Janssen's season likely over as well..

by Quinton on Mar 12, 2008 10:58 AM EDT in Toronto Blue Jays News

According to the Fan 590 Radio station in Toronto, the Blue Jays relief pitcher has a torn labrum in his right shoulder and will be out for the entire 2008 season.

Janssen had a stellar 2007 season, posting a 2.35 ERA in 72 innings pitched.

This spring, the Jays were planning on trying Janssen out as a starting pitcher. He was scratched from a simulated game on Tuesday due to soreness in his right shoulder.

With Gustavo Chacin not ready to open the season in the starting rotation, Jesse Litsch looks to have a hold on the fifth starter's job. Tough news to swallow this week for Jays fans, after learning Chacin's carrer could be over.

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Unbelievable. The torn labrum is one of, if not the, hardest injury to overcome for a pitcher. It's what ended Mike Sirotka's (a.k.a. everyone's favourite ex-Blue Jay) career. It's not impossible to come back from, as Gil Meche has shown, but he's an exception. Will Carroll wrote an article about it for Slate Magazine back in 2004. It's possible that the potential for a full recovery has improved since then, but I'd guess the outlook is still grim.

by mark w on Mar 12, 2008 12:02 PM EDT reply actions

I thought you could only diagnose a torn labrum

with exploratory surgery. Did they figure out how to identify it with an MRI?

"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"

by Torgen on Mar 12, 2008 1:49 PM EDT reply actions

Re:

From Carroll's article:

"Baseball teams often consult with multiple orthopedists and radiologists in an attempt to reach a consensus. One team's policy is to show an MRI to five doctors--majority diagnosis rules. The only way to know for sure that your pitcher has a torn labrum is to conduct exploratory surgery."

So they can reach a diagnosis based on an MRI alone, but exploratory surgery gives the most reliable results.

by mark w on Mar 12, 2008 2:09 PM EDT up reply actions