The Nationals have been plagued by injuries in 2014, and ESPN’s Keith Law reports that their luck isn’t getting any better. Multiple sources tell Law that Bryce Harper will undergo surgery tomorrow to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and be sidelined until “at least early July.” Harper injured the thumb while sliding into third base against the Padres on Friday night.
Harper’s injury is just the latest on a long list of DL-related woes for the 2014 Nationals. Offseason acquisition Doug Fister opened the season on the disabled list, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is on the shelf through late May with a broken thumb of his own, and Wilson Ramos is also on the disabled list after undergoing surgery to repair the hamate bone in his left wrist. Washington has also already seen Denard Span miss a chunk of games as well, as he spent just over a week on the seven-day DL with a concussion.
Harper’s injury is the same injury that sidelined Josh Hamilton earlier in the month and the same injury that led to offseason surgery for Dustin Pedroia, and as Law points out, all three players suffered the injury while sliding into a base. Harper’s injury likely means that offseason acquisition Nate McLouth, who signed a two-year, $10.75MM contract with the Nats, will see a significant increase in playing time.
Poor kid. Hope he recovers quickly.
Hey Williams,
Know why Harper doesn’t hustle? Because when he does he bounces off the wall/base and lands on the DL.
While his intensity for the game is refreshing to watch, Harper is a hazard to his own health.
Surely there is a balance between not running through a base and not breaking your hand on it.
There is, it’s called not running out grounders when your leg is sore. That got him benched and publicly shamed in the media by his manager.
A shame, genuinely.
Im no Nats fan but always enjoy watching Harper play, his energy in each bat is refreshing.
Harper has talent no doubt but this many injuries early in a career are troubling. Hope he has a speedy recovery and can finally get 600 PA in 2015.
I was thinking the same think. The guy is 21, by the time he is 30 (9 years later) He will be limping
I don’t know much about the injury but Pedroia tore his ligament in the first week of the season and played the entire year. Maybe Harper can play thorugh it like Pedroia?
Not every injury or body is the same.
Not every player has the same drive either. Pedroia attempted to come back and play after a couple of weeks with a screw in his foot after breaking it, yet couldn’t in 2010 before missing half the season after he fouled a ball off the top of his foot.
pedroia may have as much drive to play/win as anyone in the game has had in years, if not decades.
He is indeed a throwback type player who plays with most any type of injury that most would sit out games with.
He did not have the screw in his foot when he came back 6 weeks after breaking it in 2010. He had a 2nd opinion which told him to go slow in rehab, and he did not heed the advice so he created a situation where the bone would not heal and instead of missing 2 months he missed the rest of the season and needed surgery to put a screw in the foot to help it heal.
The thumb he hurt last year he hurt in a blow out in the 8th inning trying to get himself an IF hit. In 2012 he hurt the same thumb late in the season trying to steal late in the game down 5-2. The season was over but he wanted his 20th SB. He was CS and hurt his teams chances of coming back. He missed a few games and came back just to get that 20th SB. He is driven for stats.
This year he hurt his wrist and played for several weaks producing nothing.
In 2011 he hurt his knee early on the season and played for a few weeks producing nothing.,
He has been hurt every year from 2010 on and missed 113 games in that time. Robinson Cano missed 13 games in 7 years. Pedroia should play smarter and not harder.
I remember reading that Harper already had some minor damage in this thumb. That may be why they surgery makes the most sense.
Pedroria also experienced a zap in power, something pivotal to Harper’s game.
Cannot argue that and he probably had other issues caused by the injury.
Cannot argue that and he probably had other issues caused by the injury.
Had a career worst SLG and OPS and his post season he had a sub 600 OPS. Would have been better taking 2 months off.
Furthermore, the Red Sox allow Toradol to be used as a pain killer for chronic pain, which almost killed Buchholz. Not every team allows that.
Cherry picking stats, really? he got a GG and finished 7th in mvp voting career high 84 rbi’s? This is where you reply yah but he batted third, gold glove voting is a joke and the owners colluded to give him mvp votes.
Cherry picking stats, really? he got a GG and finished 7th in mvp voting career high 84 rbi’s? This is where you reply yah but he batted third, gold glove voting is a joke and the owners colluded to give him mvp votes.
Great…. Now they’re going to outlaw sliding headfirst.
From the MLB rules committee: As of the 2015 season, there will be no headfirst sliding into any base. Source: http://www.i.made.it.up.com
Darn, the league’s most overrated player still has a shot for the All Star game.
He is basically the youngest player in baseball, and this is already his 3rd season. He is basically already a 4 WAR player, and he hasn’t even blossomed yet. Sure, he isn’t unseating Trout/Miggy/etc quite yet, but if he can add a bit more power he could be elite player.
Who created this meme? I’ve seen someone else say it as well and it’s baffling.
No idea who created it, but I thought of it yesterday on my own.
Hope the kid goes on a diet of humble pie while injured.
Remember when there was a Mike Trout/Bryce Harper debate as to which player was better? Ah, memories.
no
Ouch. I have an idea… try sliding feet first.
Then you end up with destroyed ankles a la Jose Reyes last season.
When people play sports, people get hurt.
Harper had an UCL tear…….. on his thumb
UCL describes the location. Ulnar means it is on the ulna side. Your hand has a radial side and an ulnar side. The ulnar side is the side with your pinky and the radial side is the side where your thumb is. So UCL of the thumb mean the ligament connects to the thumb on the ulnar side. aka, the side of the thumb closer to your palm. As opposed to the radial side, aka the radial collateral ligament.
This is why the UCL in the elbow has two names. The MCL mean medial collateral ligament. Because it is the medial side of your elbow, aka the part closer to your midline, or the middle of your body. As opposed to the lateral side, which means outside. So your elbow has a LCL, the lateral collateral ligament, and a MCL, the medial collateral ligament. the MCL is closer to your midline, the LCL is on the outside. The MCL is also called the UCL, because it is on the ulnar side of the elbow joint. From this, you could guess the LCL is also called the RCL, the radial collateral ligament.
UCL isn’t a specific thing, it is just a description.
Thanks for clearing medical terms. I always thought UCL was an elbow ligament and ACL were ligaments in knee
The A in ACL is anterior, which means front. As opposed to posterior, which means back.
Superior = top
Inferior = bottom
Anterior = ventral = front.
Posterior = dorsal = back.
Medial = middle
Lateral = outside
Proximal = closest
Distal = furthest
Those are the major scientific terms you’re going to run across in anatomy.
The knee has four major ligaments, ACL, PCL, MCL, and LCL. Anterior, posterior, medial, and lateral. So front, back, inside (meaning towards the middle of your body) and outside.
Anyways, I see lots of people getting confused about this stuff, so I hope this helps a few people.