Slowey to have season-ending surgery
Posted on July 27th, 2009 – 4:21 PMBy Joe Christensen
Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey said today that he he will have surgery on his right wrist, and is likely done for the season.
Slowey, 25, is 10-3 with a 4.86 ERA this season and has been on the disabled list since July 4. He has been trying to rehab the injury without surgery but said he talked to the team’s medical staff about season-ending surgery today.
Slowey plans to go to Baltimore and have a specialist, Dr. Thomas Graham, perform the surgery. Slowey said the recovery time is two to four months.
“It’s difficult,” Slowey said. “I’ll continue to be here and hang out with the guys and do everything I can to get back as soon as possible. I think the most important thing for me is to get ready for next year now, to get this done and to prepare for being able to be part of the team as soon as possible.”
The injury means Anthony Swarzak will remain in the Twins rotation along with Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins. Beyond that, the Twins top starting pitching options are in their bullpen, in R.A. Dickey, Bobby Keppel and Brian Duensing.
Slowey originally sustained the injury last September against the White Sox, when he was hit in the wrist with a line drive from Juan Uribe. He saw Dr. Graham at the time and received a cortisone shot.
Slowey said the injury didn’t bother him early this season, when he emerged as an All-Star candidate, but did affect him in his final few starts before going on the DL. Slowey had hoped to begin a minor-league rehab stint with Class AAA Rochester but felt pain again in a throwing session Friday.
“I got out to 90 feet, and just the combination of the pain and the fact I couldn’t make the ball do what I wanted to do, even in throwing and playing catch,” he said. “Our medical team and [pitching coach Rick Anderson] and [manager Ron Gardenhire] have been very adamant throughout that my health is of the utmost concern.
“At no point did they want me to be out there taking pain killers to throw and trying to just gut it out because that’s not going to help me or the team. They’ve done a great job, and as far as Andy and Gardy are concerned, they’ve treated me as if I was their kid, and that’s something I really appreciate.”
76 Responses to "Slowey to have season-ending surgery"
Noooooo!!!!!
Are we still buyers or did we just become sellers?
So for those more well read on the prospects, what would it take to get Holliday from Toronto, could it be done without Valencia or Hicks?
This is just like a Bill Smith trade.
If you want to keep Mauer you better be Buyers.
To quote Homer…..DOH!!
oh snap
thry said this surgery should have a 3-5 week recovery period, and that it’s possible for Slowey be back in Sept.
Who knows. Meanwhile the Tigers are in TX and it’s only 77 degrees there. 80% chance of rain.
No surprise really after Kevin couldn’t play catch the other day, according to reports.
Man, I hope he shake off this wrist injury. He is a really good pitcher. He’s like a surgeon out there, reminisicient of the way a Greg Maddux pitches.
Looking forward to next year when Slowey and Neshek will be coming back. Bonser — maybe he’ll also mature into the solid, reliable pitcher that he can be. I hope so.
Yeah, lots of hope for NEXT year.
Getting Sanchez is for next year too. But it would give a glimmer of hope for this year.
Who knows, maybe Baker and Liriano will still come around.
i wouldn’t count on anything from neshek ever again.
Well that sucks. The Twins only remember how to score runs on days he pitches….
This will give the Twins one more lame excuse to do NOTHING before the trade deadline, as in;
“Well, when Slowey went down near the deadline, it changed everything, and we were too late to react”…
Every team that has talked to Toronto about Halladay has found out the Jays want virtually every legitimate prospect in their system. Forget Halladay.
I really don’t think even a Washburn-type would be brought in at this point.
Think Snell (Bucs) or Duchscherer (A’s but rehabbing). Not a lot to get excited about. Chances are, the guys here now are going to have to figure things out on their own.
awesome.. our #1 starter gone for the season.. our next best starter blacky has struggled his last 2 starts.. perkins and liriano look like absolute crap and Baker has looked better but still lost
add SP to the list of many needs
Regarding Slowey: Injuries like this is the reason it is so important to have loads of starting pitching depth.
