Injuries continue to mount for Washington

By Joe Conroy

Published: July 8, 2008

WASHINGTON — Tuesday began with injured third baseman Ryan Zimmerman taking swings alone before team batting practice started, a good sign for the scuffling Nationals given their injury woes this season.

While the face of the franchise is progressing in his recovery from a slightly torn labrum in his right shoulder, the rest of the squad is not faring so well.

The theme from “ER” could almost be played faintly in the clubhouse lately, underscoring the run of bad luck when it comes to trips to the doctors this year.

Team physician Dr. Benjamin Shaffer did deliver good news, however, during Washington’s 2-0 loss to Arizona last night, announcing that Chad Cordero’s surgery performed by Dr. Louis Yocum in Southern California to clean up damage in the closer’s right (throwing) shoulder was successful.

Shaffer said Yocum found “fraying and partial tearing of the posterior labrum … and a partial tear of the biceps tendon.” Yocum debrided the frayed labrum (a lip of cartilage in the back of the shoulder) and inserted a bio-absorbable anchor at the back-top corner of the shoulder to “reinforce the cartilage-labrum to ensure healing.” The anchor will not need to be removed surgically later.

Cordero originally reported a drop in velocity during Spring Training but could not recall a single, specific incident he could attribute the change to. It was not until attempting to warm up for the ninth inning on Opening Day against Atlanta that Cordero said his arm felt dead.

Just weeks later, during rehab exercises, Cordero continued to feel pain in his shoulder.

A labrum tear was discovered via an arthrogram, an injury requiring surgery and a long recovery process.

Shaffer said Cordero will wear a sling for the next three weeks.

Cordero will then begin a throwing program after four months of rehab. Shaffer added that Cordero could be ready for Spring Training.

“Any pitcher who undergoes surgery will require a period of convalescence that is at least four months before he begins throwing,” Shaffer said, “so that means November, December he can begin throwing. Some people will, over the course of three or four months, do fine and get up on their game.

“Whether he takes a longer obviously is an individual issue.”

Yocum’s diagnosis was that Cordero’s rotator cuff did not show damage, leading to Shaffer’s prognosis of a possible recovery before next season.

Cordero is just one of the walking wounded that populate the Nationals’ disabled list and roster.

Outfielder Elijah Dukes joined Cordero on the DL yesterday with a meniscus tear and partial tear of the patellar tendon in his right knee, an injury he suffered in Cincinnati Saturday.

Dukes is scheduled to have a procedure performed by Dr. Koco Eaton today in Tampa Bay.

“Dr. Eaton has operated on (Dukes’) other knee four times – luckily this is a knee that has not had surgery before,” Shaffer said “Dr. Eaton thinks this is an isolated meniscus tear that ought to respond straightforwardly to an arthroscopic procedure.”

The surgery will keep Dukes, 24, out for at least four weeks and as many as six before he can return to baseball.

Lastings Milledge, one of Dukes’ outfield partners, was placed on the 15-day DL June 29 for a pulled right groin muscle, further thinning talent pool at the major league level.

Despite the seemingly endless list of injuries (14 different players have made trips to the DL, 10 from the Opening Day roster), Shaffer sees this as just bad luck and not necessarily an epidemic with a single source.

“The constellation of misfortune is striking. It seems biblical,” said Shaffer, who has worked with college and professional athletes for nearly 18 years. “If there’s any silver lining it’s perhaps in recognizing that over time injury years balance out. Perhaps this means we’ll be able to avoid some of these problems in the future.”