DEL.ICIO.USBraves Tom Glavine quickly returns to DL
Veteran’s season, career possibly over
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, August 15, 2008
Tom Glavine’s comeback bid took an abrupt turn when the 42-year-old Braves left-hander went back on the disabled list Friday with recurring elbow pain, casting doubt on his ability to pitch again this season or beyond.
“We don’t know,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said, when asked about the outlook for this season. “It’s a setback, at this point. We don’t know enough at this point [to say more].”
Ben Gray/Bgray@ajc.com
Was Friday’s disappointing performance the last time we’ll see Tom Glavine on the mound at Turner Field?
The DL move came less than 24 hours after he was activated from the DL to start Thursday night against the Cubs. He lasted four innings and was charged with seven runs, seven hits and four walks in the loss.
Until he’s examined by the team orthopedist, and probably by specialist Dr. James Andrews, it won’t be known whether Glavine can reasonably expect to pitch again this season or if he’ll need surgery to continue his career.
Glavine wasn’t available for comment. His wife was scheduled to have a minor operation Friday, and manager Bobby Cox told the pitcher not to worry about coming to Turner Field until the weekend.
The left-hander’s setback was the latest disappointing turn in a Braves season filled with them.
“Getting old is hell, I can attest,” said oft-injured third baseman Chipper Jones, 36. “You could tell last night that it wasn’t there. When you throw your fastball in the low 80s, something’s just not right. …
“When you turn 40 in real life, you’re 100 in baseball. He pitched well past 40. He and some other pitchers are freaks of nature.”
Glavine, a 305-game winner and two-time former Cy Young Award winner, has told people with the Braves that he would probably retire rather than have “Tommy John” ligament-transplant surgery, but would consider surgery if it were a procedure to clean up scar tissue, an operation that might permit him to return in the spring. John Smoltz had surgery to clean up scar tissue in his elbow immediately after the 2004 season and was ready the following spring.
In June, Glavine was diagnosed with a partially torn flexor tendon near the elbow. He spent two months on the DL before coming back Thursday after two minor-league rehab starts.
Glavine wasn’t sharp Thursday and threw his fastball in the low-80 mph range, a few ticks off his early season velocity. Afterward Glavine said, “It’s a little sore now. See how it feels tomorrow and the next day. It felt the same as it felt in my two rehab starts.”
On Friday, Wren said, “It was a little more soreness than he’s had in the past. … I think his performance was a reflection of how he was feeling.”
The decision to return him to the DL was made Friday, when it was clear he might not be ready for his next start.
“I don’t know if he really wanted to go on [the DL], but we’re in a bind right now,” said Cox, who added that didn’t know who would take Glavine’s next scheduled rotation turn on Tuesday against the New York Mets.
It’s the third DL stint this season for Glavine, who was never on the DL in 21 seasons before this one. Four-fifths of the Braves’ opening day rotation has been on the DL, and Smoltz and Tim Hudson had season-ending arm surgeries.
Glavine is 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 13 starts, the exact record and ERA he posted as a Braves rookie in 1987. He spent the past five seasons with the New York Mets before coming “home” on a one-year, $8 million contract.
In 62 starts from the beginning of the 2006 season until Sept. 8, 2007, he was 28-13 with a 3.88 ERA in 380 1/3 innings, averaging over six innings per start.
In 17 starts since then, he’s 2-6 with a 6.42 ERA in 81 1/3 innings, averaging barely 4 2/3 innings per start.
The Braves filled his roster spot by purchasing the contract of right-hander Matt DeSalvo from Class AAA Richmond to provide depth for a fatigued bullpen. DeSalvo won’t start for Atlanta, Cox said. He was 2-11 with a 4.60 ERA in 32 games (seven starts) at Richmond.
