SAN DIEGO – Braves reliever Jose Ramirez has an impingement in his pitching shoulder and will remain on the disabled list indefinitely.
The right-hander went on the 10-day DL April 18 with shoulder inflammation, and was getting closer toward returning before a setback Saturday when pain flared in his first time throwing batting practice at the team’s training camp in Florida.
He stopped 18 pitches into the session and was flown to Atlanta to be checked out Monday by the Braves chief physician, Dr. Gary Lourie.
“I guess the impingement – tendinitis or whatever -- just bit him again, and now they’ll just work to calm that down and start the process again,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “They’ve done MRIs, they never show anything structurally bad or anything. It’s just the impingement or tendinitis that’s grabbing again. But the MRIs are good when they’ve done them.”
A shoulder impingement occurs when tendons of the rotator cuff muscles become inflamed or irritated. It can cause pain and weakness in the shoulder.
Snitker’s concern for Ramirez is noticeable whenever he discusses the pitcher, who had begun to establish himself as a 26-year-old rookie with the Braves in 2016 and was expected to be a key setup man this season after an impressive 2017 season when he posted a 3.19 ERA in 68 appearances with 56 strikeouts in 62 innings.
“It’s just kind of a shame, but let’s back off and do what they do to calm everything down and start it up again.”
Ramirez has a 17.05 ERA and .321 opponents’ average in seven appearances this season and went on the DL after being charged with five hits, nine runs and five walks in just 1 1/3 innings over consecutive appearances April 14 and April 17. The first of those outings coming in wet, freezing conditions at Wrigley Field that most involved agreed were the worst they’d ever seen for a major league game.
Ramirez said the shoulder was stiff at times since spring training but got a lot worse the last couple of appearances before he went on the DL. He allowed one hit and no walks with two strikeouts in 3 1/3 scoreless innings over his three appearances before the April 14 game at Wrigley Field.
While the news from his check-up could have been far worse, the impingement diagnosis can be frustrating as there’s no timetable for a return.
“I don’t know that it’s definable,” Snitker said of an impingement, which can be caused by several conditions. “There’s enough in there that he knows it’s bothering him. And he was feeling so good (in rehab) too.
“But like I say, you put a hitter up there and things have a tendency to amp up a little bit and the effort’s a little more. I just hope for his sake that he can get it to calm down and get back.
“We’re not ruling out anything, we’re just going to keep working with him and hopefully he can get back to pitching again.”
