Brian Walton’s weekly piece at the Globe Democrat. This week is about position players to watch. I think the Matt Adams bandwagon has left the station a bit early.
Kary Booher, who broke the Scott Bittle surgery news, has an update.
Fortunately for him, only a damaged joint capsule was in need of repair, not the rotator cuff or labrum that have wrecked entire careers, Bittle explained Friday. But…
“It was a pretty big disappointment,” Bittle said in a phone interview. “But there’s nothing I can do about it now, other than to move forward.”
Kevin Goldstein wrote about Shelby Miller last Thursday. Seems like Goldstein caught the wild version of Miller last night at the QC game. Nothing to really worry about though.
Keith Law has a top 100 up for the 2010 draft. He breaks it down by position as well.
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Henley, Jones, and Stock are not off to great starts with the bats. At least Descalso and Adams have begun well.
Booher’s article has to be the most depressingly written article I’ve read in a while. By his tone, you’d think that Bittle was dead or that the world was shortly coming to an end. He writes with no optimism about the situation, acting as though Bittle’s once promising career is officially over. Based on the findings of the surgery, we should all be optimistic in his chances at a full recovery. Yeah, he misses a year but it looks like he has a good chance at a comeback. I’m excited that it wasn’t his labrum. Hopefully he can begin a rehab program sooner than later and start building back arm strength over the off season.
Bittle has had a sore shoulder for years. With luck the operation will give him a fresh chance.
I think a lack of optimism is just honest reporting. I truly hope for the best for every young kid because 1.) they are young kids and have their whole future in front of them, and 2.) I am a diehard cards fan and will hope for anything that could help our team in the future. That being said, shoulder injuries see to be rather damning to pitchers, and Scott Bittle didn’t exactly enter the organization with a clean bill of health. I hope Bittle can overcome these injury problems, but it is not promising, and should be reported likewise.
@Arknepp: Agreed. I appreciate the fact that Luhnow didn’t try to hose us down with liquid sunshine, and I appreciate the fact that Booher, an honest reporter, didn’t try to sweeten it up.
Most of all, I like the risk the Cards took with that pick. Pitchers do sometimes make complete recoveries from shoulder injuries; Carp is exhibit A. If Bittle comes back with his best stuff, it’s a brilliant pick. If he doesn’t, it’s only $75,000 lost (plus opportunity cost, of course). I think it was a worthwhile gamble — 10th-round money for potential first-round talent.
The only downside is the round we took Bittle in could have found a another player but if it works out it’s a great pick. People say he probably didn’t even need a full year in the minors with the cutter than he has almost instant set-up man.
I like the Bittle pick given the upside and the cheap signing bonus. Everyone knew he was hurt. Good news, not a rotator cuff or labrum. Losing a year is a lesser issue for a setup reliever as opposed to a starter or position player. These guys have long careers. I look forward to seeing what young Mr. Bittle can do in 2011.
When did Kary Booher go back to the News Leader?
@Liam: He returned just before the season started. Matt Baker left after covering the team for most of last year and then Erin Bolen filled in on an interim basis before Booher’s return.
And it looks like Matt Baker’s at the Tulsa World, now. The News-Leader’s been fortunate to have such good beat writers.