Regarding Cabrera/Sanchez: I would consider either a downgrade over what the Twins now have.
To get any decent return the Twins have to deal Morneau, Mauer, Nathan, Kubel or Span.
The first three have become the teams whiners. Deal all three. The Twins could get a couple good players for each. That would really help this team.
The Twins are destined to repeat the Santana mistake if they continue to hold onto Mauer. At the end of the season they will be in the same situation as they were with Santana.
Mauer has become far too valuable to be a Minnesota Twin for very long. They should deal him for a couple good players before it’s too late.
As long as Liriano and Perkins can get thier heads out of thier whatever body crevice they’re jammed in this is painful but not devastating. It just shows why Swarzak is valuable. I wouldn’t mind throwing Oakland a prospect for Ducherer or adding a bit to the Cabrera package to have him included, but he’s no sure thing. Looking at a guy like Paul Byrd is an option too.
Bunting, that is completely ridiculous on so many fronts I’ll just leave it at that.
JC, “Chances are, the guys here now are going to have to figure things out on their own.”
That is the position I take on things too. Good, bad, or otherwise, I do not know.
If the injury happened last September, why not do the surgery then?
It seems like the Twins medical staff has been making some suspect decisions lately.
Joe Mauer is going to get a 7-10 year contract worth 250-300 mil. The Twins will never pay that.
It’s time to accept the real world and leave fantasy land behind. Mauer will be gone after 2010.
The Twins could get the best return on Mauer by trading him to a contender before the end of the month.
Duchscherer might be a reasonable option for the pen. And he’d provide a potential starter so the Twins could deal one of theirs for Sanchez. Or maybe they could go get Washburn if he’s available.
Or maybe I’m hallucinating, because there’s no way the Twins will get anything. They overvalue their prospects–assuming that teams want anything in their system in the first place.
When Joe Mauer was just hitting singles to the opposite field, the Twins had some remote chance to sign him. That’s all over now.
i need new glasses or something i swear i just read sanchez would be a downgrade at 2b.
“”"Bunting Twins says:
July 27th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Joe Mauer is going to get a 7-10 year contract worth 250-300 mil.”"”
Now I know you’re totally whacko.
I don’t think it would have been wise to sign Mauer (or anyone) to an extension with three years left on his current contract. Especially a player with injury history.
Am I banned from the blog?
ggg, another fine example of Bunting Twins expertise from his 4:49 post.
OK, I don’t think it would have been wise to sign Mauer (or any player) to an extension when they still have three years left on their existing contract. Especially a player with an injury history. Maybe now or before next season starts.
chinmusic
I think they said the decision not to have surgery over the winter was made by a specialilst in Baltimore, not the Twins doctors.
i need new glasses or something i swear i just read sanchez would be a downgrade at 2b.
When did Gardenhire start posting comments?
Bunting Twins: all I can say in response to your 4:49 post is “wow.”
I would never have thought that any baseball fan would consider Freddy Sanchez a “downgrade” from Nick Punto or Alexi Casilla at 2B! In fact, I wouldn’t have thought it humanly possible to downgrade from Alexi Casilla. Modern science still hasn’t found a way to do that.
Also, were you serious about trading away Morneau, Mauer, and Nathan because they are “whiners?”
Because if that is your baseball strategy, I hope you soon get hired as the Chicago White Sox GM! I’ll even write you a hearty letter of recommendation if you apply for the job!
I can’t picture Mauer living in LA or NY. Not his style. Twins will get the hometown discount.
Mauer in 2009:
281 AB
17 HR
.432 .601 .363
Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away, hey, hey, hey - Twins fans after 2010.
Major downer, losing one of our top starters is going to hurt for the rest of the season especially with Liriano stinking out the joint for only 4 innings a crack.
Here’s what I think this means.
