Padres lefty Brad Wieck was diagnosed with testicular cancer earlier this year, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports. The 27-year-old hurler went under the knife not long thereafter. Fortunately, the medical prognosis appears to be good, though it’s obviously something that’ll be watched closely by doctors. Though Wieck will be building back to full strength during camp, it seems his outlook on the field also remains promising. He could return to the hill in the next few weeks, it seems, and could again present the team with a MLB option after making his debut during a promising 2018 campaign.
As we send our best wishes to Wieck for a cancer-free future, we’ll cover some other health matters from the National League …
- President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says that the Dodgers are quite encouraged by the progress of shortstop Corey Seager in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports on Twitter. It’s “a best-case to this point,” in fact, which certainly paints a hopeful picture. Seager went under the knife at the end of April last year, so he’s about ten weeks shy of being a full year removed from the procedure. The hope remains that Seager will be prepared for Opening Day, manager Dave Roberts indicated yesterday (via Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times, on Twitter), though it stands to reason that the club will take a cautious path before fully unleashing the young star.
- Phillies starter Jake Arrieta underwent a meniscus procedure on his left knee about a month back, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters including Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The surgery, which addressed an injury that occurred during the offseason, does not appear to be a major concern, with Kapler saying the expectation is for Arrieta to be ready for the start of the season. Still, the hope was that the veteran righty, who’ll soon turn 33, would be at full health and focused on finding improvements after his ERA rose for the third-straight season.
- Meanwhile, the Phillies are holding their collective breath on fellow righty Jerad Eickhoff. As Kapler explains, and Lauber tweets, Eickhoff has again experienced symptoms relating to the carpal tunnel issues that led to surgery last season. While another procedure isn’t on the table at present, it’s another suboptimal situation. The 28-year-old has shown quite a bit of talent, but is looking to bounce back after missing almost all of the 2018 campaign.
Good to see everything is going well for Seager. Glad to see him back at SS and not Machado!
I agree completely. Machado is a total punk. He is a dirty player who admits he doesn’t play hard. That said, I hope this is true about Seager because I don’t really trust anything Friedman says.
worse than Chase Utley? I recently saw a compilation of Kirk Gibson’s dirty hits. I’d say both of those players have caused much more physical harm than Machado but nobody has called them punks.
Utley plays hard. Machado has gone out of his way to play dirty. There is a huge difference.
So the play where he broke the Met’s shortstops leg as he stood behind the plate was just “playing hard” and not dirty? Has Machado broken any bones?
Maybe if 1B didn’t stay on the bag for so long he wouldn’t have clipped them. And Steve Pearce is one of his best friends which proves he did it on accident. Imagine not wanting a 5+ WAR player because he doesnt bust his behind on every play
Machado ruined Pedroia’s knee with a dirty slide at second. A lot longer recovery (if he ever recovers) than a broken bone. No reason to defend Machado.
Not defending Machado but rather arguing against the double standard.
That Utley slide was not dirty or even against the rules at the time. It was an unfortunate hustle play gone wrong. Teajada should have never attempted that ballerina twirl. Utley should have gotten lower. But at that time, slides like that were not uncommon. It was hustle and grit.
Impossible to agree seeing that Tejada was completely behind the bag. If he were to be standing in front of the bag or on top of it you may have an argument but your argument fails the logic test and your weak attempt to blame Tejada is stupid.
He didn’t clip Pearce. It was Aguilera.
Yeah I was confused about that.
He also clipped Pearce in game 5. If your going to hate on someone at least know all the facts.
You apparently missed that play. Watch the replay and watch the Mets ss
Exactly!
Different Times Friar,the game used to Patrol is self,now you get thrown out for that,so punks like Machado get away with it
Hustle and grit? Man, people will voluntarily turn into Stevie Wonder if it means justifying their own horrible opinion.
Someone never saw Gibby play.. He played 100% full tilt, ran out everything and showed his emotions, both things never to expect from machado.
i remember seeing Gibson here when he was 1st signed by the Tigers and played for Lakeland (under Jimmy Leyland no less) and he was the constant gamer then, even tho a truly gifted TE from MSU believe it was and one of the best in the nation, probably would have gone high in the 1st round had he stayed of the NFL draft, but he didn’t dog anything on those hot, humid FSL league fields and always ran out everything.
Machado? Forget it, not even in MLB playoffs can you get that, much less as a 21yo like Gibby did during his 1st season of pro ball.
Don’t get me wrong, I have problems with the slide, I just don’t think it was dirty. There was no intention to injure there. And I used the words “hustle and grit” internationally because we are comparing the Utley slide to some of Machado’s antics. I don’t think it’s fair to compare the two. One guy hustled every play of his career. The other guy is already known for his lack of hustle.
