As I am quite sure most everyone has heard by now, Manny Banuelos will find himself under the knife on Thursday, October 4th. What does this mean for the Yankees and the diminutive southpaw?
With respect to the Yankees, this raises quite a few questions that the vast majority of us – that is, the fans – are ill-equipped to answer. Why, with Banuelos having last pitched competitively on May 18, is surgery just now becoming a reality? How long has the team suspected it may be a necessity? Was the hope that rest and rehab would cure whatever ails Banuelos? How often are players able to avoid Tommy John Surgery with rest? Did the injury develop while Banuelos was on the shelf? Does this mean that Jose Campos will manifest a UCL injury?
The reality of the situation is that we just don’t know. It is quite easy (and somewhat cathartic) to blame this on the Yankees brain trust. After all, the team’s success rate with young starting pitching is decidedly underwhelming – the ‘Killer B’s’ are down to a bust, a reclamation project, and an ‘incomplete;’ Campos and Pineda combined for 24.2 IP this season (with none coming for the Yankees; Hughes and Nova have been inconsistent (though the former seems to have found something of a groove) … and that’s just this season.
In my mind, the only certainty from a team-centric perspective is that Banuelos is highly unlikely to contribute in the big leagues until late 2014, which is sure to throw a monkey wrench into ownership’s plans for that year’s payroll.
For Banuelos, things look a bit bleaker – though, it is worth noting that he’s still only 21, and will not be 22 until March. The prospect will likely have lost nearly two full seasons of development between 2012 and 2013, at the bare minimum. Command and control – Banuelos’ greatest issue since he advanced beyond High-A – take quite awhile to return following this surgery, as well. Luckily, the stuff and smarts should remain intact.
In the minds of many, Tommy John Surgery is an inevitability, TINSTAAPP is something of a truth, and this is merely a simple bump in the road. To others, this is yet another red flag in a series of misadventures in player development. For me, there is a fair picture somewhere in between, yet this remains a bitter pill to swallow.
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6 Responses to Banuelos to Undergo Tommy John Surgery, Yankees Prospectors to Undergo Grief Counseling
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TIQ IQ
Ouch
I wrote this in another blog
I’m frustrated by this news, but its more depressing that this seems to be happening a lot with Yankee injuries (not just pitching). They get hurt, team trainers say nothing big, turns out it was something major. It might be time for the team to start investing/looking into things like Biomechanical analysis of all pitchers under the Yankee Umbrella. It’s not a common thing with all teams but the Nats, Tampa, and just recently (hired the guy this year) the Fightin’ Showalters are doing this. It’ll allow the team to see where the pitcher is placing excess stress on the critical points of pitching (elbow, shoulder) during their delivery and allow them as well as the team to make changes that will give these pitchers the best chances of staying healthy, and having successful careers.
BTW
Players that chose to be guinea pigs to this kind of medical evaluations were a young CC Sabathia when he was still a prospect and Cliff Lee the year prior he became the Cy Young winner and Ace caliber pitcher he’s been for the past 4-5 years.
Maybe its time to hire someone from the Tampa Rays scouting system as they seem to be able to accurately assess pitchers.
What a huge failure for management. I don’t know what’s going on behind close doors, but it seems to me that some people aren’t doing their jobs properly. IMO, people should be losing their jobs. Management might want to consider stealing some personnel from the Rays,Braves, Rangers, etc. The guys working for the yanks just aren’t getting the job done.
People already have, minor league pitching coordinator was fired a short while ago….money says Manny and several others were part of the reason
Also I wouldn’t want anything to do with the Rangers, with as many injuries as they have had since implementing that “no pitch count rule” so many rotational pieces have ended up injured /ineffective for extended periods it makes the Yankees look healthy
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