To the extent we are buyers, we really are only buyers for the long-term. This was probably true anyway. But it becomes substantially true now. We’re one starting pitcher getting banged up away from being completely out of the race.
Now, you can just say — okay, go get a starter. Go get Halladay! But let’s remember. Not even the World Series and coastal Philly Phillies can give enough to Toronto. Do you really think we have what it takes? No chance.
So now we need….
a) middle infielder
b) bullpen help
c) protection in cash of downed starter
If you did anything but buy for the intermediate (extra year) to long term (2+ years), you would be an idiot. Our season just became a high wire act.
We still have a chance to win the division. But really, would it be smart to trade prospects for talent that will only be with us to the end of this season?
That would be dumb.
We need talent that will agree to be with us through next year or beyond. This focuses us completely on a small number of potential deals.
Go Twins.
iconoclast,
Freddy is a clunker. No range. Can’t field. Erratic arm.
Chinmmusic, these days, surgery is last resort, because scar tissue created by surgery can create more problems than the original injury.
No, Bunting, Mauer won’t leave. The Twins management has a plan for the future. They want their core players - Mauer, Morneau, Nathan and Kubel - to stick around for a few years in the new stadium.
The good news is that with said stadium, the club’s revenues will increase. Look for their payroll expenditures to jump by about 10 to 15 million over the next couple of years. They will probably sign Mauer to a 7 year deal, but it will be closer to the $100 to $150 million range. They can and will pay that much for this future Hall of Famer.
Ignore Bunting Twins…he is highly reminiscint of another troll who continually pushed for a Morneau trade and extolled the virtures of Punto.
As far as Halladay is concerned, forget it. The Jay’s GM is showing just how bad it would’ve been had the Twins held onto Santana into the season and tried to deal him at the last minute.
Even if the Twins meet their demands, I have much doubt Halladay would ever say “Yes” to coming here.
“Freddy is a clunker. No range. Can’t field. Erratic arm.”
Even if I were to grant you that somewhat dubious assertion (and even if we conveniently forgot his hitting ability), please remember the person to whom you are comparing Sanchez.
Alexi Casilla doesn’t exactly make it onto the top 5 Web Gems every night! In fact, if I had a dollar for every “mental mistake” Casilla has made in the field, I could pay Sanchez’s contract myself.
I said it before, and I’ll say it again: this season, it is categorically impossible to downgrade from the Twins’ current middle infield.
“were you serious about trading away Morneau, Mauer, and Nathan because they are ‘whiners?’”
Sure, but there are other good reasons. Like Nathan is old, and Mauer will soon be leaving, and Morneau could bring a nice return.
Sucks about Slowey but atleast he isn’t going to try anything stupid and hurt himself even worse
No, Mr. T, I don’t extoll the virtues of Punto. I just don’t think he is as bad as everyone thinks. He is NOT worth 8 mil, however.
Mauer could actually be overrated by fans.
As a catcher, he is only going to play defense in about 130 games per season or so, usually less. The rest of the time you need to have him as DH. There is no DH in the National League.
The Red Sox typically use Ortiz in the DH spot. The Yankees have Matsui.
That said, Joe Mauer is projecting as one of the best catchers to ever play the game of baseball. The Twins will sign him if they can. No use worrying about it now.
I had pretty much written off Slowey for the season anyway; the surgery revelation doesn’t really surprise me.
I would love to see the Twins get another starter. In fact, I think they need a starter a lot more than they need a reliever at this point. Sadly, I don’t think there are too many good options available for trades right now.
The Halladay speculation made me laugh, though. No way. That will never happen.
