I prefer Nico de Gallo, myself.

Is that weird?

it’s not guaranteed he’s hurt.

Not that it matters much, but I think Patterson (not Outman) was shipped with Gallagher and Donaldson.

Their division lead is down to 4.5 games, with a month to go.

The manager has more contact with the player than GM.

I think there’s some real injury.

As you say, only blind faith despite the evidence would lead someone to the conclusion that “Hey, he’s totally healthy, there’s nothing to worry about.”

On the other hand, it would be equally erroneous to conclude “He’s done for the season.” In fact, Rich had two similarly troubling five-inning starts at the close of his tenure with the A’s, leading many to believe he’d go to the DL soon after the trade. Instead, his numbers in his 9 starts since the trade: 54 IP, 9 ER, 31 H, 18 BB, 75 K.

…then I want the Cubs or Indians (in different years, of course) to win… and push the Giants to the back of the pack with the longest WS drought.

I just hope that Cubs fans don’t turn into a bunch of arrogant f*&ks like Red Sox’ fans did.

When Rich had that first bad outing on Aug 13, the Bleed Cubbie Blue’rs were all “HE’S FINE HE’S FINE HE’S FINE” and I was the only dissenter… When Rich did it again on Aug 29, many BCB’ers went all “HE’S INJURED!”. I stayed out of it that time.

It was funny to see them all denying that Wood would hit the DL last month, even as ESPN continued to report that Wood was ALREADY ON the DL.

“I may experience discomfort” or “this may pinch a little” I know I will soon be sending blood-curdling screams into the next county.

After three days of dancing around the questions and being sternly non-specific, Cubs manager Lou Piniella finally said Wednesday that starter Rich Harden has ’’discomfort’’ in his pitching arm, which is why the Cubs chose now to skip him a full turn in the rotation.

Harden confirmed Piniella’s description but insisted the discomfort in his right shoulder is ‘’nothing serious’’ and that — contrary to what Piniella said — he could have taken his turn if the team wanted.

‘’Look, if he were available to pitch today, or tomorrow, or the next day, why would we wait for St. Louis?’’ Piniella said when pressed on the reason for Harden being given 11 days between starts. ’’Doesn’t that make sense? He’s not available right now is all I’m trying to tell you. And he’s going to be available for the St. Louis series.’’

Pressed again, Piniella revealed the ‘’discomfort.’’

Harden, who denied Tuesday he was feeling pain in his arm, was asked if that was accurate.

‘’No, I’ve been feeling pretty good,‘’ he said. ’’[…] but I’ve had a little bit of, I guess you could call it discomfort, but nothing serious.’’

-misses a start, but it really isn’t an issue, just discomfort, or tenderness.
-next start pushed back 2 days as a precautionary move.
-goes on the 15 day DL. It isn’t necessary, but the team needs a spot starter. The plan is that he will come off and start the first day he is eligible.
-Has a set back in a throwing session from 200 feet and is advised to shut all throwing down for 2 more weeks, then begin a slow rehab process.
-2 months later he will begin throwing again.

While I hope this is not the case now, that is what we saw each time.

Harden has had several stints on the DL and a few other times like this one when he “didn’t feel quite right,” including just before the trade. But he has never needed surgery, and I only remember one time when he went out there and obviously shouldn’t have been (his one start in between times on the DL last July).

Some people take this to mean that he’s just afraid to pitch through any discomfort at all, while others think that he must have some underlying serious problem that is going to finally blow up and require surgery soon. I’m not really convinced either way, and in the last year or so pretty much resigned myself to the attitude of “don’t expect too much, but enjoy what you get.”

I think what Rich says to the media depends in large part on how he feels he’s being treated (in both senses of the word) by the front office and medical/training staff. If Rich’s arm is hanging on by shreds of tendon and skin and his bones are throwing up sparks, but the team doctors/trainers are respecting Rich’s opinion/feedback on his own health, he’ll say he’s fine. If there’s only the most minor/usual discomfort that every MLB pitcher experiences, but Piniella and the coaches are telling him to man up and rub some dirt on it, then Rich will be more likely to approach or respond to the media with more openness about every little detail of sensation in his arm.

This is the same type of road we went down many times with him. “Oh a little discomfort in my shoulder”.
All of a sudden his elbow doesn’t feel quite right and he is gone for 3 months.

Everyone bangs on Billy for trading away a lot for nothing but I have to say I am glad that we have what we have in Patterson and Gallagher and a potential trade piece in Murton down the road.

1. He tends not to try to play through injuries; or it arguable that he tries to play through initially, but quickly stops until he feels completely right. It seems as though he expresses more candor about what he is feeling to the team than to the media.

2. In the past, that has led to long DL stints, most of which were initially reported as minor, some of which it was even reported afterwards that he would make his next start, and then the next one, etc. Will that happen this time? That would not be a surprise, but on the other hand, who knows… No one has told us what the injury (or "discomfort") is, and he hasn’t had the same injury twice so far. So I don’t think one can really infer that this time will be like prior times.

3. That has not really come up, as his injuries have happened in the first half of the season, never at crucial times. My guess would be that he would try to pitch in the playoffs while experiencing arm pain, because he is both very competitive, and at this point concerned for his reputation, which is related to the fact that pitching in the playoffs vs. not pitching likely could stakes of tens of millions of dollars for him. There have been a decent number of times where he’s been less effective due to injury issues, but really just one or two where he’s been ineffective or worse than average.

I am going to be supremely pissed.