Doctors Don't Recommend Justin Verlander Throw Through Pain Of Triceps Strain
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) - He has yet to pitch this season, and doctors this week finally revealed just what's wrong with injured Detroit Tigers' pitcher Justin Verlander.
It was confirmed through an MRI to be a triceps strain — which Henry Ford Hospital Orthopedic Surgeon Bill Moutzouros says comes with a significant amount of pain.
"We don't usually recommend throwing through the pain," Moutzouros told WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeill.
"It can lead to other injury. So really — especially in a high-level baseball pitcher — you don't want them to be just throwing through pain," he said. "It can lead to a lot of injury related to the shoulder and other ligaments related to the elbow."
Moutzouros said Verlander may be able to throw more pitches some days than others as he tries to make it back, and that's normal.
But, depending on the level of inflammation, he might not be back on the mound for a while.
"There's nothing to be said that with muscle strain that he can't get back to where he was," Moutzouros said, barring any additional problems. "It does take time, though. People are fairly impatient sometimes and think that things are going to get better in a week or two, and in this high level of pitching it's more than a week or two sometimes," Moutzouros said.
"This is the most elite level of athlete, and you wanna be performing at a rate where you can throw as hard as you possibly can and control the pitches you're throwing," he added. "So, something as minor as a triceps strain, or any inflammation around the elbow or shoulder, can lead to missing significant time in a baseball pitcher."
Detroit Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand said Monday that, in the meantime, Verlander will be undergoing daily treatment.