On Saturday afternoon, Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan left the team's game against the Boston Red Sox after feeling some tightness in his surgically repaired throwing elbow. The move was made for nothing more than precautionary reasons, as there's no point risking your closer during a spring training game in the first week of March.
Unfortunately, when Nathan showed up in the Twins clubhouse on Sunday morning, the tightness and soreness in his elbow had yet to sort itself out. So now, as another precautionary measure, Nathan is on his way back to the Twin Cities to have an MRI performed on the elbow. "Everything is looking good, as it not being super serious," Nathan said. "As far as tears or anything, it doesn't look like it's anything like that. That's a positive, and I'm going up there with positive thoughts. But we definitely want to be precautionary and make sure that we have all the information we could gather to at least give us peace of mind and know that hopefully nothing is going on." The Twins are hoping that the discomfort Nathan is feeling is nothing more than scar tissue breaking up following the procedure he had on Oct. 20 to remove bone spurs and other loose bodies from the elbow.
Nathan said that he's going to take the next few days off, and hopefully this is all just one of the speed bumps in the road to recovery from the original elbow surgery. No doubt the Twins feel the same way, because if the MRI comes back showing a more significant injury that would keep Nathan out for an extended period of time, it would have a large impact on the team's performance this season.
I agree this is bad news and I dont want to downplay the situation as im a Twins fan and fell bummed out about this.
But this really isnt devastating to the Twins...Closers really are a dime a dozen, just about anybody can come in and save 30+ games..Nathan is an elite closer but you dont need an elite closer to win...Plus the Twins have Rauch who has some closing experience and already have been rumored to be interested in Frasor, Wood, Bell and Smoltz..
Twins still have a very good team and should still be the AL Central favorites and lets face it, even with Nathan the Twins wouldnt beat the Yankees in the playoffs.
Yeah but the whole team chokes against the Yankees, for some reason we play scared against them.
Again, im not trying to downplay the situation, it is bad news and we cant replace Nathan..But the way I look at it, Nathan only pitches 60-70 innings a year..Yeah Nathan saves alot of games but most of those are games with 2-3 run leads, so maybe 20 of those saves are in high pressure sitautions...So its not like closing is the toughest job in baseball.
Plus the AL Central blows, White Sox will be the only competition..Whoever we have as a closer cant be any worse than Bobby Jenks.
I agree that they generally play poorly against them, but Nathan blew the game and there were bad calls in the other games. It took a competitive series and turned it into a sweep.
I think the Twins will be fine. This is the best roster they have had in years, probably since the '91 team. There is good potential in the starting rotation, especially if Liriano can get over last year's problems. Hopefully they will be able to sign Mauer soon. It is nice to have an owner now that is willing to pay the players a bit.
March 9 is a bit early for season-crippling news, but the Minnesota Twins may have just received some. Four-time All-Star closer Joe Nathan, who has averaged 41 saves and a 1.87 ERA since coming to Minnesota in 2004, has learned his 2010 season is in jeopardy. Nathan flew back to Minnesota to get an MRI on his elbow a few days ago after experiencing discomfort, and the results came back with a significant tear to his ulnar collateral ligament, the team informed the press Tuesday morning.
Yes, a UCL tear is traditionally repaired via the famous Tommy John surgery.
For now, Nathan won't be having the surgery. He'll take a few weeks and try to rehab the area before taking to the hill to see if he can pitch through it. According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Star-Tribune, Nathan is prepared to pitch through pain all season if need be, due to the high expectations the Twins have for 2010.
But let's be realistic, that's a pretty tall order, even for someone with the talent level Nathan has. The tear, again, is said to be significant. It's unlikely Nathan will be able to pitch at all this season, and he even sounds someone resigned to the possibility. ``I'm going to do whatever I can right now to give myself the best chance to go out there and help this team out,'' Nathan said, ``but at the same time, I'm not going let this go on too long because at the same time, I know these guys have a decision to make, and they've gotta prepare for the season, too, so I will make a decision quicker rather than later and give them ample time to do what they have to do.''So, the smart money is on Nathan missing the entire 2010 campaign, it's just that the decision won't be announced for a couple weeks. It's certainly still possible he pitches through this, but there aren't many documented cases where it actually worked out well.
Nathan has been one of baseball's elite closers since coming to Minnesota in a lopsided trade back in the 2003-2004 offseason, when he came with Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano in exchange for A.J. Pierzynski. He's saved at least 36 games in every single one of his six seasons for the Twins. He strikes out hitters at a high-rate and rarely coughs up the longball. He's saved 91 percent of his chances for Minnesota as well.
Simply put, losing him would be a devastating situation for the Twins.
[Deleted User]Sun 3/7/10 6:21 PM
On Saturday afternoon, Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan left the team's game against the Boston Red Sox after feeling some tightness in his surgically repaired throwing elbow. The move was made for nothing more than precautionary reasons, as there's no point risking your closer during a spring training game in the first week of March.