What’s bad about Slowey’s situation is that for once again the Twins’ trainers/doctors went with a conservative approach that did not pay dividends. He was injured last September. If he had the surgery during the off-season (say October) he would be ready by January-February max. It is not a complicated procedure and many athletes undergo it all the time (football players for example ’scope’ their knees to remove bone fragments during the season and are back in 2 weeks on the field). He would have probably taken longer (because it is his pitching hand) but still… not more than 2-3 months…
Joe Nathan is older than some closers, but he has a young arm. He started to pitch later on in his career. Other closers have continued to be dominant to older ages than Joe is now. For example, Mariano Rivera.
We should keep Joe for the rest of his career.
Mauer Power, you are correct on both counts.
I don’t recall ever pushing for a Morneau trade before today.
I think when a player starts to whine about management, he begins to create a negative work environment. People begin to grumble. It’s infectious. After a while the team starts losing, as the players, subconciously or not, begin to lose in order to justify their negativity.
It’s the “bad apple” syndrome. When the bad apples are among an organization’s leaders, it’s time to act swiftly.
I think you’re jumping to conclusions by labeling Morneau and Nathan’s actions as “grumbling.” There is a difference between stating an opinion and grumbling.
Actual Example of Grumbling: Luis Ayala complaining that Gardenhire would not use him in the 8th inning.
I for one am glad to hear Morneau and Nathan grumbling about the lack of moves by the front office. It shows that they want to win.
I think one of the biggest mistakes that the Twins made that no one is talking about was bringing up Duensing and Casilla,with the way they where preforming down in AAA they would have had more value than they do at this time. With that being said now if you trade them they are more or less throw in guys, not central pieces to a trade. I still hold out hope for Sanchez and Snell, along with Garland.
MLB trade rumors is reporting the Yankess are close to getting Arroyo and that the Red Sox are making a big push for C. Lee and V. Martinez.
thrylos98
Read carefully what they are saying. The decision was made by a doctor in Baltimore, not the Twins doctors.
Sounds like the surgery is not so simple either. I think they are talking about 4 months rehab. Get your facts straight.
Surgery should always be the last resort. There are never any guarantees.
Twin-Bill, there ARE a lot of unknowns. But if Slowey had had his sugery on about July 8th or before, he mighta had a chance at coming back this year.
There was NO chance of Slowey getting back this year.
It was La Velle who reported on the complainers.
The three were moaning about management publicly. Insinuating that that management wasn’t doing their jobs.
I don’t have a problem with a player going to management and privately expressing disatisfaction. The public negative proclamations are way out of line.
I managed a business at one time. I would happily listen privately to anyone’s gripes. If a worker bad-mouthed me or the company publicly, heads would roll.
I am just suggesting good business policy should be incorporated by the Twins.
Trade the whiners.
romer, he apparently was doing okay and pitching fine before July 8th so there was no reason to consider the surgery before then.
In oder to have the surgery this season and have time to come back pitch again this year he would have had to have the surgery in May.
I think the Twins Veterans, have earned the right to voice their opions, considering the less than steller use of the trade deadline by the Twins, when it comes to improving the team that they play for and the work the preform to help the owner make more money.
I can’t let this go. Those three are a LONG WAY from whiners. They are winners - I think you mistyped…giving you the benefit of the doubt.
Winners do whatever they can to be successful which in this case includes pushing the rest of your team to be as dedicated as you are. I’m including the front office in the broader definition of “team”.
BT: I take it you enjoy “inciting comment”. Something you’re apparently more familiar with than “insightful comment”.
I think one of the biggest mistakes that the Twins made that no one is talking about was bringing up Duensing and Casilla,with the way they where preforming down in AAA they would have had more value than they do at this time
you can’t just trick all other MLB teams like that. the thing that nobody is talking about is how every other year the twins have reinforcements in the minor leagues that can come up and make an impact. this season Swarzak comes to mind, but nobody else. the lack of depth (especially pitching) is the biggest reason for the 2009 downfall of the twins. they need to work on stocking the cupboards for future years.
I’m thankful for the honesty of the 3 Twins all stars. They’re not potted plants; and Smith can use their statements as a tool to justify his actions to Pohlad.
