Carp sent home for MRI

by cardsfaninmass on Apr 8, 2007 1:54 PM EDT

Apparently, his elbow 'flared up' last night after his bullpen. I knew the rosy outlook on him the last few days was a total farce.

Hawksworth apparently set to make the start on tuesday, which will be - if nothing else - interesting. Of course, all the facinating young arm starts in the world won't save our season if Carp is out.

http://www.stltoday.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=447023

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wow

that sucks about carp, but good to here about hawksworth coming up. i would assume someone like narveson would or possibly worrell. gosh wilson just got thrown out on a suicide squeeze gosh. i think we should suspend the suicide squeeze for a while, gosh.

by jedmonds15 on Apr 8, 2007 3:08 PM EDT reply actions

Worrell...

If Thompson or Franklin moved into the rotation, I would think someone like Jimenez, Dove or Falkenborg would replace him in the pen.

by mateodh on Apr 8, 2007 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Worrell has to be way down the list

For him to be called up they'd have to move somebody from the pen to the rotation, and he's probably behind Dove, Jiminez, Falkenborg, and maybe Sillman and Cavazos as RH relief options.

by CardFaninVA on Apr 8, 2007 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I wondered

when this would happen. The decision to not get an MRI earlier on their ace with a history of serious arm trouble struck me as sort of a 'fingers in ears, eyes closed, sing la-la-la' type move that isn't improving my confidence in the medical staff's skills.

by Elle on Apr 8, 2007 4:15 PM EDT reply actions

Uh-oh...

I do not like this turn of events. And let's just leave it at that. We all know what the ramifications are if Carp is out for any measurable length of time.

Sparks of Dementia Cards, A's, and Rockies coverage by an amateur if very enthusiastic blogmistress, myself.

by Scarlet the Cardinal on Apr 8, 2007 4:16 PM EDT reply actions

Yikes!

Looks like all the eggs go in the Wells/Wainwright basket. If they stay consistently above average and Reyes/Looper can stay near average, the team oughtta be able to at least tread water. And maybe Hawk will rise to the bait and at least be average too. I don't like this one bit, but it's really the only hope if Carp is out for awhile--and it's looking more like that will be the case. Ug. At least JEd and Scotty and Eck are all looking healthy--for the moment.

by rockin redbird on Apr 8, 2007 5:34 PM EDT reply actions

Why didn't the medical team do this

a week ago? He should have had an MRI from the start. I'm not impressed with the concept of having him throwing again and then seeing if things go bad -- why not test first, see if there's an injury rather than risk exacerbating a problem that may already have been detectable?!?!?!?!

John Rodriguez for Right Field

by azruavatar on Apr 8, 2007 6:15 PM EDT reply actions

Indeed

It's inexplicable to me that they decided against an MRI for some reason last week. It now seems utterly negligent to have done so. We need a new medical team, STAT.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

by Mr Clean on Apr 9, 2007 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Per Joe Strauss:

"Posterior inflammation often suggests a problem with bone spurs or bone chips that can be removed with arthroscopic surgery. Pain and swelling to the inside of the elbow can indicate a ligament tear, necessitating far more extensive surgery. The club also is encouraged that Carpenter felt no discomfort during his recent throwing sessions."

If you guys read my post referencing Will Carroll's article, bone chips were what he and I both suspected before he threw again on Saturday.

The posterior inflammation is probably why they didn't go ahead and do the MRI right away - I don't see a problem with how they handled it. It's not like Carp's having pain when he throws.

It's likely that he'll have his elbow scoped out and he'll be shelved for 4-6 weeks, with no long-term effects. I'd rather this happen in April rather than in September.

by silent_bob on Apr 9, 2007 8:17 AM EDT reply actions

Given an MRI, they still should have seen

the chips regardless of inflammation. They would have stood out like small dark spots amid all the soft tissue.

And my issue is that, although they got the diagnosis right, they just spend 63M in the offseason on Carp. What if it had been a UCL issue? What it if had been something else that was then exacerbated by them trying to, essentially, recreate the pain?

If they can't afford an MRI on our proverbial ace pitcher then that is truly sad. . . I'm not a fan of russian roulette.

John Rodriguez for Right Field

by azruavatar on Apr 9, 2007 8:22 AM EDT up reply actions