Unfortunately, when Nathan showed up in the Twins clubhouse on Sunday morning, the tightness and soreness in his elbow had yet to sort itself out. So now, as another precautionary measure, Nathan is on his way back to the Twin Cities to have an MRI performed on the elbow. "Everything is looking good, as it not being super serious," Nathan said. "As far as tears or anything, it doesn't look like it's anything like that. That's a positive, and I'm going up there with positive thoughts. But we definitely want to be precautionary and make sure that we have all the information we could gather to at least give us peace of mind and know that hopefully nothing is going on." The Twins are hoping that the discomfort Nathan is feeling is nothing more than scar tissue breaking up following the procedure he had on Oct. 20 to remove bone spurs and other loose bodies from the elbow.
Nathan said that he's going to take the next few days off, and hopefully this is all just one of the speed bumps in the road to recovery from the original elbow surgery. No doubt the Twins feel the same way, because if the MRI comes back showing a more significant injury that would keep Nathan out for an extended period of time, it would have a large impact on the team's performance this season.
Rick
HOFer
deenFri 3/12/10 4:38 PM
I agree this is bad news and I dont want to downplay the situation as im a Twins fan and fell bummed out about this.
But this really isnt devastating to the Twins...Closers really are a dime a dozen, just about anybody can come in and save 30+ games..Nathan is an elite closer but you dont need an elite closer to win...Plus the Twins have Rauch who has some closing experience and already have been rumored to be interested in Frasor, Wood, Bell and Smoltz..
Twins still have a very good team and should still be the AL Central favorites and lets face it, even with Nathan the Twins wouldnt beat the Yankees in the playoffs.
So not much of change without Nathan.
VoltFri 3/12/10 4:51 PM
Hopefully they find someone who doesn't choke in the playoffs and blow games against the Yankees.
deenFri 3/12/10 5:14 PM
Yeah but the whole team chokes against the Yankees, for some reason we play scared against them.
Again, im not trying to downplay the situation, it is bad news and we cant replace Nathan..But the way I look at it, Nathan only pitches 60-70 innings a year..Yeah Nathan saves alot of games but most of those are games with 2-3 run leads, so maybe 20 of those saves are in high pressure sitautions...So its not like closing is the toughest job in baseball.
Plus the AL Central blows, White Sox will be the only competition..Whoever we have as a closer cant be any worse than Bobby Jenks.
VoltFri 3/12/10 9:51 PM
I agree that they generally play poorly against them, but Nathan blew the game and there were bad calls in the other games. It took a competitive series and turned it into a sweep.
I think the Twins will be fine. This is the best roster they have had in years, probably since the '91 team. There is good potential in the starting rotation, especially if Liriano can get over last year's problems. Hopefully they will be able to sign Mauer soon. It is nice to have an owner now that is willing to pay the players a bit.
[Deleted User]Tue 3/9/10 8:30 PM
UPDATE UPDATE!!!
March 9 is a bit early for season-crippling news, but the Minnesota Twins may have just received some. Four-time All-Star closer Joe Nathan, who has averaged 41 saves and a 1.87 ERA since coming to Minnesota in 2004, has learned his 2010 season is in jeopardy. Nathan flew back to Minnesota to get an MRI on his elbow a few days ago after experiencing discomfort, and the results came back with a significant tear to his ulnar collateral ligament, the team informed the press Tuesday morning.
Yes, a UCL tear is traditionally repaired via the famous Tommy John surgery.
For now, Nathan won't be having the surgery. He'll take a few weeks and try to rehab the area before taking to the hill to see if he can pitch through it. According to La Velle E. Neal III of the Star-Tribune, Nathan is prepared to pitch through pain all season if need be, due to the high expectations the Twins have for 2010.
But let's be realistic, that's a pretty tall order, even for someone with the talent level Nathan has. The tear, again, is said to be significant. It's unlikely Nathan will be able to pitch at all this season, and he even sounds someone resigned to the possibility. ``I'm going to do whatever I can right now to give myself the best chance to go out there and help this team out,'' Nathan said, ``but at the same time, I'm not going let this go on too long because at the same time, I know these guys have a decision to make, and they've gotta prepare for the season, too, so I will make a decision quicker rather than later and give them ample time to do what they have to do.''So, the smart money is on Nathan missing the entire 2010 campaign, it's just that the decision won't be announced for a couple weeks. It's certainly still possible he pitches through this, but there aren't many documented cases where it actually worked out well.
Nathan has been one of baseball's elite closers since coming to Minnesota in a lopsided trade back in the 2003-2004 offseason, when he came with Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano in exchange for A.J. Pierzynski. He's saved at least 36 games in every single one of his six seasons for the Twins. He strikes out hitters at a high-rate and rarely coughs up the longball. He's saved 91 percent of his chances for Minnesota as well.
Simply put, losing him would be a devastating situation for the Twins.
Rick
HOFer