There is still some emotional hangover going back the Luis Castillo bruhaha.
if Slowey had had his sugery on about July 8th or before, he mighta had a chance at coming back this year
from my understanding slowey put off surgery with the hope that he could resume throwing last week (which he tried and could not do). at least he made an attempt to contribute this season before having the inevitable surgery performed.
“I am just suggesting good business policy should be incorporated by the Twins.”
Not to kick a dead horse or anything, but I would say that it is absolutely NOT good business policy to trade Mauer, Morneau and/or Nathan! That would send ticket sales through the floor.
The only way that is “good business policy” is if you count the strategy employed by the owner in the movie “Major League” as good business policy.
Slowey was having trouble with it in June and the Twins and he conservatively elected to not have surgery.
The thinking is to protect the player’s career vs. the team’s chances in a given year.
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Meanwhile, under the radar, we need to see how Perk is recovering from his physical ailment.
Mighty, I’m just saying that they would looked a little better when they where dominating in AAA like Liriano last season, how much could the Twins have gotten for him last season when he was putting up stupid numbers in AAA VS his numbers this year? The Terry Ryan FO over valued the Twins prospects and did not make trades and we got 3 plays form that that are preforming Slowey,Span, and Blackburn minus his last 2 starts and now Sworzak, had the front office been willing to trade 1 of them while they were in the minors for a true major league player at the time the Twins may very well be in better shape than they are now. That is all I’m saying.
Iconoclast,
Depends on what they get in return.
Trading Santana didn’t hurt ticket sales. The hitless wonder, Carlos Gomez, became the team’s most popular player with the fans in 2008.
Now the Twins do not have the top prospects to trade, all they have is Delmon, Span, Liriano, Perkins and a few good players in the lower levels to trade, not exactly going to make other GM’s come calling. If the Twins make some trades it is going to have to be for guys like Jon Garland with a big salary.
Yes, the whiners are still nattering on about the Castillo trade. Two years later.
The front office would never regret dealing all three.
I think the first baseman should work on catching pop-ups and zip his lip. I saw an easy one drop a few nights ago that cost the team a game.
david-
our conversation is directed at the same point, i think. you argue that the twins have no good prospects to trade while i argue that they have no good (upper-level; potential major league ready) prospects to keep. what can you do but wait for the lower-level guys to develop (or trade them). we shall see what happens.
In regards to Bunting Twins comments about trading Mauer. We may all think his comments are ridiculous today but wait until 2010 when we may have to trade him out of desperation, knowing he won’t resign with us, with other teams knowing the same thing just like with Santana. I don’t want to trade Mauer and I don’t want him to leave, as he is the best hitter in baseball but if Twins management believe he will stay because of a new outdoor stadium or because he is a hometown boy, they better think again.
Read carefully what they are saying. The decision was made by a doctor in Baltimore, not the Twins doctors.
Sounds like the surgery is not so simple either. I think they are talking about 4 months rehab. Get your facts straight.
My facts are straight:
* I was talking about the original decision last off-season, which was made by the Twins’ doctors and not the latest decision. He had the injury in September, the fragment was there, he got a cortisone shot, felt ok, continuing pitching. They decided to not have the fragment out and play it by ear in the off-season. That was the bad decision
* The procedure is very straight. It is about as evasive as taking out an enclosed wisdom tooth. Unless someone butchers it and impacts a tendon or a nerve, all healing involves tissue healing. The healing rehab time is 2-3 weeks. Because it is his pitching wrist it will take some additional time to get to pitching shape. The off-season would have been better for that. Bone fragments do not disappear by themselves…
(if you do not believe me good bone fragment removal surgery or something like that)
With Slowey now gone for the season I highly doubt the Twins will make any moves. Hell, why not release Redmond, or make him a coach, call up Valencia and Morales and give then some big league at bats for next season.
What specifially is wrong with the wrist? Ligament? Bone spur?