Machado is far from a punk, and he never said he doesn’t play hard. He said he isn’t mr. hustle..There’s a big difference, but since you clearly already have a vendetta against him, I doubt you will even consider what he truly meant. He didn’t mean he doesn’t work hard or play hard, he solely meant he isn’t THAT guy that’s going to go full throttle every single play. Just like countless other ML players, if he knows he’s out on a grounder, he’s going to half jog it down the line. That is something roughly 75% of ML guys do, and the remaining 25% are those bench players that have to hustle everything out, because they’re fighting for their roster spot, or they’re just really fast and can put pressure on the defense by making it a close play.
If you ask any one of his coaches, his hitting coaches, his infield coaches, etc. Machado is an extremely hard worker, and one that puts in a ridiculous amount of time practicing his defense and fine-tuning his approach at the plate..You don’t get as good as Machado by being a bum. You don’t accomplish what Machado has accomplished by being a slacker. He’s outspoken and widely misunderstood, which leads to ignorant assumptions about him. Even so, I’m sure he is perfectly content continuing to work his tail off, while his naysayers and doubters talk about how he doesn’t deserve the next contract he signs..
Great player but for the team it’s Cancer,over 162 it gets old having to answer questions about manny being manny,kinda like Baby Puig needs a hug
I’ll take both on my team if there was some way to work it out
but not Machado?
Even if he makes the opening day roster, it’s difficult to imagine Seager coming up to full strength for at least a month into the regular season. Even assuming a complete physical recovery he still won’t have played for a full year. Last I heard, the only hitting he’s done so far has been off a tee.
Seager has to play and play well for the Dodgers this season….
Fan expectations for him are way high. Probably way too high. Officially the Dodgers are optimistic that he’ll be ready but he hasn’t even thrown across the infield from his position yet. Our realistic expectations should be seeing a lot of Chris Taylor at SS until May at least, and if Seager has any sort of soreness in his repaired elbow or hip, that he’ll be shut down immediately.
Personal preference from a newspaper editor. Drop “went under the knife” as a euphemism for “surgery.” In the note about Brad Wieck it seemed especially cavalier and tasteless.
Agreed.
Triggered
Why should they drop “under the knife?” Can you not handle the thought of a knife being used in surgery? Jeez people are way too sensitive
He’s weak and feeble.
Maybe I’m wrong, but doesn’t it seem a few guys in MLB have had testicular cancer recently?
Yeah this (from what I can recall) is the third within two or so years. First Jameson Taillon, then Chad Bettis, and now Wieck
I think Jon Lester also?
Lester had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is a blood cancer
Back pre-Internet, it was likely something that just wasn’t reported. John Kruk also likely made it easier for players to discuss.
When Arrieta warns players about changes in free agency he should be identifying himself as one of the reasons why owners don’t want to give term to players in his age group.
why, exactly? He had a very solid season and is known as a great clubhouse leader.
That’s great if he’s a good clubhouse influence, but that can only go so far. But I wouldn’t classify that a 3.96 ERA and 4.26 FIP with another drop in strike out rate is a very solid season.
Just playing advocate. If Arrieta is so great in the clubhouse and was brought in to balance some younger players as a veteran presence, why did the Phils play so terribly to close out the season? I do believe in clubhouse chemistry making a difference, but you have to be able to produce on the field at the same time in order for the younger generation to listen.
My question is why Jake would wait so long to get this procedure taken care of? If there is risk of a setback this should have been addressed a lot sooner.
As for Eickhoff, all I though when i read that was “oh no, not again.”
Injury occurred during the offsesson. Not during the season. Says it right in the article. He waited until the injury happened to get it fixed.
So what was Pete Rose did he play hard or dirty? I remember when he took out Ray Fosse in a all star game. Ruined his career at an exhibition game
Ray Fosse was in the way. Rose went to go in clean and had no angle. It would be a non issue if Fosse’s shoulder hadn’t given.
Rose was dirty as well. He played baseball the way he lived his life – dirty.
Wieck looked solid in his major league debut and I wish him the best 2019.
Why is there no story on MLBTR about the “aggressive “ offer that the Padres made to Machado according to Mlb.com?
Probably b/c the WSox are offering the most at present, Phillies would offer more if Harper decides first to go elsewhere and Yanks are first choice for him if they were close on $.
I wasn’t aware that baseball fans were such triggered vaginas. Tell me, do you always around getting offended by obvious stupid jokes, or were you an only child. Don’t worry sweetheart, the bad will go away now.
“Fox” definitely.