9
2012
Over and Out: Tim Byrdak To Undergo Shoulder Surgery
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Tim Byrdak will undergo surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. His recovery and rehab could take anywhere between 12-18 months.
This is the same injury that sidelined both Johan Santana and Chris Young. It took over a year for both of them to recover from their respective surgeries.
Byrdak hopes that he could return during the second half of the 2013 season.
The Mets’ lefty specialist was placed on the 15-day disabled list with soreness in his left shoulder on August 3.
Byrdak was leading the league in relief appearances with 56 at the time.
Terry Collins told reporters on Tuesday that there is “no question” he used lefthander Tim Byrdak more than he should have and that it was a contributing factor to a potentially career-threatening tear of the anterior capsule in his left shoulder.
“I don’t think there’s any question – injuries are caused by overuse,” Collins said. “Doctors have told me and I’ve heard too many doctors say, ‘When they’re going to break, they’re going to break. There’s not much you can really do about it.’ . . . It’s just the fact he was in that role where he’s had to go out a lot.
“There’s no question we probably used him more than we should have, but we wouldn’t be here without him.”
Byrdak ends the season with a 2-2 record and a 4.40 ERA in 30 2/3 innings. He has given up 18 hits. 18 walks and 34 strikeouts while giving up 15 earned runs.
We wish Tim the best of luck and a speedy recovery.
Original Post 8/6
The Mets have announced that Tim Byrdak has a tear in the anterior capsule of his left shoulder. The team said the treatment plan for Byrdak has not been finalized, but surgery remains a possibility. This is the same injury that both Johan Santana and Chris Young had in their shoulders and both required surgery.
Byrdak leads the majors in appearances with 56. He was 2-2 with a 4.40 ERA. The Mets put Byrdak on the disabled list Friday and this could be the end to his season.
More to come…
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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Sorry to hear about Byrdak. He was one of the more reliable arms in the pen. When things like this happen the 1st thing one thinks is was it due to how he was used? I’m not knowledgeable enough to know the answer to that. Maybe it was going to happen regardless just of matter if it was this year or next depending on how the innings were limited but anytime the word overused is used to describe something it normally does not lend itself to positive things.
Get well Byrdak. You’ll be sorely missed in that clubhouse.
This is the 2nd lefty that has been destroyed by Mets’ mismanagement. They better have learned that #1) You must have 2 left-handed bullpen guys; and #2) you don’t run a guy out there 2 of every 3 games.
Before 2013, the Mets FO and managers must understand how to manage a bullpen!
When it rains, it pours.
Good luck, Tim.
Josh Edgin’s stock just shot up.
Over/Under on how many years Josh Edgin lasts before this happens to him?
The Mets did not “ruin” him. His job was to pitch to a batter or 2 but few innings.
his injury was not some spontaneous failure. That is a wear and tear injury. So maybe the 76 appearances he made 4 years ago for Houston contributed (more than last year with the mets, and 2x the innings too).
The guy pitched in 361 games in the minors alone (680IP), to go along with 471 in the majors (only 335 IP). So almost 700 career appearances, so a ton of miles on the arm before he even got to the mets.
also why he was signed (being a rubber arm) since he averaged 66 appearances over 3 years with Houston before he even came to the Mets.
As you have these stats at your disposal, the Mets FO did as well. Therefore, you don’t have one lefty in your pen.
No one has a “rubber arm,” especially a person over 35.
56 appearances through August 1 is enough strain on any pitching arm not less one who will be 39 by the time the World Series begins. Imagine how many pitches he had to throw just warming up?
Get well, Tim, from all of us.
Mets are going to have to add another lefty in the off season to go with Edgin
Kolarek isn’t ready yet
J.P. Howell hasn’t allowed a run in over 20 innings
doesn’t throw as hard as he used to but shown he still is effective
Edgin and Howell would mix well because there both different pitchers
Excellent call. He would be a perfect under-the-radar addition. I like him. He’s more of a finesse guy now, but he misses a lot of bats.
The topic of starting the season with just one left-hander in the bullpen through April, May and part of June was a sore spot on MMO.
Some readers said you didn’t need more than one lefty and that the concern was exaggerated, while others thought it handcuffed Terry Collins and put him in the position to overuse him which is what ultimately happened.
YUUUP!
Byrdak had been pretty awful the last few weeks anyway and his 4.5 ERA is nothing to brag about. Whoever replaces him would have to be considered an upgrade. I wish Byrdak well though because he was quite a personality in the dugout and I liked him. There was a little bit of Roger McDowell in Byrdak. Hopefully they dont strand Edgin as the lone lefty in the future. Now that would be a true travesty.
It really depends on whether you want to go OOGY happy, or just let guys pitch.
Terry likes to play the Jerry game of one batter and out, so then you need a more even mix.
Maybe if the rest of the pen didn’t stink to high hell they would not have needed to bring in Byrdak as often as they did!
If they had just used him for lefties to get that one out he might not have had the wear and tear he got when they left him in vs Righties to get to the next lefty because they had noone who could actually finish an inning on thier own.
But you have to hang this all on the FO. I mean if you hire a manager who believes in the lefty righty matchup as much as Collins does you have to provide him with the roster that lets him do it!
They went into the season with one lefty pen arm and a lefty hefty lineup and what did they focus on? Another lefty bat to come off the bench?!????!!!???!??????
This front office who was sold as a group who were focused on the “LONG TERM” obviously can’t see much past a week into the future when you look at their statements they reverse a week later!
Hi Metsie,
But that poses an interesting questions. If Rauch and Francisco continue pitching well through the remainder of the season that would mean their overall records would at least be respectable. Does this mean that although they came on late, Sandy and his staff actually didn’t do bad by signing the two?
IMHO – if they had done their jobs the first half perhaps we would still be within striking distance. Even if the losses and blown saves are only a few, how many other times did they add to a deficit in which our rallies came up just short because of them? But it does at least give hope that Francisco migh settle down for a full season in 2013.
Rauch has only given up an earned run in 10 out of his 49 appearances. Out of those ten, 3 were multi-run and the other 7 only one run. He pitched hurt for a few weeks but has been solid most of the season.
This is the 2ND Pitcher under DAN WARTHEN the pitching coach the man whom Collins has in charge of the pitchers….
Get Warthen out of town before he ruins the young arms coming up from the minors…
All year Mets fans complained about how much they have went to the bullpen and not let the starting pitchers pitch
The fact that Ramirez was brought in from SF because he could get LH because he could get LH out was the excuse used for not having another LH in BP so when Ramirez didn’t wk out then another LH should have been brought in but well this FO always has a plan, or do they just fly by the seat of their pants?
I was sad when I first heard about this injury. I just dont understand why you would subject one of your better relievers to so much stress and it’s not just the innings pitched, it’s also all the bullpens and warm-up pitches and pitching three days straight. It takes a toll on a 21 year old pitcher let alone a 37 year old. Hopefully there is a lesson learned here.
I wish MLB–baseball in general–could get the hell away for this “specialist” idiocy. I mean, how narrowly defined a role can an ML-quality pitcher have! It’s just ridiculous.
Hi Russ,
Maybe the reason relief pitchers are considered “crap shoots” from year to year is because they are more over-used than starters.
So many are so concerned about a starter not exceeding his pitch count but with a reliever throwing warm up pitches more than once every fifth day, perhaps the toll works up too. Or perhaps, just like starters, they are babied unlike those in the past when starters worked deep into the game and firemen came in and routinely pitched multiple innings but were not needed day in and day out.