Sheets injury

[wags6817]

If all the teams in your league only keep 3 players, I would never worry about keeping a pitcher, I would just go get one in the draft.

Off your team I would keep Bay, Jeter and D Young (if this is Delmon)

[lefty31mazur]

It is going to take him all spring to catch up...I'd follow his pitch count more than his results this spring and I would want to know how hard he is throwing at the end of spring. He complained of shoulder weakness when he dropped out of the WBC.

[rentz]

now it seems he is questionable for opening day

[lefty31mazur]

In an examination today, Ben Sheets was disagnosed with a strained muscle alongside the shoulder muscle he tore last August. He appears to be questionable for Opening Day.
Sheets, who tore his right latissimus dorsi muscle, now has a strained teres major muscle in the back of his shoulder. "It's a strain of a muscle that's taking on more of a workload than it used to," team doctor William Raasch said. "That's where we are right now." Sheets will initiate a weight training regimen specifically designed to further strengthen the teres major muscle. The Brewers hope to know in about a week whether he'll be ready to go on Opening Day. His stock has dropped slightly now, but he's going to be one of the NL's best pitchers when healthy. Mar. 11 - 5:00 pm et

[wags6817]

In an examination today, Ben Sheets was disagnosed with a strained muscle alongside the shoulder muscle he tore last August. He appears to be questionable for Opening Day.
Sheets, who tore his right latissimus dorsi muscle, now has a strained teres major muscle in the back of his shoulder. "It's a strain of a muscle that's taking on more of a workload than it used to," team doctor William Raasch said. "That's where we are right now." Sheets will initiate a weight training regimen specifically designed to further strengthen the teres major muscle. The Brewers hope to know in about a week whether he'll be ready to go on Opening Day. His stock has dropped slightly now, but he's going to be one of the NL's best pitchers when healthy. Mar. 11 - 5:00 pm et

If he is ever healthy, he has had one of hell time staying that way.

[spamnon]

I saw another update yesterday on Yahoo about Sheets:

"Mar 15 According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Brewers SP Ben Sheets (back), who is bothered by a strained muscle in his back, played catch for the second straight day with no ill effects. Brewers MAN Ned Yost said he was not sure when Sheets would throw from a mound. "

Unfortunately this hasn't helped me decide on which pitcher to keep for this year and I need to make my decision by Saturday. I am in a 10 team roto (6x6 league - K/BB is the extra pitching category) league where we keep two players (1 batter, 1 pitcher) and I was planning to keep Sheets all offseason, but this injury scares me. One reason I was excited about keeping him is he dominates in K/BB. Anyway I need to make a decision by the end of the week and my other options are:

Felix Hernandez
Joe Nathan
Mark Mulder
Brett Myers
Barry Zito

I think if I was to swap Sheets, it would be for King Felix. Thoughts?

[The Loveable Losers]

I think Felix Hernandez has to be kept given the uncertainty with Sheets. He's had chronic health problems and while he could break out and turn things (and given your K/BB category he'd be HUGE) I think you have to play it safe. Hernandez will be a stud...maybe not so much this year but barring injury he has more upside than Sheets even if both pitch to their potential. Just don't expect Sheets-type numbers out of King Felix this season.

[spamnon]

any other ideas here or more news re: sheets. I don't really consider felix to be reliable considering he is 19 and has his own history of injury problems (burisitis). Either Sheets or Felix will be my staff anchor and I would rather give Sheets that title this year. Thoughts?

[Steve-o]

Sheets threw off a mound on Sunday morning, but missed his second straight start because of a strained teres major muscle in his upper back. The good news is that he threw 10-15 curveballs during his eight-minute session.

"It feels great," Sheets said. "We've been stretching it more aggressively than we had been over the last five or six days and my arm has been way freer. I've got my easy pop back and my extension."

Well, we'll see how he feels tomorrow. That will be a big test. As far as I know those are the first curves he has thrown since injured himself trying to throw them in the game weeks ago.

[Steve-o]

More updates

Knowing now that Ben Sheets most likely won't pitch Opening Day, will he open the season on the disabled list?
-- Ron B.

Assuming things progress positively as they have over the last week, it does not look like Sheets will have to start the year on the DL. He is almost certainly a no-go for April 3 against the Pirates, but because of perfectly-placed off-days on April 6 and 11, manager Ned Yost could go with a four-man rotation of Doug Davis, Chris Capuano, Tomo Ohka and Dave Bush for the first two weeks before needing a fifth starter on April 17 at Houston. That could be a reasonable target date for Sheets, assuming he has no more setbacks. Look for Yost to make his plans public in the next few days.

Sheets was bouncing around the clubhouse on Sunday, a good sign that he was thrilled with his bullpen session at rainy Maryvale Baseball Park, and notably snapped off 10-15 curveballs during eight-minutes on the mound. Overcoming the mental hurdle of that pitch -- arguably Sheets' best and the one on which he suffered his original injury last August -- is probably more vital to Sheets' comeback as his physical progress.