Exhale, Birdland!
That awful news that surfaced last night regarding Matt Wieters taking a trip to see Dr. James Andrews ended up being no so awful, after all.
Though Wieters has been dealing with pain in his forearm that resulted in a consultation with the one doctor whose name fans of all teams in all sports hate to hear, it looks like the worst-case scenario is not the reality.
That worst-case scenario, of course, was that Wieters would need Tommy John Surgery, which would have ended his 2014 campaign that has started off so well.
Here’s the good news we all had our fingers crossed for, per The Sun’s Dan Connolly:
Renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews has reviewed the MRI of Matt Wieters’ right elbow, and the Orioles catcher is not considered a candidate for surgery, according to an industry source.
Although he may not catch for several more days, he likely can continue serving as the club’s designated hitter and should be able to avoid a stint on the disabled list — so long as he can continue to swing a bat without discomfort.
There is no set timetable on when he will return behind the plate, but it doesn’t seem like the wait will be protracted, a source said.
PHEWWWWWWW.
That elicits an even bigger “phew” than when Tommy Hunter finally gets the last out of another nail-biting save (seriously, how about a clean inning there, Big Game?) and all is well again with baseball in Baltimore.
It was a bit surreal last night – here was Twitter, all abuzz with the possibility that Matt Wieters’ season was about to be declared “over” and right there in Tampa lacing singles up the middle is Mr. Wieters himself. Of course, had there been UCL damage, it may not have hampered his ability to swing the bat, which is why he was able to serve as the DH last night – and may be able to continue doing so going forward.
Wieters is scheduled to meet with reporters later today at Tropicana Field. As long as the lights don’t go out.
As for the Birds, unfortunately having Wieters serve as the full-time DH (which they kind of have to do, the way he’s been hitting) pushes Nelson Cruz to the outfield every day. That’s a double defensive downgrade right there, at least for a few days.
Still, this is no time to complain, considering how we were all feeling this morning, waiting for the bad news to come.
Rejoice in the good news. Heal up quick, Matt.
photo: Craig Landefeld
