Just in case you missed in the second part of last Sunday’s Manny’s a changed man, here are some quotes from Dr. Thomas Gill regarding Jonathan Papelbon’s situation:
“You can’t go to the literature and look at 200 pitchers who have had transient subluxations and say half are starters and half are relievers and this half did better than that half,” Gill said. “That’s where my job comes into play. Whether it’s for baseball or something else, I have to figure out what physically and biologically makes the most sense.”
and
“The question they asked me was which makes the most sense, pitching as a starter or as a reliever,” Gill explained. “Obviously, as a starter you have five days, you have time to strengthen during the season and you have a routine. We have a great pitching program for the starters. Josh Beckett pitched 200 innings and that was because he followed the program. … It’s a routine that gives a guy time to recover.
“Nothing has been ruled in or ruled out, although we have had some internal discussions. I think we’re just going to wait and see how things go right now.”
and
“He’s done a phenomenal job,” Gill said of Papelbon. “There’s a couple of experiences that we can point to (involving other pitchers with similar injuries), but it was more of his anatomy, how the shoulder works, how the stability works and the dynamic stabilizers. You can put together a pretty good puzzle to make the whole picture and, based on scientific evidence, this makes the most sense.”
