Always have been
interesting article on Pedro in one of the newspapers I was looking at in Santo Domingo this morning. Said that 90% of the pitchers that have had rotor cuff surgery have not pitched in the major leagues again. It said that pitchers who rely on a fast ball are especially unlikely to regain former form.
Article said that the injury pitchers fear the most is a torn rotor cuff.
The list of big-name pitchers that didn't make it back to the majors is long. Odds are clearly against Pedro, unfortunately.
Pedro wasn't ever considered anything special until he landed in Montreal and really started his career. As a whispy twig he wasn't ever considered to be worth hanging onto by his original team.
I've torn my labrum before, and to see him lift his right arm and wave to the fans today surprised me - as effortlessly as he did. Anything with lifting my arm above my chest was excruciating. I had to stop waving to my fans until I was fixed.
Although I've always enjoyed playing doctor, I'm not licensed, but if he can do that, I don't *think* it can be all that severe of a tear.
Nonetheless - and my point being - he's been a finesse pitcher as much as anything else, and he's as smart as they get.
I wouldn't bet against him, and seeing him raise his arm like that gives me pause to even write off 07 for him, but time will tell.
He likes challenges, but I wonder if at his age he has the fire left to do the work needed to get his arm healthy and to - essentially - go back to square 1 and start the rebuilding process and learning what he has, and how he can use that to be an effective ML pitcher.
I sure hope we see him back and competing soon.