http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4766970.html By BRIAN McTAGGART Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Complete Astros coverage Righthander Fernando Nieve, who nearly won a spot in the Astros' starting rotation out of spring training, was diagnosed today with a partial tear of the right ulnar collateral ligament. Nieve, who is 1-3 with a 6.23 ERA in five starts this season at Class AAA Round Rock, will seek a second opinion from orthopaedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala. “He said it’s been bothering him the last couple of starts,” Astros general manager Tim Purpura. Nieve was forced to leave his most recent start Saturday after 4 2/3 innings with elbow trouble. Nieve was on the disabled list last year with a hyperextended right elbow and battled elbow problems all spring. No wonder he sucked this year. Garner likely feels stupid for calling him out two weeks ago when he said Albers spot shound be Nieve if he took care of business.
Nieve dominated in his first start and went down hill from there. This makes sense because he should be dominating AAA. I thought he should have made the team. I'm glad Sampson did, but Nieve was a little more proven at the time. Hopefully he gets this fixed and gets back.
He called him out because he sulked big-time when they told him he was going to AAA. They commented on this before he even pitched a game down there. Sure, it didn't help that his performance was lacking... but he was still making it known how angry he was. Maybe he should have told somebody his elbow was sore, instead of being angry about not being on the big club.
I saw his last outing in RR, and he could not throw a strike...his walks killed em. Now it makes sense. DD
Not Tommy John, but the same surgery that Pettite and Wagner had to have. He'll be out for the year, but the recovery time is shorter than Tommy John.
Just another opposing streak away from leading the NL central again.. based on the streaky nature so far, it seems more likely than not.
Not me yet. When the Rockets are finally finished (hopefully late June), then it'll really start to hurt.
Most likely. Backe tried the "rest & rehab" approach. Didn't work. Andrews, who performed about 150 UCL reconstructions in the last year, says the success rate for major league pitchers is about 85%.... Ten years ago, doctors were more likely to recommend rest for a partial ligament tear. The numbers now favor surgery. "The (non-surgical) success rate healing these partial tears is a lot lower than we initially thought," [Dr. James] Andrews says. "It's at best a 50-50 chance they'll heal with conservative treatment." Read the whole article, it's good. This caught my eye, as I've voiced concerns about Backe rushing back from his surgery: The successful patients cite two important caveats: Don't go too fast, and don't ignore your shoulder as you rehabilitate the elbow. If you let it rip as soon as you think the arm feels ready, you'll be visiting Birmingham or Los Angeles again. "A lot of guys feel so good after seven or eight months (they want to pitch), but the graft is not ready to withstand the force they generate," [Dr. Lewis] Yocum says. "The key is not to push yourself. Just stay with the program," says Chicago White Sox reliever Tom Gordon, who had the surgery in December 1999. "You're not rehabbing for one (more) year. You're rehabbing to come back and make a career out of this thing." http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2003-07-28-cover-tommy-john_x.htm
