Uncertain future
“He’s facing a lot right now,” Cashman said. “I can’t tell you, really, anything more than something unfortunate happened. We’re in the very early information side of this thing.”
The somber tone of yesterday’s Yankee camp reflected the news of a gruesome injury to a well-liked teammate. We can question the wisdom of Joba’s decision all we want, especially after the fact. I would imagine that Joba was unaware (as I was) just how many people are injured annually on trampolines. While I don’t think it’s unfair to chastise a professional athlete for putting his body at risk unnecessarily, or perhaps recklessly, I also don’t want to pile on a father who was simply spending time with his son. Freak accidents are just that, and can happen to anyone. I think the most important question on the minds of Yankee fans that needs to be answered right now is what is his prognosis, and what would be a reasonable time frame for him to return to the mound, if ever. I’ll be up front in saying I don’t have any medical background, I’m simply passing along the information I’ve been able to gather based on what little we currently know.
In searching the BP injury database, there are no injuries quite like Joba’s. There are a plethora of players who’ve had ankle sprains, but that’s not remotely comparable to this. In recent years three other MLB players have sustained broken ankles, namely , and . Bernadino was hurt on 4/19/09 missed the rest of the season and came back the following year without any apparent effects. Drew suffered his injury on 7/20/11 and most recent reports say he will for opening day, more than 8 months after the incident. Ordonez suffered his injury on 7/25/10 and missed the rest of the year. He played the following season and was a shell of his former self, though its difficult to know whether that was the lingering effect of the injury or due to his then-36 years of age. You may be wondering where the most famous ankle injury in recent years is, namely that of Kendrys Morales. BP has the injury listed as a “broken lower left leg” that involved ankle surgery, so it appears he had bone fractures that went beyond the ankle itself. He suffered the injury 5/30/10 and was experiencing toe soreness that kept him out of all of 2011 as well. As we know, he’s just coming back now after missing close to 2 seasons.
But those cases may or may not be comparable. Joba’s injury was an open ankle dislocation. It leaves him prone to infection and changes nature of the injury, the treatment and recovery time involved. We don’t know if there are any broken bones involved, or if this is just a clean tear of the ligaments. According to the West Point Ankle Sprain Grading system, a complete tear of the ligaments involves up to 26 weeks of recovery time, or roughly six months before the patient is able to resume athletic activities. But the article goes on to say that “While most ankle sprains will heal without complication, 20% of all sprains will lead to further chronic instability.” Any instability will likely spell the end of Joba’s career. It’s his right foot, the one he uses to toe the rubber, so any instability there would be a serious issue. The article goes on to say that most cases of chronic instability are ones where the ankle is left to heal on its own. We know that Joba will receive nothing but the best of medical care. He’s already had surgery and we can rest assured he will rehab the area under professional supervision. The fact that it happened in March gives him about a full year to recover, and in some scenarios that would be enough time. But without knowing all the specifics of the injury its impossible to say if he will be ready for next year, if ever.
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@YankeesWFAN: Joba could be released from hospital today. He told Cashman that dr said he could step on a mound by July. But MRI results not back yet.
Good news, sounds like nothing’s broken.
Here is a Mets fan view on Joba’s injury. Pretty disgusting if you ask me.
“Just when you want to root for Joba Chamberlain and believe he’s turned his career around, you see another example about why he isn’t serious about his career or health. What he did last night was childish and irresponsible. Personally, I think it was stupid. He also put his son’s safety at risk.”
http://nybaseballdigest.com/
Unfortunately, this was a freak accident. How many people do you know that jump on treadmills and have life threatening ankle sprains? I guarantee there is a much greater chance of getting into a car accident or airplane accident. Does that mean teams should ban players from driving or flying?
Joba’s talent was largely diluted by the Yankees’ decisions with his career. It isn’t time to use such a horrific accident to use him as a scapegoat. To call a man stupid and careless for playing with his son on a treadmill is very ignorant.
I agree. I saw Mr. “Paint on the sock” Schilling on baseball tonight saying the same thing about doubting Joba’s work ethic, dedication to the game, and smarts over this thing. He ended up saying “this proves Joba just doesn’t get it”. What are you not aloud to play with your son now because you play baseball?
I remember Moises Alou severely dislocating his ankle rounding first base. The look on his face was haunting. A full grown man reduced to the panic of a child. Yankee 1st round draft pick Brian Buchanan also suffered a severe ankle dislocation. The only thing that saved his foot was a orthopedic surgeon listening to the game and being a step ahead when he got to the hospital. http://articles.nydailynews.com/1997-07-07/sports/18052706_1_norwich-navigators-major-leagues-aa-norwich
This is kind of a funny situation, and I want to put this as delicately as I can.
Any real concern I have is for Joba the person, whom I like, despite his misadventures and ups and downs over the last five years.
From a baseball standpoint, the Yankees have lost a right handed middle reliever. You can stick your hand out the window in baseball and hit half a dozen right handed middle relievers. From a professional standpoint, I don’t particularly care what becomes of Joba after thus year, because I don’t think it matters. For numerous reasons, mainly horrendous mismanagement by the Yankees, but also problems out of anyone’s control, Joba was no better than fourth on the bullpen depth chart *before* this. That guy is not hard to replace.
I’d like to see Joba come back and be a valuable piece for *someone* for his own sake, though. You never want something like this to be the last you hear of them, especially someone you were a big fan of.
@LoHudYankees: Joba’s tests show no microfractures; out of hospital tomorrow myIUSqHK #yankees
Sounds like the prognosis is a little better than expected. I’m still not expecting to see him in the majors before August-September, but it sounds like we might be able to walk back some of the initial hysteria about the injury being career-threatening.
I’m beginning to wonder if the diagnosis of “open dislocation” was accurate. We have since found out that he DIDN’T lose a ‘life threatening’ amount of blood, now we’re hearing that he could resume throwing in 4 months, not 6.
In any case, if we get to see him on a mound before the end of the year it would be great. That would be one of the feel-good stories of the year.