Disjointed

The Cardinals’ $63.5 million ace is having some elbow problems:

Cardinals staff ace Chris Carpenter was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday after an MRI exam in St. Louis revealed arthritis and a previously undiscovered impingement in his right elbow.

Ouch. That doesn’t bode well for the team’s immediate future. We may be looking at a month’s worth of starts from Carl Showalter doppelganger Randy Keisler.

But what about the long-term prognosis? Curiosity got the better of me, so I asked an expert, which of course means Google. You can learn a lot from our Google overlords. For example:

The elbow is a complex joint consisting of 3 true joints that function as 1 joint.

I did not know that. But what I do know is that the human body is not built to throw a 5-ounce sphere 100 or more times during the course of two to three hours once every five days. The above-referenced article confirms that:

Activity involving forceful elbow extension can cause triceps tendinosis or posterior impingement syndrome. Any activity that causes increased valgus stress on the elbow can cause ulnar nerve injury, posterior impingement syndrome, or olecranon stress fractures. These injuries are common in throwing sports and overhead racquet sports.

Bingo. Posterior impingement syndrome. Which actually sounds vaguely dirty. So what is Carp looking at? Looks like rest and some Aleve:

Rest does not mean cessation of activity, which can lead to deconditioning, but rather modified activity, which does not aggravate the injury. … Medications used include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and, very rarely, corticosteroids.

The article doesn’t give any sort of concrete timetable for return but says the outlook is good as long as he isn’t rushed back.

Prognosis of most overuse injuries is very good, as long as a thorough rehabilitation program is completed.

Sounds good. Oh, what the hell… I’ll bust out the old sign. It worked well enough last year.