Mulder examined, set for second opinion
PITTSBURGH — Cardinals lefthander Mark Mulder, searching for the answers that may mean the future of his career, had an exam with Cardinals medical officials Friday, and he will be sent for a second opinion Monday, team officials said.
Mulder got 16 pitches into his return as a starter before his twice repaired shoulder gave way on him and he had to leave Wednesday’s game before collecting a second out in the first inning. The lefthander had a magnetic resonance imaging scan taken of the joint Friday afternoon, and the Cardinals do not believe they will know what the results of that MRI are until Monday, at the earliest.
General manager John Mozeliak said there is “some urgency to getting an answer … so that we know what we can to address it.”
They will be looking for any structural reason his shoulder gave way, dropping his arm out of slot and refusing to allow him the shoulder rotation needed to pitch. Mulder has previously said he would be reluctant to have a third surgery on the shoulder.
“Concerned,” manager Tony La Russa said describing the mood of Mulder’s teammates. “We’ll get an answer soon enough, so might as well wait.”
Since 2006, Mulder has needed two shoulder surgeries to repair a problematic rotator cuff. He returned from the first surgery last September, but was only able to make three starts before requiring another surgery. Mulder went through two rehab assignments this season — the first one halted by stiffness in his shoulder and the second one resulted in a new arm slot and major-league return first as a reliever.
Here is The Post-Dispatch’s earlier article on Mulder, containing additional information on the background of his surgeries and attempts to return.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
when dealing with oakland, let the buyer beware! how many a’s have been traded only to break down too quickly? it would be interesting to compile a list. i maintain that this trend of overworking and thereby breaking down players at an early age started with billy ball in the early eighties. since then, not only pitchers but fielders too have broken down or spent an inordinate amount of time on the disabled list. is it possible the a’s have the best doctors and psychics in baseball? are they able to forecast injuries? i tend to think that a fault exists with the teams training regiment and well as the overworking the players. derrick, how many years have the a’s lead the league in innings pitched by starters? it would be interesting to know.
I have thought for a while now there is something the doctors have missed as to why Mulders shoulder will not function properly. That does not mean if its found it can be fixed, just it seems possible that something was missed.
I blew out my knee in HS and I had some torn cartilage that was missed on the initial surgury and then on 2 follow up surguries. On my 4th operation 17 years later, the last doctor caught it. He told me that he decided to take a second look when the cartilage tear he found did not match the complaint. He found a nasty tear and repaired it and my knee felt like new……after 17 full years of nasty pain. And do not think these were second rate doctors. The initial surgeon was the othopedist for the football Cardinals. The structure he rebuilt has stayed solid, he just missed the cartilage. He is still a leading othopedist today. Point being, maybe there is something that just hasnt been found yet.
I hope he will see Dr. Tim Krinchek, the doctor who finally fixed Scott Rolen’s shoulder. I am glad the Cardinals now encourage second opinions. Sometimes one doc sees something another doesn’t, and it also quiets the fan base. I am a doc who encourages second opinions because it typically boosts the patient’s confidence, and sometimes I learn something, too!
Now that Jaime Garcia was brought up to fill the roster spot left vacant by Mulder I’m not sure bringing up Jaime was the right thing to do. It is not that I don’t think potentially Garcia could be an ace at the major league level, I’m just not quite sure he has had enough time to develop. He has made 24 appearances on the AA level. In those 24 appearances he has amounted a win/loss total of 8 and 11. He has a .500 record at Memphis in just 12 starts. Jaime Garcia has a shot at being really good, but I’m afraid the Cards are looking to much into the present instead of thinking of the future. Right now there is a perfectly capable LHRP in Ron Flores. He has more appearances than Garcia at Memphis, and he is a veteran guy that could temporarily fill the void. I think you have to keep Garcia in Memphis,and either call up Garcia or try and go after a LHRP like George Sherrill or Brian Fuentes. DG, what do you think the asking price would be for either Sherrill or Fuentes? Seems to me that a guy like Bryan Anderson might bring one of the guys in to STL.
i saw a pretty good analysis on potential trade bait. some interesting names -
ed jackson, sp, rays
bill hall - used to play ss
george sherrill, lhrp
jake peavy, nuff said
padres don’t have a lot avail, but they really need outfielders, particularly cf. just seems there are many opportunities from major to minor trades. i think bill hall is pretty intriguing. he’s unhappy in milwaukee. don’t know if they’d trade in the division though it’s not totally unheard of to do so. i love this time of year!
I agree with Roger from Tahoe. Billy has incredible timing when it comes to off loading damaged goods. The thing with Mulder is a mystery, however. I know a former MLB pitcher who said that Mulder was a good as he had ever see pitch from the left side. I just wonder what happened? As my friend said (as did LaRussa), the man is nails. It’s a shame that this happened.
The one question I have, which no one has asked, is this: Are Duncan’s teaching methods and mechanics sound? Look at our pitching rotation. Izzy, hip; Mulder, shoulder x 3; Wainwright, finger; Carp, elbow. There’s no pattern, I admit, but that’s because each man is different. Duncan may have once been a great savior of the oft-injured, but the one thing that remains consistent is that these GREAT pitchers (and they all at one time were great pitchers), keep having these injuries under Duncan’s watch.
I wish Tony would have kept him in the pen the rest of the season. They rushed him along. Starting puts many more reps on an arm than relieving and Mark’s arm wasn’t quite strong enough.
Out of the four names that Roger from Tahoe mentioned, I think the only name that would be realistic would be Sherrill. Obviously other than an impact bat the Cards biggest need is LHRP. Sherrill could step in immediatly and keep this team in contention for the wild card race. Sherrill has been dominant this season he has K’d 43 batters in 29.2 innings pitched these season. If the Cardinals are talking with the O’s about Sherrill then I would have to think they would consider Raz, Garcia, and maybe even Joey Bombs untouchable.
Another name I find interesting is that of Bill Hall. Hall I know is a guy with alot of potential, and He would add some pop to the middle infield, but really since is so awful against RHP I would think that bringing him in would still cause their to be four 2B/SS platooning together. Hall is hitting a lowly .185 against rightys. Also, with the teams seperated by such a narrow margin I doubt the Brewers would trade Hall.
I don’t think there is any way the Padres trade Peavy without receiving something like a Raz. It is certainly worth looking into Peavy though. I propose this: packaging up Ank, Bryan Anderson , and Anthony Reyes for Jake Peavy. Your getting a center fielder that runs well and can cover that spacious center in San Diego, Bryan Anderson who some day might be a guy that could hit 20 HRs and play very good D, and then Reyesa potentially being used from the pen or as a back of the rotation starter.
Trade Ankiel??? Ankiel has way more potential than Rasmus.
If we don’t cut bait with Mulder now then I will always call him Donovan Osbourne. He’s done and has been done for a long time.