I was indeed thinking about that too, however, that one who raised the question spoke specifically of his physic being the problem in general and then I did find that was not a problem with Kid, Piazza and Bench so in fairness bringing that up was necessary.

The torn left thumb and the knee injury sliding into second were occupational hazards, however, the bulging disc is something to worry about for though it is more common with people as they get older, he has already suffered with it due to causes other than age and that in itself should be of concern for it returning once again. I did not bring that up because we don’t know and I did not want it to appear that I was using that to be anti-Sandy. We know he has no back problem at this time – he passed his physical – but to have suffered a bulging disc problem requiring surgery when perhaps 21 raises the valid fear that it could develop again.

http://www.laserspineinstitute.com/back_problems/bulging_disc/causes/

Glad to read your evaluations based on what is seen and observed about one’s athleticism, mechanics, etc. and not advanced statistical analysis..

Talking about statistical analysis, across this interesting article and follow-up discussion about Travis on Fangraphs by Toronto fans. It is mostly all saber metric which many who are into that might get concerned about. To me, most of that is rubbish when compared to the scouts talking about him in terms of what he he shows. One non-statistic post, however, did get me concerned at first:

“The one issue with D’Arnaud is his size. A catcher should be 5’11” or maybe even slightly shorter. Being tall adds weight, but not only that, the lengths of the limbs are longer, thus making the strain on knee joints bigger. This is a very real concern when considering catching prospects. Something that teams strangely enough seem to ignore.

The ideal catcher physique is that of Kurt Suzuki, who at 5’11” likely will be able to catch well into his late 30′s, if he cares to.Pudge was “only” 5’9”, and he had a very long career. Joe Mauer is a very bad fit as a catcher, and so are guys in his mold.”

Fortunately, I looked it up. Mike Piazaa was six foot three and Kid was six foot two. Travis, as we know, is also six foot two. Mike weighed ten more pounds and Kid five more. BTW – Johnny Bench was six foot one. But I’m not pressuring Travis to be like these hall of famers (Mike will get there someday) – would rather him just be Travis d”arnaud.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/travis-darnaud-las-vegas-and-catching-prospects/