Strained Oblique Turns Into Broken Rib

Just got in from work. I've been sneezing all day. Working with second-graders while you're in the middle of a full-blown allergy meltdown is a little like a hang over. Anyway, get home and turn on YES and see Mike and the Angry Puppy talking to Joe Girardi. Here's the thing. Joe Girardi is saying something about Phil Hughes being out until July with a stress fracture of the rib.

Glorious day, what else do you have in store?

One thing of note about our hero Hughes: He sure seems injury-prone.

Comments

[Dionysus]

Man, that sucks for the kid. Tough luck.

[colonel gentleman]

The second coming of Mark Prior.

[SF]

Pete Abe also reports this:

"Phil is also going to see an eye specialist tomorrow"

I am 99% sure he's serious, but in the context of Hughes' injuries it's hard to know that it's not just sarcasm.

[sf rod]

hope girardi is being dishonest about it.

[Nick -YF]

indeed, he is seeing an eye specialist for night vision problems.

[attackgerbil]

As anyone knows who has had either, broken ribs/strained obliques can be excruciating. I do hope he recovers well.

[Dionysus]

I'm kinda dissappointed that its less liekly we'll get a Awesomeness matchup of Hughes vs Buchholz this season. I was looking forward to that. As much as I dont like the Yankees ahvign, y'know, talent.. I hate seeing kids have injury issues.

[Dionysus]

Also, Im geting more intruiged by the state of the Yankees Front Office. You can say all you want about withholding information from other teams, but to go from him beign healthy to a strained oblique to a fractured rib in 24 hours is suspecious and seems disorganized. Could they really not have known about the rib when Girardi announced the oblique? If they knew why not jsut say it? If they DIDN'T why didnt they? Are communication lines beign crossed?

[Brad]

I agree..He's hurt a lot.

[dc]

thanks to those of you who are being gracious about another team's player being injured...nice move...but i think the injury report is all lies...lies, i tell you...actually, about the eyes, i heard/read a rumor that he is having trouble seeing at night...not good...

[Dionysus]

Yeah we all heard about that. Especially those of us courageous enoguh to brave Lohud. Still.. the eyes? Really? The problem is this: If it IS soemthing weirder/more minor than a rib fracture and it clears up quickly somehow... they will eithe rhave to have him sit out longer to fit with a rib timeline, or bring him back and take upon MASSIVE amounts of public scorn from fans and sports media.

A rib fracture is severe enough that I actually think its true. I'm just wonderign why it took this long to be revealed

[sam-yf]

This information reveals a number of things:

1) Phil is actually hurt. There was so much talk here and other places of this being a phantom injury. This (hopefully) is a case of the injury causing poor performance, not poor performance causing a fake injury.
2) Girardi may very well have not known about this injury last night. Stress fractures of all kinds are very difficult to diagnose especially in a non-load bearing bone like a rib. He isnt necessarily lying when he tells the press that he doesnt know what is gonna happen or what the status is. Its well within his and the organization's right to sit on info until it its clear what the situation is.
3) The yankees are in a spot of trouble now. I guess we can start falling back on the injury excuse (a la Sox '06) but I remain optimistic that we can work through this.
4) Phil Hughes could still actually be a good pitcher. (assuming he stays healthy)

[SF]

I guess we can start falling back on the injury excuse (a la Sox '06)

Both sides can play at this game, I guess, with the subtle jibes perhaps not meant to mean anything but that could be interpreted as antagonistic. I think, at this point, we should all just let our skin leather up a little and assume that these kinds of comments are going to be par for the course at a site like ours. I suggest, or plead rather, that no Sox fans retort to sam's line, since it's impossible to know how he meant it.

That being said, I don't wish the Sox' injuries from 2006 on anyone's team. But if they do happen, it's a legitimate explanation for a team's troubles. How can it not be?

[Atheose]

I've had a cracked rib before, and it IS excruciating. Can't breath, can't sleep on your side... it was the most miserable few weeks of my life.

[sf rod]

"This (hopefully) is a case of the injury causing poor performance.."

he hurt it sneezing/coughing this week. it doesn't really answer the poor performance issues for the first 5 starts.

[sam-yf]

SF - Honestly no antagonism meant. I do believe that the injuries had a major effect on the Sox in 06. My point was a valid excuse then is the same now (especially if posada is out long term). Anyway, by no means do I want to open this can of worms. So please ignore me if any SFs took this as insulting/antagonistic!

[Brad]

had a cracked rib before, and it IS excruciating. Can't breath, can't sleep on your side... it was the most miserable few weeks of my life.

I agree. I was once hit with a pitch in college that caused a stress fracuture in my rib cage (though not number nine). You can't do anything, much less pitch. Phil's pain tolerance must just be through the roof considering he was just pitching with such a painful injury. This leads me to believe none of it.
Not to play devil's advocate, but really, I couldn't even swallow without pain, so I can't see how he did it.

[sam-yf]

Brad, I think that the pain level varies with the rib that is cracked.

[Brad]

probably right, Sam.

[Nick -YF]

Brad, Girardi also thought it was remarkable. He didn't understand how Hughes could pitch with fractured rib, said he must have an unbelievable pain threshold. To me it points out how much pressure Hughes felt/feels to succeed.