreating his old motion. To me, that is a fool's folly. When you cut open tissue and it heals, it rarely if ever heals exactly as it was before. It has been changed. So it doesn't make sense to buy into Mulder's quest. Why hasn't the team explained this to him? His velocity did not return to what it once was. He didn't have the same bite on his breaking stuff. So what? When he pitched, he didn't look all that bad before he realized it. Then he seemed to panic.

So the Mulder project is to sign him to a minor league contract and place him in A league ball. And instruct him to prepare himself to face one left handed hitter. That's it. This would take the pressure off him worrying about pitching with too many expectations. As well as give him time to rebuild his career.

After all, his value is near zero. He owes this organization something. And money is no object for him, he has plenty. Something like this may be his only chance to salvage a career. And the team benefits by a very low cost minor leaguer with a tremendous potential upside. And just maybe with a small investment a decent return on money already spent. Normally I would never advocate throwing good money after bad, but this may just be the possible exception. And I think Mulder has a better chance to be a lefty specialist than Izzy has at becoming a closer again.

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From what I have observed and heard, I think Mark Mulder suffered a supraspinatus tear.

In order to repair this type of injury a surgeon has to pull the sheared ends of the muscle back together and reattach them, forever changing the anatomy of the player’s shoulder. The surgeon also debrides and reshapes the area along which the muscle runs, usually grinding down the rough underside of the acromion process, further altering the anatomy of the shoulder capsule.

While it’s possible that he could pitch again after this manner of injury, it’s extremely unlikely. Mark Mulder was used while injured in this way, and he’s repeatedly been rushed back from this surgery. It takes an extremely long time for this muscle and its associated connective tissues to heal completely, and he has probably never fully recovered from his original injury. Even in the case of a complete recovery his mechanics would be forever altered because of the atrophy during the required healing period. Mark Mulder is absolutely not a player I’d be willing to bet on.

Space.

It's a problem we face.

So we never go anywhere.

We just stay in one place.

by hazel on Oct 22, 2008 9:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

So basically

…if your hypothesis is correct, Mulder’s shoulder is a mess. A bird’s nest may be an adequate visual representation…or am I missing something?

"Your Holiness, I'm Joseph Medwick. I, too, used to be a Cardinal."-Joe Medwick, to Pope Pius XII.

by redbirdnation8206 on Oct 23, 2008 1:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well most pitchers' shoulders look like bird nests.

Mulder’s shoulder is like a bird’s nest that got ripped in half and then sewn back together.

Try roosting in that.

Space.

It's a problem we face.

So we never go anywhere.

We just stay in one place.

by hazel on Oct 23, 2008 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

As Good An Idea As Any

IF Mulder is to resurrect his career, it would be as a lefty specialist. Mulder looked terrible in his rehab outings in Memphis. Things don’t look good for Mulder now.

In basketball, Bill Walton was able to be a good backup center for the Celtics behind Robert Parish in the mid-80’s. This was after Walton had injury after injury after injury. He was able to do a good job for the Celtics with limited minutes before Big Red got promptly injured yet again in 1986.

Maybe, Mulder can make a comeback. He’s got an uphill battle ahead of him.

"The big possum walks late." - Harry Caray

by memphiscub on Oct 23, 2008 10:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I hear he is a pretty good

Those Pilgrims ain't lookin' so proud now...

by giveml on Oct 28, 2008 1:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

golfer

Those Pilgrims ain't lookin' so proud now...

by giveml on Oct 28, 2008 1:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the problem with the shoulder

is flexibility. If you take a look at the animations on Paletta’s website, basically what you do for a labral tear is to pull the labrum over the bone and staple/suture it down. When it heals, it’s shorter than it was and stiff. Mulder has complained about this, saying he felt a tug on his neck when he tried to throw the ball after the first surgery. Perhaps after a year off and an intensive stretching regimen he can throw again. The guy is a natural athlete. I wouldn’t rule out a return to form. It would be nice to buy a ticket to put the Cardinals first in line for his services if this occurs. I just think someone else will take a flyer on him first.

by Red in Chicago on Oct 23, 2008 11:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He's done.

He can apply his natural athletic ability to golf.

by spants on Oct 23, 2008 1:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Comback?

In the video I’ve seen of video, he looks terrible. Incredibly disjointed. It’s almost Frankenstein-ish as if his arm was only partially attached to his body (which is unfortunately kind of true).

Any organization that gives Mark Mulder ANY guaranteed money is the epitome of foolish.

The same thing goes for Mark Prior.

by thepainguy on Oct 23, 2008 3:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs