MLB Injury News and Analysis: 2/22/09

Another weekend, more injury news.

Toby Hall is planning on having surgery on his right shoulder soon in order to correct a labrum tear and instability. Having surgery means he’ll be out a minimum of four months, which obviously limits whatever fantasy value he had previously.

This is most likely a result of dislocating his shoulder at the end of spring training in 2007. He never got surgery on it back then and it was probably was the cause of his shoulder pain and soreness over the last couple of years. The four-month timeline puts him back around the end of June.

Tim Redding’s off-season surgery on a calcium deposit under his second toe is now limiting him “indefinitely” because of his slow recovery. This will obviously put him behind schedule progressing his arm strength and put his spot in the Mets’ rotation in serious jeopardy.

My thoughts go out to Jason Johnson, who has been diagnosed with cancer of the right retina in his eye. Thankfully, it has a 98 percent success rate with the treatment, and then he can’t pitch for two weeks. This shouldn’t set him back too much in camp, thanks to WBC.

Andy LaRoche is still dealing with back spasms. This is somewhat troubling, as back spasms are usually related to other things, such as Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD), a bulging disc, pinched nerves, etc. The Pirates are taking it slow, making sure not to push him too hard and suffer a setback.

Chris Carpenter pitched against hitters Sunday, which is a very good sign. He was reportedly throwing curveballs and sinkers. If he was throwing them well, it is an encouraging sign for the Cardinals. This also means that Carpenter is on target to start the season like the rest of the starters. I would still monitor his health throughout the spring to see if his shoulder is fully healed, though.

Finally, Jeff Francis will undergo surgery on his shoulder on Wednesday to repair a torn labrum. I hope everyone listened to me when I told them to beware of this situation.  He’ll miss the entire season and hopefully he can regain some of the promise that he had in previous seasons.

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