Paul Janish and Corky Miller
David O'Brien has an update on Paul Janish.
Backup shortstop Paul Janish had surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder shortly after the season ended. The Braves say he’s progressing well in his recovery and is expected to return in April.
...Janish had suffered shoulder subluxation (partial dislocation) multiple times in his career, but on Sept. 18 his shoulder dislocated to the point that it had to be manipulated back into place. Janish said he was diagnosed with a torn labrum.
Yikes. Torn labrums are bad news for baseball players. But as O'Brien notes, it's his non-throwing arm. Still...he won't be ready by spring training. That's kind of a bummer.
Labels: Paul Janish
"RM" posted this link in a comment in an earlier post. Pretty wild!
RM also noted that Janish is in one scene. I think I spotted it. It's this photo, or a similar one:
That's him on the left.
I wasn't sure it was him at first. He was so thin back then, his face looked a lot more angular. When I looked closer, though, I recognized him.
The backwards cap is the clincher. He did that after Reds clinched in 2010 and after the Braves clinched this year, too.
Pretty lousy night for baseball tonight. The Cards game had a four hour rain delay. Yanks game was postponed until tomorrow. That means they lose their travel day, but with the way the Yanks are playing, that might not be an issue.
Labels: Paul Janish
This post-season has been a crushing disappointment in so many ways. I haven't posted much lately because I hardly know what to say about it.
I agree with Joe Posnanski; baseball is about the daily, six month slog. The playoffs seem ill-suited to baseball, where short series and small sample sizes mean anything can happen. As someone else said, the regular season is a marriage, the playoffs are a one-night stand. It's a crapshoot. Especially now, with the one-game play-in.
And boy, has that been demonstrated. The Braves don't have to worry about whether Paul Janish is healthy enough to play in the postseason, because they did not make it past the Cardinals. They were six games up on the Cards in the standings, but it did them no good. They lost the one-game play-in, with their ace on the mound (who wasn't bad, just not quite as good as he had been), and three errors from the best infield in baseball. Oh, and a truly terrible call from the left field umpire.
Janish's old team, the Reds, are also on the sidelines now. Up 2-0, they lost the short 5-game series after losing three in a row at home...despite having the second best record in baseball. Losing their ace, Johnny Cueto, was a big reason why.
The Yankees are still in it, but they have an uphill climb after losing the first two at home. Already the series has included a call so bad the umpire actually admitted he was wrong (and so did the player who was out but called safe). Even worse, Derek Jeter broke his ankle and is done for the year. I just knew watching it that it was bad, and that he wasn't coming back. The usually stoic Jeter screamed in pain, and had to be carried off the field. It was very reminiscent of the play where Janish dislocated his shoulder. Like Janish, Jeter threw the ball toward second base - head in the game, even though he was lying on the ground in agony.
Nothing that can be done about freak injuries and vicissitudes of luck, of course, but this postseason has been so aggravating it seems something must be done. It just seems grossly unfair.
So what, within the bounds of reality, can be done? I really wish they'd go to 7-game series for every round of the playoffs. That's probably not possible, with the WBC and all, but maybe they could have some doubleheaders or something.
The one-game play-in is an anathema, and should be eliminated. Either go back to the old system, or play at least three games. (Though that, too, could extend the season too much, given the possibility of tiebreaker games.)
And the officiating...that seems like the easiest to fix. First, do not have extra umpires on the field. It causes more problems than it fixes, because there are no left field and right field umpires in the regular season. They are playing out of position in the postseason, so it's not a surprise that they get calls wrong. Second, we need replay. Something like the NFL system, perhaps. Let each manager have one or two challenges per game, and don't let them challenge balls and strikes. As Joe Girardi pointed out, that would probably delay the game less than waiting for managers to "get their money's worth" and having to spend 20 minutes cleaning up trash thrown on the field by irate fans.
Crazy postseason this year. Between the extra wild card and the closeness of several races, it's still not clear who is going to play whom and where.
The Braves will be playing Friday, though, in the NL one-game wild card play-in. Alas, Paul Janish will not be on the roster.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said on Sept. 22:
It’s uncertain if Janish will play again this season even if the Braves advance deep into the postseason.
“There’s an outside chance that in 2-1/2 to three weeks we may get him back,” Gonzalez said Saturday.
The news
wasn't any better a few days later:
Shortstop Paul Janish is another injury concern of the Braves. He’s rehabbing his left shoulder, which he dislocated on Sept. 18 against the Marlins, in the hopes that he can delay surgery until the offseason and be available to play for the Braves during the playoffs.
Gonzalez said at the earliest Janish might return for the Division Series, but it’s a long shot.
“It’s going to be a stretch,” Gonzalez said. “It’ll be touch and go.”
Sounds like Fredi considers it unlikely that Janish will be ready in time. Man, that's a bummer. Janish probably wouldn't get to play much if at all, but still...that's a shame. Postseason chances don't come along every year.
I guess we'll find out soon. Today is the two week point. They must have some idea of the rehab is going. And they'll have to set their roster for the NLDS this Saturday.
Labels: Paul Janish
